ARFC's hat-trick heroes (as at 31 Dec 2012)

This is the elite band of ARFC hat-trick heroes:

Alvin (17 hat-tricks; 58 goals);

Haron (11; 37);

Robin (10; 39);

Blackburn (6, 18);

Hee (4; 14);

JiongJiong (4; 14);

Sebastian (4; 12);

Derrick (2; 9)

Jeffrey (2; 7)

Tjioe (2;7)

Chun Haw (2:6)

David (1; 4)

Jesmond (1; 4)

Tong, Kiat, Hock, Tino, Soon, Guoxiong, Yeong and Wayne (all 1;3)

ARFC's top scorers (as at 31 Dec 2012)

1.     Alvin - 187

2.     Haron - 183

3.     Blackburn - 120

4.     Hee - 85

5.     Sebastian - 83

6.     Robin - 69

7.     Toh - 64

8.     Tjioe - 58

9.     Derrick - 58

10. Jeffrey - 49

11. Khim - 49

12. Soon - 45

13. Kiat - 25

14. Tong - 24

15. David - 23

16. Jiongjiong - 21

17. Hock - 21

18. Jesmond - 19

19. Guoxiong – 15

20. Chun Haw - 15

21. Elvis - 13

ARFC round off 2012 with emphatic victory

In the last match in 2012 at Tampines SAFRA, ARFC had its best-ever attendance in recent memory when 20 warriors turned up. The only regular warriors who did not turn up are Hee and Ron. The match was also witness by Guoxiong’s beau, Tracie, who is looking very pretty in her pregnant state.

The huge turnout also saw an unprecedented line-ups and substitutions in that an almost different team played for about 20 mins in each half. The only exceptions were of course How Meng who played the entire match, and both Khim and Toh who played about ¾ of the match.

This is the starting line-up:

Keeper             -           Impeccable How Meng

Right-back       -           Marauding Guoxiong

Sweeper           -           Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Stopper                        -           Towering Toh

Left-back         -           Unbeatable Darren

Left-mid          -           Sublime Khim   

Centre-mid       -           Influential Sebastian  

Centre-mid       -           Hard-man Tjioe  

Right-mid         -           Dynamic Soon

Striker              -           Unpredictable Blackburn (captain)  

Striker              -           Talented Chun Haw

Subs:

ARFC Scoring Legend Haron

Powerful Alvin

Talisman Derrick

Dependable Jinzhong

Wonder Wayne  

Steely Tze Ern

Composed Jackson

Resolute Jasper

Skillful Weilit

 Absent:

Combative Ron

Speedy Hee

Mean-machine Hock

Long-throw specialist Norman

Precocious En Dian

Nippy Kenny

The starting caused a huge uproar as both ARFC’s leading scorers, Alvin and Haron, were confined to the bench. The fans also started throwing 777 rolls of toilet papers down the pitch to signal their displeasure but luckily they soon calmed down after witnessing that both Chun Haw and Blackburn were more than able to make up for their absences. Particularly, Chun Haw also showcased what a huge talent he is with his effervescent display upfront.

ARFC was totally all over the opponents throughout the match. In the 7^th min, ARFC deservingly took the lead when Blackburn’s well-floated corner from the right saw Toh reaching the ball first before their keeper came charging out and clashed into both Toh and Tjioe with the ball coming loose. In a flash, Chun Haw turned and lashed the ball low into the net for his 13^th ARFC goal. 1-0

ARFC doubled its lead in the 17^th min. Sebastian’s no-look reverse pass saw Guoxiong galloping down the right flank and sizzled a low and hard ball across goal. Their keeper somehow missed the ball and Chun Haw gratefully swept home his 14^th ARFC goal. 2-0.

Some critics may say that Chun Haw was lucky to score this goal but I think Chun Haw created his own luck when he at least made himself at the spot in anticipation. This is the hallmark of great strikers like Ian Rush, Gary Lineker, Haron and Alvin.

At the 20^th min mark, ARFC’s line-up became this:

Keeper             -           Impeccable How Meng

Right-back       -           Resolute Jasper

Sweeper           -           Composed Jackson

Stopper                        -           Dependable Jinzhong

Left-back         -           Wonder Wayne

Left-mid          -           Sublime Khim   

Centre-mid       -           Steely Tze Ern

Centre-mid       -           Skillful Weilit

Right-mid         -           Talisman Derrick

Striker              -           ARFC Scoring Legend Haron

Striker              -           Powerful Alvin

Haron came on and produced so many reverse no-look passes. Particularly, he combined so well with Derrick down the right and it was no surprise that ARFC’s 3^rd goal came from there.

