Playing for the first time at Bartley SS, ARFC fell victim to the softest-ever penalty decision awarded by any referee in the world by going down 0-1 to the energetic Samalongkok.
Before the match, ARFC was hit by very poor attendance and Sebastian’s attempts to call up many guest players were futile. Thankfully, Brandon kindly agreed to be keeper for the first time for ARFC.
ARFC started with this 4-4-2 line-up:
Keeper: Brandon
Right-back: Marauding Guoxiong
Sweeper: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Unbeatable Darren
Right-mid: Speedy Hee (captain)
Centre-mid: Steely Tze Ern
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Left-mid: Wonder Wayne
Striker: Unpredictable Blackburn
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Subs:
Minghui (guest player – late)
Yao Yang (guest player – late)
Absent:
ARFC Scoring Legend Haron
Combative Ron
Talisman Derrick
Sublime Khim
Dependable Jinzhong
Dynamic Soon
Hard-man Tjioe
Long-throw specialist Norman
Precocious En Dian
Nippy Kenny
It was a credit to Brandon for standing in for ARFC and he went on to produce a great performance which kept ARFC in the match.
As early as the 7th min, the opponents looked to have scored until Brandon produced a last-grasp agile save to prevent the ball from crossing the line. Wonderful goal-keeping.
Brandon then went on to produce another couple of fantastic saves.
At the other end of the pitch, Alvin, Blackburn and Hee worked tirelessly to harass their defenders while Wayne, Tze Ern and Sebastian tried their best to close down spaces.
Particularly, Alvin was very impressive with his penetrative runs down the left flank as the opponents simply could not keep up with his pace and power. On one occasion, he squared the ball across goal but no warrior was there to capitalize.
In the 17th min, Alvin’s well-floated corner was met by Toh who headed the ball against the cross-bar. The rebound was nearly latched on by Wayne but the opponents managed to clear the ball away.
In the 27th min, Sebastian picked up a cleared ball about 27 metres away from goal. However, his volley lacked power and was easily gathered by their keeper.
In the 2nd half, things were still even and ARFC warriors were clearly tiring. Thankfully, the famed ARFC defence led by Elvis held firm and the opponents were totally unable to make a break-through.
Things took a drastic turn in the 67th min with the divine help from the referee. In a scramble ball tussle in the penalty area, both Tze Ern and their striker tried to go for the ball at the same time. Both missed the ball but Tze Ern clashed legs with the striker. Incredibly and to the amazement of the world wide world, the referee blew for a phantom foul and awarded a penalty!!
I think it’s safe to say that even the opponents did not expect the penalty call and they then scored from the spot. 0-1.
I must say that this penalty is one of the world softest-ever penalty seemed since I started playing football.
Undeterred, ARFC did not allow their heads to drop and instead tried to fashion an equalizer. All warriors somehow found extra energy from nowhere and Alvin was most impressive when he tried his very best to conjure up an equalizer with his several piercing forays down the flanks with Hee supporting him ably.
In the 77th min, ARFC won a free-kick at a vantage position outside the box and Sebastian stepped up but only disappointed the fans when his curling shot was easily gathered by their keeper.
With 7 mins left, Alvin broke clear with a quick clever touch that took him away from their defender. Unluckily, their keeper dashed out quickly and block Alvin’s rasping shot with his legs.
Despite much effort, ARFC could not come up with an equalizer and lost 0-1.
This is the match where every warriors including the 3 guest players played with lots of effort and it was really unfortunate that the efforts were undone by the poorest referee decision ever since World Cup 1930.
Brandon was really colossal as keeper, Elvis led his defence of Toh, Guoxiong and Darren very well, and ARFC’s midfielders all tried their best to close down space. Up front, Hee and Blackburn really impressed.
