ARFC keep hopes alive of 3rd place in Div I

Report courtesy of Towering Toh (with very minor edits):

Having played to an eventful 1-1 draw when the two teams first met back in Dec 09 where Hee requires 7 stitches for a cut above his left eye and a late equaliser from Alvin, ARFC takes on FC Simpang again and carved out a 2-1 win, marred by some exploding events, again.

The narrow win was witnessed by Anna, Cerine and Tracie, babes of Elvis, Jinzhong, and Guoxiong respectively. Darren’s lovely wife, Pauline and daughter Rachel and Derrick’s son, Rayes, also turned up to support.

ARFC started with this line-up:
GK - Dependable Jinzhong
RB - Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper - Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper - Towering Toh
LB - Unbeatable Darren
RM- Chuan
CM - Combative Ron
CM - Hard-man Tjioe
LM - Dynamic Soon
SC - Unpredictable Blackburn (captain)
SC - Tricky Yoong

Sub:
Powerful Alvin
Speedy Hee
Talisman Derrick
Zac (Potential player)

From the first whistle, ARFC was determined to go one better this time round and look for a win over FC Simpang. However, both teams matched up strength for strength and chances were hard to come by. The pace of the game was fast and furious and players started to tire out. Alvin, Hee and Derrick came in for Blackburn, Tjioe and Chuan.

With 15 minutes of time left before half time, Yoong was presented with a golden opportunity to put ARFC one goal up after being put through facing one-on-one with the opponent’s keeper. Yoong tried to push the ball pass the advancing keeper but the ball hit the out-stretched leg of the keeper. Unlucky! Chance gone. HT: 0-0.

Without Influential Sebastian’s half time hair dryer treatment, ARFC adopted a quiet reflective half time break with each player analysing what they have done well and not.

The second half started with Zac coming in on the left wing, Ron with Blackburn in the centre of the park and Derrick on the right. Hee partnered Alvin in attack. This formation seemed to work wonders as within 15 minutes of the restart, ARFC takes the lead courtesy of Hee putting the ball past the keeper off a pass from Alvin who has done well to turn their defender. 1-0 and this was Hee's 79th ARFC goal!

ARFC controlled the game well and off a glorious chip from Darren, Zac was put through on the left. His pace brought him all the way to the keeper and goal but his left foot shot was 15 inches wide. That was to be his only telling contribution as he was exhausted, due to the fact that he has not been playing under such condition for a good 5 years. He was then replaced by Yoong. Chuan came in for Derrick.

Another 15 minutes went past and the exploding event happened. Off a cross, the opponent striker got half a chance to put the score level. However, Jinzhong was quick to react and got down fast to grab the ball from the feet of the striker. The opponent was bundled over in the process and kicked out in frustration. That proved to be the catalyst for a melee that follow up as kicks and punches were thrown, notably from Alvin and Derrick who has ran the full length of the pitch to confront the opponents, minus the corner flag. Luckily, the referee was able to resume order and rightfully sent off the opposing striker who kicked out. Tjioe replaced Hee so that ARFC could control the midfield.

Playing against 10 men, ARFC had a chance to tighten the grip on the win and Soon duly obliged. Off a counter, Soon faced the keeper one on one and side footed the ball past the keeper ala Torres to double ARFC’s advantage. 2-0. This was Soon's 28th ARFC goal.

Instead of building on the advantage, ARFC started to turn complacent and within minutes, the opponent pulled one back. 2-1.

With less than 15 seconds of the game left, more drama was to unfold as Toh was judged to have brought down the advancing striker in the box. Replays showed that the striker has actually dived, knowing that he will not get his chance past Toh and with Jinzhong in goal. Nevertheless, the referee pointed to the spot and the opposing keeper stepped up to take the kick, hoping to repeat his penalty goal in the previous match. However, justice prevailed as his shot sailed wide.

That was the last kick of the game and the referee blew the final whistle to hand ARFC its 5th win of the season. With this win, ARFC also guarantees Div 1 football for another season and at the same time still have a chance to clinch 3rd place in the league.

This was a match where all ARFC warriors did well and play out a hard fought victory. Such victories are sweeter and are why ARFC choose to remain in Div 1 instead of moving to ESPENZ league or Div 4.

Man-of-the-Match goes to Soon for his lung-less running and covering tackles at the defensive end of the field, and for notching in the winning goal at the offensive end. Yoong, Ron, Tjioe, Darren and Guoxiong all did well and deserved special mentions for their solid displays on the field