"New-signing" Kenny capped come-back with double

ARFC started its Silver League campaign on a winning note after notching a comfortable 6-1 victory over Moulmein CSC.

ARFC officially welcomed back Kenny after his horrendous knee injury and more good news were to follow with Kenny netted a fine double in his come-back match. His goals were witnessed by his beau Joy who simply bring joy (pun intended) to Kenny. With his goals, pace and guile, Kenny is just like a new $77 million signing for ARFC.

Elvis also made his appearance after fatherly duty.

Special credit to Derrick also for volunteering to be keeper after both custodians, Jinzhong and How Meng, dropped out of the match.

This is the starting line-up:

Keeper             -           Talisman Derrick

Right-back       -           Marauding Guoxiong

Sweeper           -           Astute-reading sweeper Elvis  

Stopper            -           Combative Ron

Left-back         -           Unbeatable Darren

Left-mid          -           Sublime Khim  

Centre-mid       -           Dynamic Soon

Centre-mid       -           Influential Sebastian

Right-mid         -           Unpredictable Blackburn

Striker              -           Powerful Alvin (captain)

Striker              -           Speedy Hee  

Subs:

Hard-man Tjioe

Nippy Kenny

Absent:

ARFC Scoring Legend Haron

Towering Toh

Composed Jackson

Dependable Jinzhong

Wonder Wayne  

Skillful Weilit

Resolute Jasper

Impeccable How Meng

Talented Chun Haw

Steely Tze Ern

Mean-machine Hock

Long-throw specialist Norman

Precocious En Dian

ARFC started brightly with some crisp passing but was unable to find a break-through.

Tragedy struck in the 7^th min when the opponents scored with their first attempt on goal after breaking ARFC’s off-side trap.

ARFC responded immediately with Guoxiong almost doing a Rafael da Silva moment (goal against QPR the night before) when he let fly a powerful shot from almost the same distance and spot as Rafael but his missile just missed the stanchion by a mere 0.77 cm.

Hee was next to miss when he turned superbly but his low diagonal shot was just 0.77 cm wide of the right post.

Alvin became the next culprit when he was put clear by Hee and faced their keeper one-on-one. To the amazement of the whole world, he sliced his shot wide and for that incredible miss, he received the “hair-dryer treatment” (worse than Alex Ferguson’s one) from both Ron and Blackburn.

To the warriors’ credit, they did not allow their heads to drop due to the misses and duly equalsied in the 17^th min.

As usual, ARFC’s best player of all time Khim was the architect when he delivered a precise ball to Alvin at the left. Alvin sent in a low cross and Hee continued his great form when he ghosted in from deep and lifted the ball over their keeper ala Thierry Henry for his 87^th ARFC goal. 1-1

ARFC doubled its lead 77 seconds later courtesy of yet another scud missile-like throw-in from Darren. His throw-in bounced deep into the 6-yard box and their keeper somehow pushed the ball onto the cross-bar. The rebound fell kindly to Alvin who simply touched the ball in for his 189^th ARFC goal. 2-1

Kenny then announced his return with a bang. From Blackburn’s throw-in, Khim trapped the ball ala Dennis Bergkamp and instead of shooting, he laid the ball to Kenny who ran in from deep ala Paul Scholes and thundered in a violent shot that went right through the palms of their keeper for his 12^th ARFC goal. 3-1

Hee had a chance to score but his weak hit was cleared off the line.

In the 2^nd half, Ron took over from Derrick but it was short-lived after his finger was injured by their forward and Derrick returned to goal.

ARFC continued pressing and demonstrated so many fantastic passing moves and support for each other. The passing was also sharp ala Liverpool in the 80s that the opponents were often caught chasing shadows.

It was from such a move that ARFC scored its 4^th goal in the match. After some crisp passing between Sebastian, Tjioe and Kenny, Guoxiong was sent down the right flank. Guoxiong fizzed in a brilliant cross ala David Beckham and Alvin stretched out his right foot and juts managed to prod the ball home (though their keeper got a touch) for his 190^th ARFC goal. 4-1

By now, the opponents were dead and buried and it was just a matter of time before ARFC grabbed more goals.

Kenny then capped his come-back with his 2^nd goal of the match. From Tjioe’s ball, Kenny simply unleashed a powerful shot that dipped over their keeper for his 13^th ARFC goal. 5-1 and with this goal, Kenny move up on level terms with Elvis at 13 goals.

