2 hat-trick heroes in 12-1 victory

In a totally one-sided match, ARFC demolished a young Green Hornets 12-1. The land-slide victory produced 2 hat-trick heroes in Alvin and Kenny.

The match was witnessed by Anna and Tiara, girlfriends of Elvis.

ARFC started with this line-up:

Keeper - Commanding Ismail

Right-back - Unbeatable Darren

Sweeper - Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Stopper - Towering Toh

Left-back - Wonder Wayne

Left-mid - Unpredictable Blackburn

Centre-mid - Influential Sebastian (captain)

Centre-mid - Dynamic Soon

Right-mid - Nippy Kenny

Striker - ARFC Scoring Legend Haron  

Striker - Powerful Alvin

Subs:

Dependable Jinzhong

Talisman Derrick

Absent:

Combative Ron

Speedy Hee

Marauding Guoxiong

Steely Tze Ern

Sublime Khim

Impeccable How Meng

Hard-man Tjioe

Booming Boon

ARFC signaled its intent when it took just 77 seconds to open the scoring. Sebastian side-footed a low ball down the right flank ala Xabi Alonso for Kenny to run in from deep. Kenny’s cross was blocked by their defender who fell after blocking. Before he could react, Alvin dashed in and simply thumped the ball in. 1-0 and this was Alvin’s 232^nd ARFC goal.

77 seconds later, ARFC doubled its lead. Darren’s missile-like throw-in was touched by Blackburn who could not get a clean connection. However, the ball bounced off the foot of their unfortunate defender for an own goal. 2-0 and this was the 33^rd own goal conceded to ARFC.

Kenny then got on the scoring act when he picked up a loose ball and hit a thunderous shot that gave their keeper no chance at all. 3-0 and this was Kenny’s 38^th ARFC goal.

Sensing an avalanche of goals, Sebastian quickly replaced Haron with Derrick, giving the latter a chance to equal Alvin’s record of scoring in 9 consecutive matches.

That moment arrived soon. Sebastian pinged a high long ball over their defence that saw Derrick racing clear to face their keeper alone. Derrick then tried to round the keeper but was brought down instead. Naturally, Derrick brushed off all other penalty-takers to send their keeper the wrong way for his 86^th ARFC goal. 4-0

With this goal, Derrick has now equaled Alvin’s record.

Kenny then produced a similar goal scored by Gareth Bale in the Copa La Ray final against Barcelona this season. Racing from left, Kenny simply kept on running down the left flank and cut inwards when reaching the penalty box. With no opponents matching his speed, Kenny had all the time in the world to dispatch the ball to the far post for his 39^th ARFC goal. 5-0

Haron then came on for Alvin. Darren sent in a ball down the right for Derrick who then fizzed a ball into the box. Kenny took a touch but the ball went away from him. When everyone was expecting the ball to roll out for a goal-kick, Haron popped up from nowhere to prod the ball over the line for his 208^th ARFC goal. 6-0.

In the 2^nd half, ARFC continue to show no mercy. Within 77 seconds, Haron notched his second of the match. Alvin showed immerse power and strength to dribble down the left touch-line. Alvin then passed to Haron who was standing at the top of the 6-yard box. Displaying McManaman-like skills, Haron slalomed his way past 3 defenders and then coolly placed the ball home for his 209^th ARFC goal. 7-0.

Derrick then passed to Alvin who again whacked the ball past their exposed keeper for his 233^rd ARFC goal. 8-0.

Kenny then grabbed his hat-trick. Sebastian again chipped the ball right over their defence and sensing their hesitancy, Kenny nicked the ball away from him and drove the ball into the net. 9-0 and this was Kenny’s 40^th ARFC goal.

This was also Kenny’s 2^nd hat-trick for ARFC which netted 7 goals.

ARFC then conceded a goal. 9-1

Sebastian then pressed their sweeper into giving the ball away. Sebastian then passed to Alvin who dribbled upfield. Alvin then returned the ball to Sebastian who continued his run.  Faking a shot with his right foot, Sebastian switched the ball to his left foot and placed a diagonal ball across their keeper for his 91^st ARFC goal. 10-1.

