On a hot and humid day, ARFC
took the lead but fell 1-2 to Schwarstarz FC thanks to a controversial decision
by the inept referee.
ARFC was boosted by the last-min
presence of Khim, Ron, Norman and the returning prodigal son Hock. Special
mention to Wayne also for coming despite arriving in Singapore only on Sunday
morning, and to Guoxiong for “sacrificing” his JB trip with his wife.
ARFC started with this line-up:
Keeper: Dependable Jinzhong
Right-back: Marauding Guoxiong
Sweeper: Unpredictable Blackburn
Stopper: Combative Ron
Left-back: Unbeatable Darren
Right-mid: Talisman Derrick
Centre-mid: Dynamic Soon
Centre-mid: Isaac (guest player)
Left-mid: Sublime Khim
Striker: Powerful Alvin
(captain)
Striker: Wonder Wayne
Subs:
ARFC Scoring Legend Haron
Long-throw specialist Norman
Seh Meng
Mean-machine Hock (late)
Absent:
Steely Tze Ern
Speedy Hee
Hard-man Tjioe
Towering Toh
Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Influential Sebastian
Talented Chun Haw
Precocious En Dian
Nippy Kenny
In the opening 15 mins, chances
were at a premium as both teams were sizing each other up.
ARFC fashioned the first chances
after a great move down the left by Khim and Alvin. The ball found its way to
Derrick on the right and his crisp low shot was parried by their brilliant
keeper. Derrick latched onto the rebound but again their keeper thwarted his
low shot.
Later on, Derrick and the
very-impressive Isaac were constantly chopped down by their players but the
poor referee did not even give verbal warning which encouraged their players to
commit more fouls.
Norman and Seh Meng then came on
for Derrick and Darren who graciously made way.
Later on, Haron replaced Wayne.
Guoxiong then came to ARFC’s rescue
when he made a crucial interception in the box.
The half-time score is 0-0.
Hock came on and almost
immediately put ARFC ahead. Khim’s sublime reverse ball was dummied by Haron
and Hcok then powered into the penalty box. Unfortunately, his rustiness from
almost 2 years out of football showed when he took an additional touch and when
closed down by their keeper, Hock lifted the ball just over the cross-bar.
Unlucky!
ARFC finally took the lead
courtesy of yet another ball from Khim. The ball was reflected and Alvin then
headed the ball goalwards and over their keeper. Incredibly, their keeper produced
an arch-back save ala Gordon Banks against Pele in World Cup 1970, and clawed
the ball out. However, the ball dropped just 0.77 mm away from the goal-line
and Alvin had the simplest of chance of simply nodding the ball home in a
slow-motion manner for his 170th ARFC goals. 1-0
ARFC then conceded a goal.1-1
The turning point came in the 77th
min mark. Darren looked to be fouled at the right-back position and everyone
saw that the referee had pointed the ball in ARFC’s favour and Darren and the
rest were looking away. Incredulously,
the referee reversed his decision and from a quick throw-in and shot, the ball
struck Darren’s out-stretched hand and a penalty was awarded and duly
converted. 1-2
Soon had a chance to equalize when
he was put through but his low shot was again smothered by their brilliant keeper.
The referee also failed to see that Soon could have been fouled by a late
sliding tackle.
Haron glanced a few headers wide
and Blackburn repeatedly fired his free-kicks over the bar even though we can
all see that such free-kicks would not be able to beat their brilliant keeper.
Credit, however, should not be
taken away from our opponent as they played well too and is a sporting team.
Man-of-the-Match is jointly
given to Khim and Soon (Isaac also came close) for their commanding display in
midfield.
This match also once again
re-confirmed to all that Khim is the best ARFC player that the team ever has.