This leaves me with Alvin. I think it’s safe to say that Alvin put in one of his best performances for ARFC and the only thing lacking was a goal from him. For that, Alvin is the Man-of-the-Match though Brandon came close.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
League Match - 29 May 2011
29 May 2011 (Sun)
3 pm = 1500 hrs
Bartley Sec Sch
Opponent is Samalongkok
3 pm = 1500 hrs
Bartley Sec Sch
Opponent is Samalongkok
ARFC's late rally in vain
Taking on The OC for the 2nd time in this season, ARFC rallied but ultimately fell to a 2-5 defeat in front of 77,777 fans including Anna.
ARFC could not managed to get any stand-in keeper and as such, Ron and later on She Meng gamely volunteered to be keeper for each half despite not having any gloves on.
ARFC started with this 4-4-2 line-up:
Keeper: Combative Ron
Right-back: Marauding Guoxiong
Sweeper: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis (captain)
Stopper: Wonder Wayne
Left-back: Unbeatable Darren
Right-mid: Seh Meng (guest player)
Centre-mid: Steely Tze Ern
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Left-mid: Minghui (guest player)
Striker: Unpredictable Blackburn
Striker: ARFC Scoring Legend Haron
Subs:
Powerful Alvin (late)
Towering Toh (late)
Yao Yang (guest player – late)
Absent:
Talisman Derrick – suspended
Sublime Khim
Dependable Jinzhong
Speedy Hee
Dynamic Soon
Hard-man Tjioe
Long-throw specialist Norman
Precocious En Dian
Nippy Kenny
Disaster struck as early as the 7th min when a very soft shot slipped through Ron’s grasp. However, no one laid blame as Ron was playing without gloves. 0-1
ARFC nearly equalized when from Sebastian’s corner, Tze Ern leaped highest and hung in the air ala Les Ferdinand but his header looped just 0.77 metres wide.
ARFC then conceded another goal. 0-2
Toh then replaced Wayne while Alvin came on for the ineffective Blackburn. Yao Yang soon took over from Minghui who had a poor match.
Within mins, Alvin produced a long distance shot but their keeper gathered the ball safely.
Haron then showed close control to fashion a chance. He also came out with several decoy runs.
In the 2nd half, ARFC conceded another goal to trail 0-3.
All looked lost for ARFC till the 67th min thanks to large part to the determination and grit of Alvin. From a ball by both Darren and Tze Ern, Alvin chased the ball despite being in a inferior position than their defender and keeper who looked to be in pole position to smoother the ball. However, Alvin did not give up and managed to nick the ball away from them and slotted the ball home into the net guarded by 2 defenders for his 142nd ARFC goal. This was also his 4th goal in as many matches. 1-3 now.
7 mins later, Alvin was again the architect when his floating corner from the left was missed by Toh who was under close and tough challenge from their defenders. When the ball dropped into the 6-yard box, Haron showed all that despite not in the best physical condition, his sharp mind did not abandon him and he was the quickest to swoop in and sweep the ball home for his 170th ARFC goal! 2-3 and a fight-back is back on and the fans tried to rally ARFC with 77 rounds of ARFC wave.
Alas, the fightback did not materialize as ARFC conceded another 3 goals due to fatigue to lose 2-5.
Man-of-the-match is jointly given to Alvin and Darren.
ARFC could not managed to get any stand-in keeper and as such, Ron and later on She Meng gamely volunteered to be keeper for each half despite not having any gloves on.
ARFC started with this 4-4-2 line-up:
Keeper: Combative Ron
Right-back: Marauding Guoxiong
Sweeper: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis (captain)
Stopper: Wonder Wayne
Left-back: Unbeatable Darren
Right-mid: Seh Meng (guest player)
Centre-mid: Steely Tze Ern
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Left-mid: Minghui (guest player)
Striker: Unpredictable Blackburn
Striker: ARFC Scoring Legend Haron
Subs:
Powerful Alvin (late)
Towering Toh (late)
Yao Yang (guest player – late)
Absent:
Talisman Derrick – suspended
Sublime Khim
Dependable Jinzhong
Speedy Hee
Dynamic Soon
Hard-man Tjioe
Long-throw specialist Norman
Precocious En Dian
Nippy Kenny
Disaster struck as early as the 7th min when a very soft shot slipped through Ron’s grasp. However, no one laid blame as Ron was playing without gloves. 0-1
ARFC nearly equalized when from Sebastian’s corner, Tze Ern leaped highest and hung in the air ala Les Ferdinand but his header looped just 0.77 metres wide.