Alvin then also chalked up a hat-trick. From Kenny’s pass, Alvin really just powered in a cannon for his 234^th ARFC goal. 11-1

This was Alvin’s 22^nd ARFC hat-tricks which resulted in 73 goals.

ARFC was not done scoring. Sebastian exchanged an one-two pass with Blackburn and before their defenders could close in, toe-poked the ball past the despairing dive of their keeper. 12-1 and this was Sebastian’s 92^nd ARFC goal.

Voting results:

Kenny – 9

Alvin – 8

Elvis – 4

Darren – 4

Sebastian – 2

Soon – 2

Jinzhong – 2

Ismail – 2

Toh – 2

Blackburn – 1

Haron – 1

Derrick – 1

Wayne – 1

(Note: This is the first time that all playing warriors received at least 1 vote in the same match.)

ARFC in plucky 2-1 win over OVA

Playing at the Victoria School artificial pitch for the first time in 2014 and since 04 Aug 2013, ARFC eked out a scrappy 2-1 win against a determined OVA team.

ARFC’s victory was witnessed by Melissa and Lingzhi, wife of Hee and Ron respectively.

ARFC started with this line-up:

Keeper - Wonder Wayne

Right-back - Dependable Jinzhong

Sweeper - Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Stopper - Towering Toh

Left-back - Unbeatable Darren

Left-mid - Speedy Hee

Centre-mid - Marauding Guoxiong

Centre-mid - Unpredictable Blackburn

Right-mid - Talisman Derrick  

Striker - ARFC Scoring Legend Haron  

Striker - Powerful Alvin (captain)

Subs (all late):

Combative Ron

Nippy Kenny

Absent:

Influential Sebastian

Commanding Ismail

Steely Tze Ern

Dynamic Soon

Sublime Khim

Impeccable How Meng

Hard-man Tjioe

Booming Boon

Despite the heavy showers before kick-off, ARFC did not let the wet pitch affect it and started the match strongly and fluently.

However, the opponents scored in the 7^th min with its first attack of the match.

ARFC kept attacking and missed a few glit-edge chances with Haron and Derrick the main culprits.  ARFC then appeared to lose its patience and its cause was not helped by the absence of influential captain Sebastian who would have organized the team better on the field. Furthermore, ARFC was missing the harassing ability of Soon.

During the break, all ARFC warriors discussed the way to a fight-back and gave a war-cry that could even be heard from Mandarin Gardens condo.

Like Atletico Madrid, ARFC continued its relentless search for an equaliser. In the 67^th min, the elusive equalizer finally arrived. From centre of the field, Ron headed the ball to Blackburn who, displaying great awareness and precision, picked Derrick out with a through ball.  Derrick ran in from deep, beat the off-side trap and gleefully slotted the ball home for his 85^th ARFC goal. 1-1 and Derrick has continued his red-hot-chilli-peppers scoring form by netting in 8^th consecutive.

Derrick then subbed himself out and was replaced by Alvin.

Feeling hyped up with that equaliser, ARFC went for the throat by launching waves after waves of attack.  In a tactical master-stroke by Haron, ARFC also changed to a 4-5-1 formation to beef up the midfield.

The change seemed to galvanise the team which eventually resulted in a positive result for ARFC.  In the 77^th min, off an attacking move on the left, Alvin beat the offside trap and dribbled the ball from the corner flag.  Moving inwards towards goal and with Hee making a distracting move by running into the centre area, Alvin conned their keeper by shouting for Hee. Alvin then thundered in a venomous shot that squeezed past their keeper at his near post. 2-1 and this was Alvin’s 231^st ARFC goal.

Sensing that ARFC was tiring, the opponents then went for the kill and made several attacking moves but ARFC’s famed stingy defence held firm.

The opponent then scored but was incorrectly ruled out for a foul. Video replays also showed that there was no foul at all.  Lucky ARFC.

In the dying seconds, the opponent hit a missile of a free-kick that narrowly, just narrowly, flew wide of the frame of goal.