From Derrick’s goal-kick ala Pepe Reina, Alvin won the challenge with their “Yakubu-like” stopper who was taller and much bigger than our Toh. Sprinting clear, Alvin scored with his outside right foot for his 191^st ARFC goal. 6-1

This was also Alvin’s 18^th hat-trick for ARFC.

Kenny had chance to notch his first-ever hat-trick for ARFC from a free-kick just 0.77 cm outside the box for a foul on him. However, his scorching shot went to row Z.

This was a match where every warrior played very well and it would be unfair to single out any warrior for Man-of-the-Match award. This was truly a team performance.

Hee, Haron and Alvin in stellar form in ARFC's victory

Resuming its playing calendar, ARFC showed no signs of ill-effects from all the bak kwa, pineapple tarts, love-letters, etc etc…by holding off a determined and strong challenge of Carmichael FC 4-2 on the back of an effervescent performance from Hee and the potent combination of Haron and Alvin.

This is the starting line-up:

Keeper             -           Dependable Jinzhong

Right-back       -           Marauding Guoxiong

Sweeper           -           Composed Jackson

Stopper            -           Towering Toh

Left-back         -           Unpredictable Blackburn (captain)

Left-mid          -           Speedy Hee  

Centre-mid       -           Combative Ron

Centre-mid       -           Influential Sebastian

Right-mid         -           Dynamic Soon

Striker              -           Powerful Alvin

Striker              -           ARFC Scoring Legend Haron

Subs:

Talisman Derrick (late)

Unbeatable Darren (spectator only)

 Absent:

Wonder Wayne  

Skillful Weilit

Resolute Jasper

Hard-man Tjioe

Impeccable How Meng

Talented Chun Haw

Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Sublime Khim

Steely Tze Ern

Mean-machine Hock

Long-throw specialist Norman

Precocious En Dian

Nippy Kenny

Despite missing a clutch of warriors, ARFC still come up of the blocks explosively and took the lead in the 7^th min.

A brilliant through ball from Ron saw Alvin scuppering away from their defence line all the way to the left. Drawing their keeper to him, Alvin spotted Haron coming in from deep and squared the ball across for Haron to easily roll the ball (speed about 77 cm/hour) into the empty net for his 184^th ARFC goal. 1-0

The opponents almost equalized from a corner but Guoxiong hacked the ball away at the goal-line ala Ashley Cole.

ARFC soon doubled its lead. From a throw-in, Alvin was pressured by their defender and the ball went loose. Soon continued his run from outside the box and met the ball instinctively and fired home with his side-foot for his 46^th ARFC goal. 2-0

ARFC could have killed off the match minutes later. Sebastian mimicked Ron’s earlier assist by prodding a similar ball to Alvin who was clear at the left. However, Alvin took too long with the ball and instead of passing to Haron who was also free on the right, the ball was cleared.

The opponents then pulled a goal back. 2-1

In the 2^nd half, Sebastian broke clear on the right bye-line but his cross-shot struck the cross-bar.

In another corner, Sebastian played a quick diagonal low ball to Blackburn whose ferocious shot was turned goalwards by Toh but his shot was blocked.

Derrick then struck the cross-bar with a venomous shot.

By now, ARFC warriors were tiring and the opponents also had 9 substitutes on their bench as compared to only one warrior substitute for ARFC.  Naturally, the opponents piled on the pressure but Jackson came to ARFC’s rescue with 3 crucial blocks.

After absorbing their pressure, ARFC broke clear after yet another link-up play between Alvin and Haron. Alvin held up the ball and played Haron through down the right flank. Showing nifty footwork, Haron slalomed his way down the flank and fizzled in a low cross for Hee, who came from behind, to rifle the ball into the roof of the net for his 86^th ARFC goal. What a superb team goal! 3-1

The opponents were now deflated and ARFC soon added a 4^th goal. Soon played a grounder to Sebastian who was just inside his own half. Sebastian lifted the ball off the ground and thumped the ball high into the area just outside their penalty box. Guoxiong then showed his superior fitness after his referee course by sprinting all the way from his right-back position and pressured their defender. Under intense pressure, their defender missed the clearance and Guoxiong gleefully played a small square ball to Alvin who nonchalantly chipped over their keeper ala Matthew Le Tissier for his 188^th ARFC goal. 4-1

With the victory wrapped up, ARFC loosened a bit and conceded another goal. 4-2

Men-of-the Match are jointly given to Hee (for his relentless pressure on opponents), Haron (for his classy touches and moves) and Alvin (for his dominant Drogba-like display).