ARFC then conceded another goal. 0-2
Toh then replaced Wayne while Alvin came on for the ineffective Blackburn. Yao Yang soon took over from Minghui who had a poor match.
Within mins, Alvin produced a long distance shot but their keeper gathered the ball safely.
Haron then showed close control to fashion a chance. He also came out with several decoy runs.
In the 2nd half, ARFC conceded another goal to trail 0-3.
All looked lost for ARFC till the 67th min thanks to large part to the determination and grit of Alvin. From a ball by both Darren and Tze Ern, Alvin chased the ball despite being in a inferior position than their defender and keeper who looked to be in pole position to smoother the ball. However, Alvin did not give up and managed to nick the ball away from them and slotted the ball home into the net guarded by 2 defenders for his 142nd ARFC goal. This was also his 4th goal in as many matches. 1-3 now.
7 mins later, Alvin was again the architect when his floating corner from the left was missed by Toh who was under close and tough challenge from their defenders. When the ball dropped into the 6-yard box, Haron showed all that despite not in the best physical condition, his sharp mind did not abandon him and he was the quickest to swoop in and sweep the ball home for his 170th ARFC goal! 2-3 and a fight-back is back on and the fans tried to rally ARFC with 77 rounds of ARFC wave.
Alas, the fightback did not materialize as ARFC conceded another 3 goals due to fatigue to lose 2-5.
Man-of-the-match is jointly given to Alvin and Darren.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
League Match on 22 May 2011
22 May 2011
3 pm = 1500 hrs
Broadrick Sec Sch
Opponent is The OC.
Pls bring both colours.
3 pm = 1500 hrs
Broadrick Sec Sch
Opponent is The OC.
Pls bring both colours.
ARFC fell to Team BI again
Taking on Team BI for the 7th time, ARFC still could not end its winless record against them after going down 1-3 at Siglap Sec in front of 77,777 fans including Anna and Cerine.
ARFC received 3 huge doses of boost when Darren, Khim and Ron turned up for the match.
ARFC started with this 4-4-2 line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Marauding Guoxiong
Sweeper: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper: Combative Ron
Left-back: Unbeatable Darren
Right-mid: Unpredictable Blackburn (captain)
Centre-mid: Steely Tze Ern
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Left-mid: Sublime Khim
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Striker: Speedy Hee
Subs:
Wonder Wayne
Seh Meng (guest player)
Absent:
Talisman Derrick – suspended
Dynamic Soon
Hard-man Tjioe
Towering Toh
Long-throw specialist Norman
ARFC Scoring Legend Haron
Precocious En Dian
Nippy Kenny
Knowing that Team BI is a more superior team, ARFC played with great discipline and restricted Team BI to some half-chances with Jinzhong coming out tops on several occasions.
In the 7th min, Jinzhong flung himself to his left ala Edwin Van De Sar to parry the ball out for a corner. Jinzhong also then produced 2 top-draw saves to deny Team BI from taking the lead.
Sebastian also cleared off the line ala Ashley Cole from a corner.
ARFC conceded a goal after their player rose unchallenged to nod in from a free-kick. 0-1
ARFC did not give up and tried to conjure up an equalizer. In the 27th min, Sebastian read their defender’s move well and intercepted the ball. Spotting their keeper slightly off his line, Sebastian tried to chip over their keeper but their keeper somehow managed to claw the ball to safety. Unlucky!
Alvin then turned hero with about 177 seconds to go before half-time. Anticipated their sweeper’s move, Alvin managed to nick the ball away from his feet. In his desperation, their sweeper tried his best to halt Alvin in his track but was unable to prevent the powerfully-built Alvin from speeding away. Bringing the ball all the way into the penalty box, Alvin heard a shout from Wayne who was inside the 6-yard box. However, Alvin kept his cool by slotting the ball past their despairing keeper for his 141st ARFC goal! 1-1 now and what a world-class goal ala Roger Milla in 1990 World Cup.
