ARFC won again to close in on league title

In a league match against Team BBG, ARFC notched a tightly-contested 1-0 victory thanks to a superb goal from Blackburn.

ARFC was boosted by the lat-min appearance of both Toh and Derrick who were both doubtful for the match. ARFC was also supported by the injured Jinzhong and both pregnant ladies, Anna and Tracie.

ARFC started with this line-up:

GK - Haomin

DR - Marauding Guoxiong

Sweeper  - Astute-reading sweeper Elvis (captain)

Stopper - Towering Toh 

LB - Unbeatable Darren

RM - Talisman Derrick

CM - Combative Ron

CM - Unpredictable Blackburn

LM - Wonder Wayne

Striker - Powerful Alvin

Striker - ARFC Scoring Legend Haron

Subs:

Weilit

Jasper

Influential Sebastian (only arrived in 2nd half)

Absent:

Dependable Jinzhong

Speedy Hee

Hard-man Tjioe

Dynamic Soon

Mean-machine Hock

Steely Tze Ern

Sublime Khim

Talented Chun Haw

Long-throw specialist Norman

Precocious En Dian

Nippy Kenny

Right from the kick-off, it was clear that their left-back could not cope with Derrick's mesmerising dribbles at all and constantly chopped Derrick down whenever he glided past him. After about 4 to 5 fouls, the referee finally decided to take some action by cautioning the left-back.

From the resulting free-kick, Wayne curled the ball in which saw their keeper fumbled and dropped the ball just in front of the goal-line. Alas, no ARFC warrior was on hand to capitalise.

In the 25th min, their defence failed to clear the ball which saw Blackburn, continuing his good form in recent weeks, got to the ball. Without hesitation, he thundered in a torpedo which measured at 777 km/hr and their keeper could only pick the ball up from the net. This was Blackburn's 116th ARFC goal. 1-0

In the 40th min, Ron threaded in a through ball and Alvin raced clear. Alvin was brutally fouled by their last man just outside the box but the referee did not even caution. Derrick took a very quick free-kick while the opponents were still talking with the referee by laying the ball to Alvin. Alvin controlled the ball with a killer first touch and then thrashed the ball goalwards that went in off the far post.  Alvin had already started celebrating his goal by sprinting 99 cm when the referee strangely disallowed the goal, claiming that Derrick took the free-kick from wrong position!

In the 2nd half, Guoxiong shifted to CM while Jasper took his position. Darren also made way for Weilit who played LM with Wayne dropping to LB. Haron also took a well-earned break and Blackburn partnered Alvin upfront.

The opening 10 mins of the 2nd half saw ARFC totally dominating play with Ron winning every headers and tackles in CM. Guoxiong also played like a man possessed with his powerful penetrative runs from midfield, perhaps boosted by Tracie's presence.

A flowing move started from Jasper saw Derrick, Blackburn, Alvin exchanging passes before Blackburn prodded a slight-rule ball to Guoxiong who ran in from deep. Unfortunately he could not get a clean connection to the ball.

Blackburn then struck the cross-bar when his audacious chip from 47.77 metres almost ended up in the net.

Weilit and Wayne then combined down the left with Weilit's superb curling shot flew just wide.

Jasper then came in with several crucial interceptions.

Ron then earned a well-deserved break and was replaced by Darren. Soon after, Guoxiong signalled to be replaced by Sebastian.

Haron then came in for Blackburn and soon was in the thick of the action. Haron and Derrick exchanged passes which resulted in Alvin breaking clear. Unluckily, his low diagonal cross grounder struck the far post.

Alvin's corner was met by Toh but his header back to the near post was missed by Derrick by 0.77 cm.

Elvis then took a nasty knock and was replaced by Ron.

Haomin showed why he is regarded as one of the brightest young keeper in Singapore with his assured safe-handling and superb long kicks.

Haron then displayed great team-work by running back to close down on their midfielder who then hurried his shot.

In the end, ARFC held out for a 1-0 win and at the same time kept clean sheet for the 2nd consecutive match.

Man-of-the-Match is jointly given to Ron and Alvin.

Tze Ern becomes 2nd-time father...

On behalf of ARFC, I would like to extend heartiest congratulations to Tze Ern for becoming a 2nd-time father last Friday.....

On behalf of the government, I would also like to express our heart-felt sincere thanks to Tze Ern for boosting Singapore's fertility rate.....

On behalf of the diapers and milk powder companies, I would like to thank Tze Ern for contributing to the bottom-lines of those companies....

On behalf of Durex and other condoms companies, they would NOT like to thank Tze Ern for not being a customer of theirs....

