Monday, May 31, 2010

Friendly match details - 06 June 2010

Friendly match details:

06 June 2010 (sun)
3 pm
Bedok North Sec Sch
Wear white

Pls e-mail to Toh of your availability.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

ARFC despatches perfect gift to newly-wed Alvin and Irene

(match report courtesy of Toh with edits from Sebastian)
Due to the last minute walkover conceded by Mammoet FC, ARFC secured 2nd runners-up position in the D2D league Div 1, finishing below the formidable Team BI and the extremely fit-and-young The OC.
In place of the 3rd place game was a last-minute arranged game with Serangoon CSC. With the importance of the game downplayed due to the walkover, ARFC warriors played out a low-key game with a 1-0 win over the young and fit boys from Serangoon CSC. The match was witness by the WAGs of both Elvis and Jinzhong.
ARFC started with this line-up:

GK - Dependable Jinzhong
RB - Hard-running Guoxiong
Sweeper - Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper - Towering Toh
LB - Wayne(guest player)
RM - Sublime Khim
CM - Dynamic Soon
CM - Hard-man Tjioe (captain)
LM - Nippy Kenny
SC - Unpredictable Blackburn
SC - Speedy Hee
Subs:Leon(guest player)
Yao Yang (guest player)
Seh Meng (guest player)
Due to his ROM with his extremely lovely and beautiful wife Irene, ever-present Alvin was not able to turn up for the game for once. A few ARFC warriors were also missing for the match as they had to help out Alvin and represent ARFC in the ROM ceremony. As such, ARFC was short of players and had to engage the help of 4 guest players for the match. Luckily, Sublime Khim made a surprise appearance to beef up the squad after successfully coaxing his children to take their afternoon nap.

With news that ARFC has clinched 3rd place before a ball was kicked, the pressure was off the 10 warriors who turned up in anticipation of a tough match. The match turned out to be a dull affair with limited chances for both sides.

The match kicked off with ARFC playing against the wind, and against the flow of the game. The fit and young opponents were first off the block with tenacious running at the ARFC defence. However, the solid defence of ARFC held out and limited the opponents to pot shot from distances which rarely threatened Jinzhong in goal.

As the match progressed, ARFC started to stamp its authority and started to pin the opponent back in its half. With 15 minutes gone, Blackburn attempted to do a ‘Xabi Alonso’ when he spotted the opponent keeper off his line. However, his 50-metres lob was under hit and the ball was parried away by the pack pedalling goalkeeper. Unlucky!

Off a corner, Toh had the chance to end his goal drought when he towered above the keeper to meet Blackburn’s inch perfect cross. The ball bounced on the ground and looked set to end up in the net, only to be cleared away by the covering defender at the far post. Unlucky again as Toh will have to wait again for his long overdue goal.

With 15 minutes of the half remaining, captain of the day Tjioe signalled to Toh to bring in the guest players for a run-out. Thus, on came the 3 guest players in place of Hee, Khim and Tjioe himself.

The half proceeded without much threat to both sides. But with just 15 seconds before the half time whistle, Guoxiong chased after a seemingly harmless ball to prevent a corner. As he cleared the ball, he unknowingly pulled his hamstring which marked the end of the half, his match for the day and maybe his appearance for the next few games. HT:0-0.

Due to Guoxiong’s injury, he was replaced by Seh Meng (guest player) at right back and Tjioe came back into centre of the park for the 2nd half.

The start of the 2nd half mirrored the last 15 minutes of the 1st half where no real chances were created. The inclusion of the 4 guest players must have had its effect on the attacking play of ARFC as no real chances were created despite involving them in the build up.

It was only after 15 minutes that ARFC has its breakthrough. Khim, who just came on for the ineffective Yao Yang (guest player), played a forward pass to Blackburn, who spotted the run of Soon, dummied for him to race through facing one-on-one with the keeper. Having followed how Torres made scoring looked so simple, Soon duly mimicked the movement and coolly slotted the ball under the body of the diving keeper. 1-0! The goal was a land-mark achievement for Soon as it was his 30th ARFC goal and also ARFC's 1100th goal in its history.

With the lead, ARFC was happy to slow down the play and that allowed the opponent a couple of chances to equalise. Off a counter attack, the opponent’s striker was put through one-on-one with Jinzhong in goal. Jinzhong was alert and rush out immediately to narrow the angle by spreading his big body frame. The opponent striker, on seeing his angle narrowed down, tried his luck but the ball trickled harmlessly wide.
Within minutes, Jinzhong was called into action again, this time defending a freekick by the opposition. The opponent let fly a well-taken freekick which looked to have secured an equaliser until Jinzhong dived to his right to keep the ball out. World-class save!

These were the more significant moments of the 2nd half as ARFC continued to play out the otherwise dull and uneventful game. The final whistle came and the ‘makeshift’ ARFC notched up another win.

It was a game where ARFC never looked like conceding with the impressive defence led by Elvis and goal guarded by Jinzhong. Man of the match goes to Jinzhong for his world-class saves and cleansheet for the day.