In the 2nd half, Team BI grew desperate and resorted to some wild shots from distance as they were unable to penetrate ARFC’s formidable defence of Elvis, Ron, Darren and Guoxiong. In fact, their playmaker tried to take Guoxiong out of the match by going in studs up but the referee failed to even blow for a foul!!!!
Guoxiong nearly produced the goal of the season when he picked up a loose ball from a half-clear ARFC corner outside the box. He faked a shot with his right foot, eluded their lunging defender and fired in with his left foot from just outside the box ala Lilian Thuram in World Cup ’98 semi-final match against Croatia. Unfortunately, the only difference is that Thuram found the net but Guoxiong’s shot was deny by their flying keeper!
Sebastian then came up with another goal-line clearance ala Ashley Cole.
ARFC continued to defend stoutly and Team BI was getting desperate and impatient. The big turning point came in the 77th min when Team BI received a BIG BIG BIG helping hands from the referee who apparently is friends with some players from Team BI.
Their ang-moh striker received the ball from his team-mate but he was clearly coming in from an off-side position. Incredulously, the referee did not blow for an off-side infringement and waved play on. The rest is history as they then scored which broke the hearts and resilience of ARFC. 1-2
Within mins and still recovering from the bad decision, ARFC conceded another goal to lose 1-3.
Despite this loss, ARFC’s entire performance can be said to be the most disciplined and controlled in recent times. Of course, the back-four was really resolute and majestic and the midfielders worked tirelessly to cover up for the defenders. ARFC’s strikers also did well to harass and created pressure on Team BI.
As I always said, as long as ARFC’s defence is Elvis, Guoxiong, Darren, Toh/Ron, ARFC would usually do well in matches.
Men-of-the-match is jointly given to Jinzhong, Alvin and ARFC’s entire back-four,
ARFC received 3 huge doses of boost when Darren, Khim and Ron turned up for the match.
ARFC started with this 4-4-2 line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Marauding Guoxiong
Sweeper: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper: Combative Ron
Left-back: Unbeatable Darren
Right-mid: Unpredictable Blackburn (captain)
Centre-mid: Steely Tze Ern
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Left-mid: Sublime Khim
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Striker: Speedy Hee
Subs:
Wonder Wayne
Seh Meng (guest player)
Absent:
Talisman Derrick – suspended
Dynamic Soon
Hard-man Tjioe
Towering Toh
Long-throw specialist Norman
ARFC Scoring Legend Haron
Precocious En Dian
Nippy Kenny
Knowing that Team BI is a more superior team, ARFC played with great discipline and restricted Team BI to some half-chances with Jinzhong coming out tops on several occasions.
In the 7th min, Jinzhong flung himself to his left ala Edwin Van De Sar to parry the ball out for a corner. Jinzhong also then produced 2 top-draw saves to deny Team BI from taking the lead.
Sebastian also cleared off the line ala Ashley Cole from a corner.
ARFC conceded a goal after their player rose unchallenged to nod in from a free-kick. 0-1
ARFC did not give up and tried to conjure up an equalizer. In the 27th min, Sebastian read their defender’s move well and intercepted the ball. Spotting their keeper slightly off his line, Sebastian tried to chip over their keeper but their keeper somehow managed to claw the ball to safety. Unlucky!
Alvin then turned hero with about 177 seconds to go before half-time. Anticipated their sweeper’s move, Alvin managed to nick the ball away from his feet. In his desperation, their sweeper tried his best to halt Alvin in his track but was unable to prevent the powerfully-built Alvin from speeding away. Bringing the ball all the way into the penalty box, Alvin heard a shout from Wayne who was inside the 6-yard box. However, Alvin kept his cool by slotting the ball past their despairing keeper for his 141st ARFC goal! 1-1 now and what a world-class goal ala Roger Milla in 1990 World Cup.