In the 27^th min, Derrick and Haron exchanged eye-catching passes before Haron found his way to the right bye-line. Haron could have tried to be ARFC’s 1400^th goal-scorer but his unselfishness showed when he squared the ball across goal and Alvin came from the blindside to crash the ball into the unguarded net for his 187^th ARFC goal and ARFC’s 1400^th goal. 3-0!

In the 37^th min came the moment of the match. From an uncleared corner, Jinzhong executed a sharp turn and thundered in a fierce left-foot volley ala van Persie. Unfortunately, the venomous ball struck the cross-bar but the force of the shot was so powerful that it nearly broke the cross-bar into 7 pieces!!

In the dying mins of the half, Haron released Derrick down the right but the latter only produced a lame chip that was easily picked up by the keeper.

This is the line for the starting 2^nd-half:

Keeper             -           Impeccable How Meng

Right-back       -           Resolute Jasper

Sweeper           -           Composed Jackson

Stopper                        -           Towering Toh

Left-back         -           Unbeatable Darren

Left-mid          -           Talisman Derrick

Centre-mid       -           Influential Sebastian  

Centre-mid       -           Steely Tze Ern

Right-mid         -           Marauding Guoxiong

Striker              -           Unpredictable Blackburn (captain)  

Striker              -           Powerful Alvin

ARFC then conceded a free-kick from probably their only shot on target. 1-3

ARFC continued to dominate proceedings and chances were aplenty though not capitalized.

In the 65^th min mark, ARFC again made a raft of substitutions and the line-up is now this:

Keeper             -           Impeccable How Meng

Right-back       -           Dependable Jinzhong

Sweeper           -           Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Stopper                        -           Towering Toh

Left-back         -           Wonder Wayne  

Left-mid          -           Sublime Khim   

Centre-mid       -           Dynamic Soon

Centre-mid       -           Hard-man Tjioe  

Right-mid         -           Skillful Weilit

Striker              -           ARFC Scoring Legend Haron

Striker              -           Talented Chun Haw

Sebastian nearly scored 7 mins into the half. Picking up an half-cleared ball from a corner, Sebastian faked a shot with his right foot but his left-footer curling ball just went 0.007 m wide of the goal.

ARFC regained the 3-goal cushion courtesy of some great work by both Tjioe and Wayne down the right. Both of them swooped in and pressured their left-back into giving away possession down the right by-line.  Tjioe moved in and cut the ball back to Khim who came in from deep. This time round, Khim showed Sebastian how it is done when he faked to shoot with his left foot, fooled their defender and then planted the ball into the bottom left-hand corner with his right foot for his 49^th ARFC goal. 4-1.

With his goal, Khim moved on level with Jeffrey on 49 ARFC goals.

ARFC again created so many chances that I lost count. In the last kick of the match, Chun Haw notched his consecutive hat-trick for ARFC. Jinzhong whipped a cross-field ball from right all the way to Khim on the left. Without breaking stride, Khim lobbed in a ball that sailed over their defence line. With the ball bouncing towards their keeper, Chun Haw showed his hunger and devoured the ball by dashing in and plant a looping header over their keeper for his 15^th ARFC goal and 2^nd ARFC hat-trick. 5-1

Every warrior played very well and Man-of-the-Match is jointly given to both Soon and Khim.

However, I want to pay special tribute to ARFC’s defence led by Elvis and comprising Toh, Guoxiong, Darren, Ron, Jasper, Blackburn and at times Wayne and Tze Ern. With these unsung heroes and their “silent contribution”, ARFC would never have a steady platform to attack and attack.

Chun Haw's 1st ARFC hat-trick

Hugely inspired by Liverpool’s thumping 4-0 victory over Fulham, ARFC played like Liverpool (in the 80s) to completely destroyed the OVA team 6-2 at the nice artificial pitch on a cool afternoon.

ARFC welcomed back club captain Sebastian after so many matches out but more importantly, Khim’s last-min appearance really upped every warrior’s spirit.

ARFC started with this line-up:

Keeper             -           Impeccable How Meng

Right-back       -           Minghui (guest player)

Sweeper           -           Combative Ron

Stopper             -           Towering Toh

Left-back         -           Unbeatable Darren

Left-mid          -           Sublime Khim   

Centre-mid       -           Influential Sebastian   

Centre-mid       -           Dynamic Soon

Right-mid         -           Marauding Guoxiong (captain)

Striker              -           Unpredictable Blackburn  

Striker              -           Talented Chun Haw

Subs:

Resolute Jasper

Skilful Weilit

 Absent:

Hard-man Tjioe

Steely Tze Ern

Speedy Hee

Dependable Jinzhong

Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Powerful Alvin

Wonder Wayne  

Talisman Derrick

ARFC Scoring Legend Haron

Mean-machine Hock

Long-throw specialist Norman

Precocious En Dian

Nippy Kenny

The first 10 mins was the best-ever ARFC performance I have ever witnessed and ARFC could have easily led by 4-0 or 5-0 by the 10^th min!!!!