League Match details - 23 Sep 2012

23 Sep 2012 (Sun)
5 pm = 1700 hrs
Northview Sec Sch

Opponent is Team BBG

ARFC coast to 3-0 victory

Playing against the other Old Victoria Old Boys team, ARFC showed what they are made of with a comfortable 3-0 victory. The clean sheet was extra sweetener and full credit to Derrick for volunteering to be keeper for the whole match. Most importantly, he produced a Man-of-the-Match display with several top notch saves. 

Captain of the day Toh sprung a huge surprise when he made the audacious and never-seen-before decision to bench both ARFC leading scorers, Haron and Alvin, and opted for a lone forward in Hee. This is akin to managers benching Ian Rush/Peter Beardsley, Graeme Sharp/Andy Gray, Robbie Fowler/Michael Owen, Mark Hughes/Brian McClair, Sundram/Fandi.

Despite having combined goals tally of more than 360 goals and $777 million worth of forwards on the bench, the ARFC fanatical fans were very understanding and were behind Toh and ARFC all the way. In fact, the fans treated ARFC warriors to 77 rounds of Mexican waves before the match. 

ARFC started with this 4-5-1 line-up:

Keeper             -          Talisman Derrick

Right-back         -          Marauding Guoxiong

Sweeper           -          Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Stopper           -           Towering Toh (captain)

Left-back         -           Unbeatable Darren

Left-mid          -           Unpredictable Blackburn

Centre-mid       -           Hard-man Tjioe

Centre-mid       -           Combative Ron

Centre-mid       -           Dynamic Soon

Right-mid         -           Weilit

Striker              -           Speedy Hee

Subs:

ARFC Scoring Legend Haron

Powerful Alvin

Jasper

Absent:

Influential Sebastian

Mean-machine Hock

Wonder Wayne

Steely Tze Ern

Sublime Khim

Talented Chun Haw

Long-throw specialist Norman

Precocious En Dian

Nippy Kenny

The match was even-stevens in the initial stages and Hee did really well in playing the lone forward role. Of course, he was ably supported by our midfielders who poured forward at every opportunity.

Derrick showed his worth by producing some good saves to keep ARFC in the match.

In the 20th min, the searing heat took its toll on the ARFC warriors and Alvin, Haron and Jasper replaced Weilit, Hee and Guoxiong respectively. With these changes, ARFC reverted to 4-4-2 with Tjioe moving to left midfield.

In the 30th min, Alvin threaded a through ball to Tjioe who reached the ball ahead of their keeper. Unfortunately, Tjioe's flick went just 0.77 mm wide of the gaping goal.

In the 65th min, ARFC finally took the lead. Guoxiong's long direct ball was picked up by Haron before their sweeper. Instinctively, Haron shoot on sight but was blocked by their covering defender. From the rebound, Alvin nonchalently chipped the ball ala Matthew Le Tissier over their stranded keeper for his 182nd ARFC goal! 1-0

Derrick then prevented them from equalising with a couple of saves.

In the 75th min, ARFC doubled its lead thanks to its deadly double devastating act of Haron and Alvin. Haron dribbled the ball forward and laid the ball out right to Alvin. Alvin also brought the ball in and returned the ball to Haron who continued his run. With a great first touch to kill the ball, Haron's second touch saw the ball bulging the net for his 181st ARFC goal ala Fernando Torres (the Liverpool version). 2-0

7 mins later, ARFC put the result to bed with Guoxiong's 14th ARFC goal. Off a Darren's stealth throw-in, Guoxiong turned his marker ala Mark Hughes, brought the ball forward and unleashed a thunderbolt that almost burst the net before their keeper could even see it! 3-0

With this goal, Guoxiong moved past Elvis who is on 13 goals.

Besides MOM award to Derrick, special mention mist be accorded to both Jasper and Weilit who are slowly getting tougher and tougher with each passing match.

ARFC let down by inept referee in 2-2 draw

Playing a friendly match at the rather brand-new artificial pitch at Anderson SS, ARFC was severely let down by the referee’s several dubious decisions to draw 2-2.

ARFC started with this line-up:

Keeper             -           Hao Min

Right-back       -           Marauding Guoxiong

Sweeper           -           Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Stopper                        -           Towering Toh (captain)

Left-back         -           Unbeatable Darren

Left-mid          -           Unpredictable Blackburn

Centre-mid       -           Hard-man Tjioe

Centre-mid       -           Combative Ron

Right-mid         -           Talisman Derrick

Striker              -           Powerful Alvin

Striker              -           Speedy Hee

Subs:

Dependable Jinzhong

Weilit

Jasper

Absent:

Dynamic Soon

Influential Sebastian

ARFC Scoring Legend Haron

Mean-machine Hock

Wonder Wayne

Steely Tze Ern

Sublime Khim

Talented Chun Haw

Long-throw specialist Norman

Precocious En Dian

Nippy Kenny

The match was quite evenly-matched from the start.

