ARFC chalked up 7th win in 2010

(Match report courtesy of Toh)

For the last warm-up game before the season starts in a week’s time, ARFC was rocked by news that Hee, Guoxiong, Andrew, Elvis and Jinzhong were all unable to turn up for the match. As such, ARFC was facing the prospect of playing the game with less than 10 men. Luckily, the 2 guest players (Leon and Wayne) turned up and last minute scramble for players were successful as 2 more guest players (Zi En and En Dian) answered the call. Special mention for both Tjioe and Darren for standing in as keeper for a half each.


ARFC started with this line-up:

GK - Hard-man Tjioe
RB - Unbeatable Darren
Sweeper - Unpredictable Blackburn
Stopper - Towering Toh (captain)
LB - Wayne (guest player)
RM - Talisman Derrick
CM - Dynamic Soon
CM - Zi En (guest player)
LM - Tricky Yoong
SC - Leon (guest player)
SC - Powerful Alvin

Sub: En Dian (guest player)

The match went underway, more than half an hour passed the stipulated 3pm kickoff time, when ARFC finally managed to mix and patch to field a starting eleven for the game. However, for those who think that the team will be doomed with this patched up side, they were to be proven wrong as the opponent, Orange Team (not "The OC" – "The Orange County”), were to be slain and ARFC had the game won well before half time.

Right from the start of the first whistle, under the scorching heat of the 3pm sun, ARFC was determined to put the game beyond doubt as soon as possible. It looked like it was going to be the case as within 15 seconds when Yoong was put through by Zi En and he showed great speed to get to the ball but was unlucky to see his shot hit the side netting.

Within 15 minutes, Yoong made amends and opened the scoring for ARFC. Alvin, spotting Yoong rushing through laid a well hit pass into his path. With the opposition defenders scrambling back to cover, Yoong did well to cut back his run and from the edge of the box, he fired a fierce right foot shot into the bottom of the goal with the keeper diving in vain for his 3rd ARFC goal. 1-0.

Within minutes, ARFC scored again, this time via Alvin. Derrick showed great skills bringing the ball down the by-line before crossing in to Leon who cushioned the ball down for Alvin to thump in his first goal of the game and his 122th ARFC goal. 2-0.

Before ARFC fans could cool down from their celebrations, Alvin gave them even more reasons to celebrate when he scored his second goal of the game. Derrick sent in a cross from the right wing and Alvin did well to bring it down. With a spurt of energy and power, Alvin turned the defender to face the keeper one-on-one. With only the keeper to beat, Alvin showed that he has not lost any of his goal scoring touch after missing the last game due to his ROM by side-footing the ball pass the diving keeper into the bottom left corner of the net for hsi 123th ARFC goal. 3-0.

After scoring the goal, Alvin’s reward was to be rested and substituted by En Dian. The opposition thought that they could have a break from the power and guile of Alvin with his exit but to their disappointment, En Dian was to pile on to their misery instead with an impressive performance, with just a pair of street soccer shoes.

Within minutes of coming on, En Dian showed speed, beyond his age and looks, when he raced onto a through ball down the left flank. He looked up, spotting the run of the on-rushing Leon, and squared the ball for Leon to gleefully tap it past the helpless keeper for his debut ARFC goal. 4-0.

Leon returned the favour minutes later when he chipped the ball over the over the opposition defence for En Dian to chase. The ball seemed to be over hit and looked likely to fall into the hands of the keeper. However, En Dian had other ideas and he again showed speed to get to the ball first before the keeper and toe-poked the ball into the net for his first goal of the game and his debut ARFC goal. 5-0.

By now, the game has been settled and ARFC started to get complacent. Off a rare attack, the opposition was awarded a freekick. The opposition sent in the ball from the kick and with the ARFC defence playing for offside, the ball should be safely collected by Tjioe, the 15th choice keeper. To the defence’s horror, his “ball-grappling” method failed him and the ball bounced over him for the opposition striker to head into the empty net with just 15 secounds left for the half. HT: 5-1.

For the 2nd half, Darren who had not much of a challenge in the first half took over the gloves from Tjioe who assumed his usual role in the centre of midfield. Soon was given a well deserved rest for playing in right back. Alvin also came in for Leon to continue his torment of the opposition.

ARFC resumed the 2nd half with the same dominance as displayed in the 1st half and continued the scoring within 15 minutes. Spotting Derrick lurking dangerously on the right flank, Yoong sent a superb cross field pass from the left into the box which Derrick chested down coolly. Without breaking his stride, he unleashed a thunderous drive, timed at 150km/h, which the keeper could only palm into the roof of the net. Beauty! 6-1! Derrick was so pleased with his execution that he commented, “A bit like Blackburn, hor?” This was his 26th ARFC goal.

ARFC continued its pressure and duly got its 7th goal, this time from the right foot of Toh. For those who thought that Toh can only score with his head, they were proven wrong again. Toh who had earlier moved forward for the corner kick stayed up when the ball was half-cleared. The ball then found its way down the right flank with En Dian chasing it down to prevent the goal kick. En Dian then cut the ball back into the path of Toh who took his chance well with a sweetly-struck volley past the diving keeper who can only grasped thin air. 7-1. This goal was Toh's 39th ARFC goal, an impressive feat considering that he is a defender.

Before the game end, ARFC found time to add in another goal. En Dian, who has been impressive since he came on, hammered the final nail in the opponent’s coffin by scoring the last goal to cap off an impressive debut. 8-1 is the full time score.

The match finally ended, and it was obvious that the opposition had hoped that it had come earlier so that they can end their suffering early. Though playing with just 1 substitute, ARFC showed that we are capable of putting in some good showing, even under the scorching afternoon sun. It will not be too much to say that ARFC could have chalked up a double digit scoreline if we had more warriors turning up.

Man of the match goes Derrick for tormenting the opposition defence down the right flank and scoring a superb goal. Yoong came very close as well with his runs down the left flank and a goal as well. The rest of the warriors and guest players, especially guest player En Dian, did very well too with good passing, movement and covering. Many thanks to both Tjioe and Darren for agreeing to take up the goalkeeping role for the game as well.

This win certainly boosted the morale of the team as we prepare for the D2D League Division 1 which starts again next week, but the presence of more warriors is definitely more required with the higher pace in the games expected in league.