In the 2nd half, Team BI grew desperate and resorted to some wild shots from distance as they were unable to penetrate ARFC’s formidable defence of Elvis, Ron, Darren and Guoxiong. In fact, their playmaker tried to take Guoxiong out of the match by going in studs up but the referee failed to even blow for a foul!!!!
Guoxiong nearly produced the goal of the season when he picked up a loose ball from a half-clear ARFC corner outside the box. He faked a shot with his right foot, eluded their lunging defender and fired in with his left foot from just outside the box ala Lilian Thuram in World Cup ’98 semi-final match against Croatia. Unfortunately, the only difference is that Thuram found the net but Guoxiong’s shot was deny by their flying keeper!
Sebastian then came up with another goal-line clearance ala Ashley Cole.
ARFC continued to defend stoutly and Team BI was getting desperate and impatient. The big turning point came in the 77th min when Team BI received a BIG BIG BIG helping hands from the referee who apparently is friends with some players from Team BI.
Their ang-moh striker received the ball from his team-mate but he was clearly coming in from an off-side position. Incredulously, the referee did not blow for an off-side infringement and waved play on. The rest is history as they then scored which broke the hearts and resilience of ARFC. 1-2
Within mins and still recovering from the bad decision, ARFC conceded another goal to lose 1-3.
Despite this loss, ARFC’s entire performance can be said to be the most disciplined and controlled in recent times. Of course, the back-four was really resolute and majestic and the midfielders worked tirelessly to cover up for the defenders. ARFC’s strikers also did well to harass and created pressure on Team BI.
As I always said, as long as ARFC’s defence is Elvis, Guoxiong, Darren, Toh/Ron, ARFC would usually do well in matches.
Men-of-the-match is jointly given to Jinzhong, Alvin and ARFC’s entire back-four,
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
League Match - 15 May 2011
15 May 2011 (Sun)
3 pm = 1500 hrs
Siglap Sec Sch
Opponent is Team BI
Bring both colours.
3 pm = 1500 hrs
Siglap Sec Sch
Opponent is Team BI
Bring both colours.
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
ARFC overcame 1980s United's stubborn resistance....
Playing 1980s United for the very first time in the league, ARFC dismissed their strong challenge with a 3-1 score-line courtesy of a very dominating first-half performance.
The match was played under very cool weather at the brand-new artificial pitch at Naval Base SS where ARFC used to play in its early days when the pitch is still “natural grass pitch with baldy patches.
As usual, Anna, Cerine, Tracie and Brandon were present to lend their support.
ARFC welcomed back Hee who was out for the past few matches due to his knee injury sustained on 27 Feb 2011.
ARFC started with this 4-4-2 line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Marauding Guoxiong
Sweeper: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Unbeatable Darren
Right-mid: Talisman Derrick
Centre-mid: Hard-man Tjioe
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Left-mid: Unpredictable Blackburn (captain)
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Striker: Speedy Hee
Subs:
Combative Ron – late
Dynamic Soon – late
Yao Yang (guest player)
Seh Meng (guest player)
Absent:
Sublime Khim
Long-throw specialist Norman
Wonder Wayne
Steely Tze Ern
ARFC Scoring Legend Haron
Precocious En Dian
Nippy Kenny
With its usual tough back four of Elvis, Toh, Darren and Guoxiong, ARFC’s midfielders and strikers played with huge confidence knowing that its backline would be very secure.
The return of Hee also provided much harassing and penetration for ARFC and Alvin also complemented Hee well. In fact, Hee played like Javier Hernandez throughout and the only thing lacking was a goal for him. Fantastic team player there!
After a couple of near misses, ARFC opened the scoring in the 17th min. A ball was played all the way to the left flank to Blackburn who looked up and swung in a cross. The ball found Alvin just inside the penalty box ut there was an awkward bounce. This did not trouble Alvin as he did fantastically well to keep his body low and scored with a curling low shot with his outside right foot ala Marco Van Basten to beat their keeper for his 140th ARFC goal! What a world-class shot! 1-0
In the 20th min, ARFC replaced Alvin with Seh Meng with Derrick movng up to partner Hee. Shortly after, Yao Yang came on for Hee who was clearly tiring. Tjioe also asked to come off and Soon took his place.