ARFC drew first blood in the 10^th min, Darren pumped in a long ball down the left flank for Alvin to chase. Alvin reached the ball just before 0.77 cm from out of play at the byline, beat their sweeper and pushed the ball inwards and towards goal.  His shot, however, was turned away for a corner.

From the resulting corner, Blackburn, on hot set-piece form in recent weeks, delivered an exquisite corner to Toh who simply thumped the ball home with his head for his 63^rd ARFC goal. 1-0

The incredible thing to note is that even way before Toh connected with his forehead and the ball hit the net, all the commentators like Martin Tyler, Jamie Redknapp, Gary Neville and Shebby Singh were already screaming “what a great goal!” This goes to show the deadly head Toh has.

In the 25^th min, Tjioe fouled the opponent and while the inept referee was talking to Tjioe, the opponent looped the ball forward to their striker who beat Hao Min. Despite furious protests, the referee strangely allowed the goal to stand.  1-1

However, we can learn from this incident too – we should always keep an eye on the ball even when the referee had stopped play.

In the 49^th min, Ron played a one-two with Alvin which saw the latter bursting into the box. However, before Alvin can pull the trigger, he was upended by their sweeper and the whole audience of 77 million viewers worldwide were expecting a penalty.  Incredulously, the referee waved play on!!!!

In the 50^th min, a brilliant cross-field ball ala Xabi Alonso/Jamie Redknapp by Alvinsaw Derrick coming in from deep and broke the off-side trap. Derrick chested the ball down ala Eric Cantona and was cruelly felled by their defender.  This time the referee awarded a clear-cut penalty and Elvis stepped up. However, Elvis’s kick to the keeper’s left was saved. Unlucky!

In the 65^th min, ARFC regained the lead. Blackburn took a quick throw-in to Derrick who returned the ball to him. Blackburn swung in a high cross that eluded their defence and Alvin then dashed in and headed the ball home ala Jurgen Klinsmann for his 181^st ARFC goal. 2-1

With this goal, Alvin again nudged ahead of Haron on 180^th goals.

In the 75^th min, the referee further infuriated the ARFC warriors and the 77 million supporters who were watching the match live. Derrick showcased his world-class dribbling skills by wriggling his way into the box ala Steve McManaman. Mesmerised by Derrick’s skills, their defender simply could not deal with Derrick and hacked Derrick down. With such an obvious foul, even the opponents were expected a penalty to be given against them but the poor referee had other ideas and waved play on!!

With 3 mins to go, their striker took a speculative shot that unfortunately struck the out-stretched hands of Ron and the referee erred again by giving a penalty when it’s not intentional. 2-2

Man-of-the-Match is jointly given to Ron and Tjioe for their tenacity and industry in covering every inch of the field and giving the opponents no space to breathe.  

Haron back to form in ARFC's victory

ARFC strengthened its bid for the Div 4 league title after chalking up a hard-fought but certainly well-deserved 2-1 win against TRSunday thanks a well-taken brace from Haron.

ARFC started with this line-up:

GK - Super-talented Hao Ming

RB - Marauding Guoxiong

Sweeper - Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Stopper - Towering Toh (captain)

LB - Unbeatable Darren

RM - Speedy Hee

CM - Unpredictable Blackburn

CM - Wonder Wayne

LM - Skillful Wei Lit

SC - Powerful Alvin

SC - ARFC Scoring Legend Haron

subs (all late):

Combative Ron

Talisman Derrick

Dynamic Soon

ARFC took the lead after just 9 mins. Alvin again dashed down the left wing, cut back and crossed from left. Hee thundered in a violent shot but was blocked by their keeper. The rebound fell to Haron who signalled his return to form by scoring with a quick shot before any of their defenders can react. 1-0 and this is Haron's 179th ARFC goal.

In the 19th min, ARFC doubled its lead. Darren's missile-like throw-in found Alvin who returned the ball to Darren. Darren's cross was missed by all their defenders and Haron confirmed and reiterated his return to form when he read the ball expertly and came in from the blind side to side-foot the ball home. With the goal, Haron is now on level terms with Alvin at 180 goals. 2-0.

In the 29th min, Hao Min confirmed that he was a better goal-keeping talent than Chun Haw when he conjured yet another world-class save. Faced with a one-on-one situation, Hao Min thwarted their forward when he swept the ball off his feet before the forward can shoot. What magnificent reading!

Just before half-time, the opponent pulled a goal back when their forward powered in a venomous shot which Hao Min kept out expertly. However, the rebound struck Darren unfortunately for an own goal. 2-1

In the 2nd half, ARFC tired significantly and the opponents dominated proceedings. However, ARFC's famed art of defending came to the fore again to held out for a victory.

Man-of-the-Match is Hao Min.