Within 77 seconds, ARF took the lead after a clever inter-passing which started at the right-back area. Minghui, Guoxiong and Sebastian exchanged slick short passes before Sebastian pinged a high ball over to Blackburn who was outside the penalty box. Without hesitation, Blackburn in turn lofted the ball in the penalty box to Chun Haw who broke clear with a clever run and instinctively volleyed the ball home with his left foot ala Robin van Persie for his 10^th ARFC goal. The shot was so powerful that it nearly burst the net! 1-0

Another 77 seconds later and ARFC was 2-0 up with yet another slick passing ground moves. The ball was worked from the left from Khim to Soon to Chun Haw to Blackburn and then to Guoxiong who was just outside the box. Guoxiong feigned to shoot with this right foot, switched the ball to his left and then swept the ball in with his inside left foot for his 15^th ARFC goal. 2-0

In the 7^th min, Sebastian exchanged one-two with Khim who played the ball in with a slide-rule pass and Sebastian broke their off-side by running in from deep. Faced with only their keeper, Sebastian somehow lost his footing and their keeper gratefully kept the ball.

77 seconds later, Soon nearly scored. Again, the ball was worked between Darren, Khim, Chun Haw, Blackburn but Soon’s shot hit the cross-bar.

Tragedy then struck when the opponents scored with their 1^st attack in the match. 2-1.

Just before half-time, ARFC won a free-kick and Blackburn’s superb long-range free-kick flew right through the palms of their keeper for his 120^th ARFC goal. 3-1

  

It took just 77 seconds for ARFC to extend its lead. Guoxiong was the chief architect when he exchanged at least 3 to 4 wall-passes with Chun Haw who then took a great first touch in the box and before their defender can close in, Chun Haw thrashed the ball low and hard into the far bottom corner for his 11th ARFC goal. 4-1

ARFC put the result to bed when Darren conjured a world-class over-lapping run from left back all the way to the left by-line ala Roberto Carlos in his prime years. His low sizzling cross was met by Chun Haw who nipped ahead of their defender and duly whipped the ball into the net for his 12^th ARFC goal. 5-1

With this hat-trick, Chun Haw joined the elite band of hat-trick heroes in ARFC.

ARFC then conceded another goal. 5-2

How Meng then underlined his brilliant agility when he was nearly caught off-guard by a long-range missile from their midfielder. The ball sailed over How Meng and looked to be headed to the top left-hand corner of the goal. Displaying superb leopard-like leaping agility, How Meng took 2 steps back, leaped and pushed the ball onto the cross-bar for a corner.

The save was so world-class that even veteran commentator Martin Tyler was stunned and all he can say was “Oh my God! This save just reminded me of a certain Gordon Banks in the 1970 World Cup save against Pele!! This boy has great future! ”

In the last “head” of the match, Blackburn’s precise corner from the left was met by who else but Toh who stooped a bit to head the ball through a sea of players for his 64^th ARFC goal. 6-2

Man-of-the-Match is given to Blackburn for his goal and assists. Having said that, the whole team played really really well.

ARFC in record drawn score-line (6-6!!!)

On the back on an inspiring performance not seen from Blackburn for a long long time, ARFC squandered a 3-0 early lead, fell behind 5-6, and eventually managed to snatch an equalizer to draw  6-6 despite laying siege on the opponents’s goalmouth in the last 10 mins of the match.

The 6-6 stalemate was also a record draw score-line for ARFC.

ARFC started with this line-up:

Keeper             -           Impeccable How Meng

Right-back       -           Jackson

Sweeper           -           Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Stopper                        -           Dependable Jinzhong

Left-back         -           Unbeatable Darren

Left-mid          -           Speedy Hee

Centre-mid       -           Steely Tze Ern

Centre-mid       -           Dynamic Soon

Centre-mid       -           Unpredictable Blackburn  

Right-mid         -           Marauding Guoxiong (captain)

Striker              -           Powerful Alvin

Subs:

Talented Chun Haw

Jasper

Hard-man Tjioe (late) 

Towering Toh (late)

Absent:

Wonder Wayne  

Talisman Derrick

Combative Ron

Weilit

Influential Sebastian  

ARFC Scoring Legend Haron

Sublime Khim 

Mean-machine Hock

Long-throw specialist Norman

Precocious En Dian

Nippy Kenny

The match was nearly ruined by the heavy downpour just before the start. However, the wet weather seemed to have galvanised ARFC who took a 3-goal lead inside 20 mins.