Shortly after coming on, Seh Meng made his mark when he chipped in a delicious high ball which saw Derrick breaking their off-side trap. Facing their keeper one-on-one, Derrick kept his cool by easily rounding their keeper and slot the ball into the empty net for his 34th ARFC goal. 2-0
ARFC could have put the result beyond doubt when their keeper fumbled a corner from Alvin. However, Derrick’s follow-up powerful shot hit their keeper’s chest.
Blackburn was also unlucky when he lobbed their keeper but the ball bounced off the cross-bar!
The opponents then hit the post from a free-kick.
Derrick was then replaced by Ron.
In the 2nd half, Soon took over Blackburn, and Tjioe replaced Sebastian.
1980s United seemed determined to close the score-line and was really unlucky when they hit the crossbar. They also threatened with several corners but thanks to Toh, Darren and Jinzhong, the various balls were clear to safety.
ARFC then conceded a goal. 1-2.
In the last 20 mins, the opponents were leaving gaps behind and ARFC was able to capitalize on that. However, Blackburn squandered at least 2 golden chances when he produced wild shots from distance when Alvin, Hee and Derrick were all not marked.
Toh also came agonizingly close when he met Alvin’s precise corner with a powerful downward header ala Sami Hyypia but the ball was just 0.77 cm over the bar.
With less than 7 mins to go, Blackburn finally did right. Derrick won the ball on the right flank and passed to Blackburn who was standing just outside the penalty box. Bringing back the years, Blackburn showed fancy footwork by tricking his marker not once, but twice!!! before lashing the ball home for his 95th ARFC goal. 3-1
ARFC’s first half display was one of the best half performances that was seen in recent years. All warriors played extremely well with Soon, Ron, Tjioe and Sebastian constantly closing down spaces. Hee, Alvin and Yao Yang also did their part with constantly harassing. Derrick provided much penetration at right flank while Blackburn played very well (except selfish on a couple of occasions). Seh Meng also did well in covering for both Derrick and Guoxiong when he came on and provided one assist. Jinzhong also showed much courage and bravery when he threw himself at their strikers a few times.
On ARFC’s defence, I always believe that so long as we have the back four of Elvis, Toh, Darren and Guoxiong for every match, ARFC would be a match for any teams. Once again, we saw that again and we can all see for ourselves that our midfielders were more daring to venture forward knowing that the back-line would be safe and secure.
Guoxiong never gave their Indian left winger any chance at all, Elvis was commanding as sweeper and Darren, despite facing at times 2 players at the same time, came out tops everytime!
This leaves me with Toh. In my opinion, Toh produced one of his best performances for ARFC when he kept their “Peter Crouch” at bay throughout the match. Not only that, he came close to scoring and what stood out is really his leadership in the match with his constant encouragement and guidance when Sebastian was taking a break in the 2nd half. For all these qualities, he is ARFC’s Man-of-the-Match. A truly Sami Hyypia-like player!!
The match was played under very cool weather at the brand-new artificial pitch at Naval Base SS where ARFC used to play in its early days when the pitch is still “natural grass pitch with baldy patches.
As usual, Anna, Cerine, Tracie and Brandon were present to lend their support.
ARFC welcomed back Hee who was out for the past few matches due to his knee injury sustained on 27 Feb 2011.
ARFC started with this 4-4-2 line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Marauding Guoxiong
Sweeper: Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper: Towering Toh
Left-back: Unbeatable Darren
Right-mid: Talisman Derrick
Centre-mid: Hard-man Tjioe
Centre-mid: Influential Sebastian
Left-mid: Unpredictable Blackburn (captain)
Striker: Powerful Alvin
Striker: Speedy Hee
Subs:
Combative Ron – late
Dynamic Soon – late
Yao Yang (guest player)
Seh Meng (guest player)
Absent:
Sublime Khim
Long-throw specialist Norman
Wonder Wayne
Steely Tze Ern
ARFC Scoring Legend Haron
Precocious En Dian
Nippy Kenny
With its usual tough back four of Elvis, Toh, Darren and Guoxiong, ARFC’s midfielders and strikers played with huge confidence knowing that its backline would be very secure.