All the warriors and guest players were happy with the 1-0 result and dedicated the win to Alvin and Irene, wishing them a blissful marriage and that they live happily ever after and with at least 99 children.......

Thursday, May 13, 2010

14th League Match Details

Dear ARFC warriors,

ARFC will complete its league programme as follows:

16 May 2010 (Sun)
3 pm
Greendale Secondary School (located in Punggol, Address: 51, Edgedale Plains)
Against Mammoet
Bring both colours

Pls e-mail to Sebastian and Toh of your availability.

ARFC delivers perfect present to Sebastian's new-born baby girl, Kaizaree Jade-Eden Tan

(Match report courtesy of Toh....)

On Mother’s Day, ARFC played to a convincing 5-1 win over Raven FC at the last-minute re-arranged pitch at Regent Secondary School. Witnessing the win were the WAGS of Elvis, Jinzhong and Guoxiong.

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 - Talisman Derrick
CM - Dynamic Soon
CM - Unpredictable Blackburn
LM - Nippy Kenny
SC - Powerful Alvin
SC - ARFC Scoring Legend Haron (captain)

Subs:
Hard-man Tjioe
Combative Ron (Late as he got to make a U-Turn from Eunos to CCK)

During the pre-match pep talk, Toh conveyed the message to the rest of the warriors that Caren, wife of Influential Sebastian, was in labour ward at the point of time and we could all give Sebastian and his family a gift by winning the game for them. All the warriors duly obliged as a solid display and comfortable win was to follow.

The game was about 15 minutes old when ARFC drew first blood. Off a short pass from defence, Blackburn sent a delicious chip over the opponent’s defence to send Haron racing through to face the opponent’s keeper one-on-one. Predictably and seeing the keeper advancing out of his line, Haron nonchalently looped the ball over him for his 159th ARFC goal. 1-0!

Barely another 15 minutes later, Derrick showed flashes of what he is capable of by taking on the defender in the box. He showed great speed and skill to push the ball past the defender, only to be brought down by the out-stretched leg of the defender’s late challenge. The referee had the easiest of decisions to point to the spot. Up stepped Blackburn to take the penalty, though not his duty to do so as Haron is the appointed penatly-taker, and he actually ballooned the ball into row Z. Absolutely unpredictable as no one predicted him to miss and even the scoreboard had changed to 2-0 in anticipation!

Both Tjioe and Ron came in for Blackburn and Elvis, who took a slight knock on his ankle while bravely snuffing out the opponent’s attack. As half time approached, the score looked likely to remain 1-0 as chances to kill off the game were not taken. True enough. HT:1-0.

During the half-time team talk, Tjioe, Haron and Toh all recognised that chances were abundant in the first half but were not taken. Finishing in front of goal needed to be improved in the 2nd half.

The reflection seemed to work as within minutes of the start of 2nd half, ARFC went 2-0 up. Architect of the goal was who else, but Blackburn again. He was sent running down to the byeline, before delivering a delicious cross into the box for who else but Haron who thumped the ball low and beyond the keeper into the corner of the net for his 160th ARFC goal. Absolutely classy!!

With the early goal in the 2nd half, ARFC gained further control of the game and played some lovely passing football. Less than 15 minutes later, Blackburn was to be the architect of a well-crafted goal again when he chipped in a perfectly weighted ball for the onrushing Alvin who chested the ball down nicely on the run to face the keeper one-on-one again. In spite of the disruptive “steady” shouts from Blackburn, Alvin showed great composure to sidefoot the ball under the body of the diving keeper to bulge the net for his 121st ARFC goal. 3-0!
At this point of time, ARFC started to turn complacent and allowed the opponent to pull a goal back via some slack defending from the midfield and defence. Thankfully, this serves as a wake-up call to ARFC that the game was not over until the final whistle. 3-1.

From the restart, ARFC regained the attacking composure and off a delicate chip from defence, Blackburn broke the offside trap as he coolly cushioned down the ball. With a good 15 metres outside the penalty box, without even considering to bring the ball closer to goal, and determined to make up for his missed penalty earlier, he unleashed a volley past the stranded keeper, into the top corner of the goal for his 88th ARFC goal. World class! Really unpredictable! 4-1!

ARFC was not done yet. With less than 15 minutes of the game left, ARFC stamped its class by delivering the final blow to the opponent with some slick passing. With the ball played through, should be by Blackburn again, Tjioe surged pass the opponent’s defence. He then unselfishly passes the ball to Alvin, who then unselfishly laid the ball to the onrushing Kenny to nip the ball past the helpless keeper for his 5th ARFC goal. Television replays showed that the ball have been passed around 15 times within ARFC warriors before Kenny put it into the net. 5-1!

The referee finally blew the whistle to signify the end of the game and the opponent was glad that he did as it was a game where ARFC was in total control and looked likely to add in more goals if given more time.

It was a game where all ARFC warriors played well as a team from defence to attack, barring the moment of complacency that allowed the opponent to pull a goal back. All the warriors were happy that they had delivered the perfect gift to Sebastian and family as wished.