In the 5^th min, Hee’s world-class speed paid dividends when their defender was just too slow, or rather hee was just too fast to the ball and he was hacked down.  Blackburn stepped up and thumped home his 117^th ARFC goal. 1-0

In the 15^th min, Chun Haw’s exquisite through ball was latched on to perfection by Hee who duly shot home his 85^th ARFC goal. 2-0 and Hee moved further ahead from Sebastian who was still stuck at 83 goals.

In the 20^th min, Blackburn’s left-wing cross was given a huge aid from Toh who pressured their keeper. With such a towering presence, their keeper only “had eyes for Toh” and the ball flew straight in. 3-0 and it was Blackburn’s 118 goals for ARFC.

ARFC then conceded a goal in the 25^th min. 3-1

ARFC restored its 3-goal cushion when Darren produced yet another superb long-range through ball for Alvin. Alvin raced clear and spotting their keeper coming out, deftly chipped over him for his 186^th ARFC goal. 4-1 

with this goal, Alvin moved 3 goals ahead of Haron.

ARFC then conceded another goal. 4-2

In the 38^th min, Blackburn and Toh again combined to devastating effect. Again, Blackburn crossed from the left and under intense pressure from Toh, their defender headed into his own net. 5-2 and this was the 29^th own goals conceded by ARFC’s opponents down the years.

Just before half-time, ARFC conceded another goal to lead 5-3 at the break.

The rain finally stopped at half-time and ARFC soon went to sleep by conceding 3 goals to opponents within 10 mins. This is very eerie as this was almost the time needed by ARFC to score 3 goals in the first half!!

In the 70^th min, ARFC grabbed the equalizer. From Jasper’s quick throw-in, Alvin spun past his marker and galloped down the right flank instead of his usual trade-mark left-flank run. Looking up, Alvin squared the ball across goal and Blackburn came from deep to sweep the ball into the gaping net for his 119^th ARFC goals. 6-6

This was also Blackburn’s 6^th ARFC hat-trick.

In the last 10 mins, ARFC piled on the pressure bombarded the opponent’s goal. ARFC won 5 corners in a row and all corners were connected by ARFC warriors. Unfortunately, it did not result in any goal as the balls were either blocked by their players or clawed away by their keeper.

Man-of-the-Match is given to Blackburn for his goals and assist. 

Inspirational Chun Haw ended ARFC's 4-match winless streak

Fielding a team with the lowest average age not seen since the early 90s, ARFC ended its 4-match winless-streak (3 draws and 1 defeat) after laboring to a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over a young opponent comprising players with average age of 20 years old.

This victory was especially sweet as many ARFC warriors were played out of their normal positions and also many regulars were missing.

Special credit also to Jinzhong for playing despite having exams.

ARFC started with this line-up:

Keeper             -           Impeccable How Meng

Right-back       -           Weilit

Sweeper           -           Combative Ron

Stopper            -           Dependable Jinzhong

Left-back         -           Jasper

Left-mid          -           Unbeatable Darren

Centre-mid       -           Talented Chun Haw

Centre-mid       -           Unpredictable Blackburn  

Right-mid         -           Talisman Derrick

Striker              -           Wonder Wayne  

Striker              -           Powerful Alvin (captain)

Subs:

Marauding Guoxiong

Speedy Hee

Alex (guest player)

Jackson (guest player)

Sugasun (guest player)

Absent:

Dynamic Soon

Influential Sebastian  

Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

ARFC Scoring Legend Haron

Towering Toh

Steely Tze Ern

Hard-man Tjioe 

Sublime Khim 

Mean-machine Hock

Long-throw specialist Norman

Precocious En Dian

Nippy Kenny

For several times, Alvin burst down the left flank ala John Barnes (in his younger days) but his crosses were either missed or cleared by the opponents before reaching Wayne.

Just 77 seconds before half-time, Chun Haw was controversially ruled to have caught their forward when he got to the ball first. They scored from the spot. 0-1

ARFC equalized just 3 mins after the re-start. Alvin bullied his way through the centre and played in Wayne who nonchalantly shot home for his 8^th ARFC goal. 1-1

ARFC made the break-through courtesy of yet another speedy steal from who else but Hee. Hee robbed their left-back and galloped down the right flank ala Andrei Kanchelski. His stiff grounder square ball saw Chun haw coming in from deep to slide home his 9^th ARFC goal. 2-1

Man-of-the-Match must be given to Chun Haw not because he scored the winning goal (for those who know me – I usually placed higher weightage to players who created/assisted the goals), but his versatility in playing very well in 3 different positions in centre-back, centre-mid and then forward.