The return of Hee also provided much harassing and penetration for ARFC and Alvin also complemented Hee well. In fact, Hee played like Javier Hernandez throughout and the only thing lacking was a goal for him. Fantastic team player there!
After a couple of near misses, ARFC opened the scoring in the 17th min. A ball was played all the way to the left flank to Blackburn who looked up and swung in a cross. The ball found Alvin just inside the penalty box ut there was an awkward bounce. This did not trouble Alvin as he did fantastically well to keep his body low and scored with a curling low shot with his outside right foot ala Marco Van Basten to beat their keeper for his 140th ARFC goal! What a world-class shot! 1-0
In the 20th min, ARFC replaced Alvin with Seh Meng with Derrick movng up to partner Hee. Shortly after, Yao Yang came on for Hee who was clearly tiring. Tjioe also asked to come off and Soon took his place.
Shortly after coming on, Seh Meng made his mark when he chipped in a delicious high ball which saw Derrick breaking their off-side trap. Facing their keeper one-on-one, Derrick kept his cool by easily rounding their keeper and slot the ball into the empty net for his 34th ARFC goal. 2-0
ARFC could have put the result beyond doubt when their keeper fumbled a corner from Alvin. However, Derrick’s follow-up powerful shot hit their keeper’s chest.
Blackburn was also unlucky when he lobbed their keeper but the ball bounced off the cross-bar!
The opponents then hit the post from a free-kick.
Derrick was then replaced by Ron.
In the 2nd half, Soon took over Blackburn, and Tjioe replaced Sebastian.
1980s United seemed determined to close the score-line and was really unlucky when they hit the crossbar. They also threatened with several corners but thanks to Toh, Darren and Jinzhong, the various balls were clear to safety.
ARFC then conceded a goal. 1-2.
In the last 20 mins, the opponents were leaving gaps behind and ARFC was able to capitalize on that. However, Blackburn squandered at least 2 golden chances when he produced wild shots from distance when Alvin, Hee and Derrick were all not marked.
Toh also came agonizingly close when he met Alvin’s precise corner with a powerful downward header ala Sami Hyypia but the ball was just 0.77 cm over the bar.
With less than 7 mins to go, Blackburn finally did right. Derrick won the ball on the right flank and passed to Blackburn who was standing just outside the penalty box. Bringing back the years, Blackburn showed fancy footwork by tricking his marker not once, but twice!!! before lashing the ball home for his 95th ARFC goal. 3-1
ARFC’s first half display was one of the best half performances that was seen in recent years. All warriors played extremely well with Soon, Ron, Tjioe and Sebastian constantly closing down spaces. Hee, Alvin and Yao Yang also did their part with constantly harassing. Derrick provided much penetration at right flank while Blackburn played very well (except selfish on a couple of occasions). Seh Meng also did well in covering for both Derrick and Guoxiong when he came on and provided one assist. Jinzhong also showed much courage and bravery when he threw himself at their strikers a few times.
On ARFC’s defence, I always believe that so long as we have the back four of Elvis, Toh, Darren and Guoxiong for every match, ARFC would be a match for any teams. Once again, we saw that again and we can all see for ourselves that our midfielders were more daring to venture forward knowing that the back-line would be safe and secure.
Guoxiong never gave their Indian left winger any chance at all, Elvis was commanding as sweeper and Darren, despite facing at times 2 players at the same time, came out tops everytime!
This leaves me with Toh. In my opinion, Toh produced one of his best performances for ARFC when he kept their “Peter Crouch” at bay throughout the match. Not only that, he came close to scoring and what stood out is really his leadership in the match with his constant encouragement and guidance when Sebastian was taking a break in the 2nd half. For all these qualities, he is ARFC’s Man-of-the-Match. A truly Sami Hyypia-like player!!
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