Man of the match goes to Blackburn for despite missing a penalty, was not affected by the setback and turned out to be the chief architect in almost all the goals, including scoring a spectacular volley himself. Due to the penalty miss, he will be barred from taking any penalties for 15 matches.

Once again, a fine game by ARFC dedicated to Sebastian and wife, Caren, and lovely daughter, Kaizaree Jade-Eden Tan (that is one person, no mistake) and all the WAGS and mothers out there. Happy Mother’s Day!

Friday, May 07, 2010

ARFC scorers

Dear ARFC warriors,

If we are awarded a penalty in our next coming match, can we let Ron take it?



Jinzhong - 0
Ron - 0
Huiming - 1
Andrew - 1
Chuan - 1
Yeong - 2
Bernard - 3
Kenny - 4
Boon - 7
Edwin - 7
Guoxiong - 10
Damian - 11
Hwee (ex-player) - 11
Elvis - 12
Jesmond (ex-player) - 19
Hock - 21
Jiong Jiong (ex-player) - 21
David - 23
Tong - 24
Derrick - 25
Kiat - 25
Soon - 29
Toh - 38
Khim - 43
Jeffrey - 49
Tjioe - 55
Robin - 69
Sebastian - 73
Hee - 79
Blackburn - 87
Alvin - 120
Haron - 158

Monday, May 03, 2010

13th League Match Details

09 May 2010 (Sun)
3 pm
MacPherson Secondary School
Against Raven
Bring both colours

Pls e-mail to Sebastian of your availability.

Thanks.

Saturday, May 01, 2010

ARFC laboured to a 3-1 victory in Labour Day

To celebrate Labour Day, ARFC put in a batling display to emerge 3-1 victors against the very determined and fit DSTA team at the artificial pitch at Regent Secondary School. Witnessing the win were the WAGS of Andrew, Elvis, Jinzhong and Zac.
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 - Talisman Derrick
CM - Combative Ron
CM - Unpredictable Blackburn
LM - Zac
SC - Powerful Alvin
SC - Speedy Hee (captain)
The subs bench sent shivers down the spines of the opponent:
Dynamic Soon
ARFC Scoring Legend Haron
Influential Sebastian
Battling Andrew
Things were even-stevens in the opening 17 mins as both sides had some chances. 7 mins later, Alvin combined superbly with Soon with their wall-passes but Soon shot wide.
In the 27th min, Sebastian chipped in a great ball ala Glenn Hoddle and Andrew chested the ball down in a world-class move and eluded their defender. Unfortunately, his volley found row Z.
ARFC finally opened the scoring with yet another flowing move. The ball found its way to Haron who controlled and shielded the ball away from their stopper. With a quick turn, Haron found Andrew galloping down the left flank. With a delicious left-foot cross ala John Barnes in World Cup 86 against Argentina, Andrew's cross found Soon dashing in from the right to deliver a flying header past their keeper for his 29th ARFC goal. 1-0 and truly a world-class goal.
Half-time score is 1-0.
Just 7 mins into the 2nd half, ARFC conceded an equaliser from a corner. 1-1 now.
7 mins later, ARFC earned a penalty after their left-back carelessly handled the ball at the left edge of the box. Elvis stepped up but fired wide. With this miss, Elvis has delinquished the penalty-taking duty which will be passed on to Haron (if he is playing) or Alvin.
ARFC was not to be denied its 2nd goal. Guoxiong's long cross-field ball from the right mid looked to be overhit and their keeper looked to it covered. However, the endless-running Soon did not give up and pursued the ball. Off his pressure, their keeper spilled the ball at almost the left bye-line area and Soon gleefully picked it up and rolled the ball across the goal-mouth. Alvin dashed in and stroked the ball into the empty net for his 120th ARFC goal. 2-1
ARFC nearly conceded another goal from a corner but Guoxiong was at the goal-line to block the header ala Ashley Cole. Superb positioning and discipline.
With mins to go, ARFC put the result beyond doubt with its 3rd goal. Ron, who had such a great match, pressured the opponent and the loose ball fell to Hee. Hee then laid on for Derrick to run at their defender. At this point, ARFC's "twin terrors", Haron and Alvin showed world-class off-the-ball movement ala David Villa and Fernando Torres. Alvin pulled away to the left while Haron ran across to the right, with Derrick running with the ball at the same time. With impeccable timing, Derrick released the ball and Haron broke the off-side trap with precise timing, brought the ball forward and slotted the ball home for his 158th ARFC goal. 3-1. World-class goal!!
This is yet another match where all ARFC warriors did well again. The forwards of Alvin, Haron and Andrew did very well. Ron had a monster of a match and was only pipped to the Man-of-the-Match award by the dynamic Soon.
Special mention must be given to ARFC's defence as well. The fearful foursome of Elvis, Toh, Darren and Guoxiong came out with several blocks which prevented them from troubling Jinzhong. Their blocks and determination reminded us of a certain ARFC pioneer warrior - Huiming!!
Happy Labour Day, once again!!!