Voting results:

Ron – 9

Guoxiong – 9

Darren – 8

Blackburn – 4

Wayne – 3

Derrick – 2

Jinzhong – 1

Hee – 1

Kenny – 1

Alvin – 1

Haron's out-of-this-world goal in 7-1 victory

In a total-dominating 7 pm match at Tampines SAFRA, ARFC scored 7 goals in the second half to run out 7-1 victors.

Special special credit must be given to Ismail as he braved the “hair-dryer treatment” from his wife to appear in today’s match as today’s was Mother’s Day and MOST importantly, it’s his wife 18^th birthday too!!  Kudos to Ismail as he also managed to get his wife and son to support support

Melissa also turned out to support, further cementing her status as ARFC’s Supporter of the Year.

ARFC started with this line-up:

Keeper - Commanding Ismail

Right-back - Marauding Guoxiong

Sweeper - Combative Ron

Stopper - Towering Toh

Left-back - Unbeatable Darren

Left-mid - Wonder Wayne

Centre-mid - Influential Sebastian (captain)

Centre-mid - Unpredictable Blackburn

Right-mid - Speedy Hee

Striker - ARFC Scoring Legend Haron  

Striker - Nippy Kenny  

Subs:

Powerful Alvin

Talisman Derrick

Dependable Jinzhong

Absent:

Steely Tze Ern

Dynamic Soon

Sublime Khim

Impeccable How Meng

Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Hard-man Tjioe

Booming Boon

ARFC came out charging like a Tokyo bullet train with Kenny closing the opponents non-stop. However, ARFC was too hurried in its play and could not carve out decent chances.

Kenny then nearly caused the match to be abandoned in the 17^th min. From an indirect free-kick in the box, Wayne pushed the ball and Kenny nearly broke the crossbar into 77 pieces when his thunderbolt smacked against the cross-bar and bounced out. Thankfully, the frame of the goal held firm.

In the 2^nd half, ARFC finally took the lead in the 47^th min courtesy of a flowing move. From a free-kick won by ARFC in defence, Ron played the ball to Sebastian who passed on to Guoxiong. Guoxiong spread the ball out wide to Derrick whose cross found Alvin who thrashed the ball past their keeper for his 228^th ARFC goal. 1-0

ARFC then doubled its lead 77 seconds later. Derrick dribbled inwards but was blocked in the box. It could have been a penalty but the sharp referee played the advantage as the ball found its way to Alvin who was lurking at the left-hand side. Needing no second invitation, Alvin simply swept the ball home for his 229^th ARFC goal. 2-0

77 seconds later, ARFC tripled its lead. Sebastian found Derrick with a perfectly-weighted high ball down the right wing. Derrick burst in and with their keeper coming out o narrow the angle, Derrick continued his rich vein of scoring form by expertly dinking the ball over him for his 84^th ARFC goal. 3-0

With this goal, Derrick has scored in the 7^th successive match. However, he was immediately replaced by Kenny.

Kenny made his presence felt immediately. With a clever pass, Kenny found Alvin who laid on the ball for Haron to casually stroke home his 206^th ARFC goal. 4-0

Alvin then grabbed his hat-trick in the 67^th min. Sebastian powered right through their defence and found himself surrounded by 2 defenders in the box. Kenny was free on the right but hearing Alvin’s call from the left, Sebastian back-heeled ala V. Sundram Moorthy for Alvin to come in from left and flash the ball into the net for his 230^th ARFC goal. 5-0.

This was Alvin’s 21^st ARFC hat-trick (resulted in 70 goals). This was also ARFC’s first hat-trick in 2014.

In between, Ron and Guoxiong also produced stunning recovery blocks on each occasion to prevent them from scoring.

Kenny finally got his reward in the 77^th min. Breaking their off-side trap, Kenny latched on to a fantastic ball from Blackburn? to coolly dispatch the ball past their keeper for his 37^th ARFC goal. 6-0

Haron then put the icing on the cake with the goal of the match, and possible goal of the season. Sebastian started a break-away move from deep and spread the ball to Derrick on the right. Derrick finally delivered a precise cross and Haron produced a breath-taking world-class brilliant scissor-kick ala Fandi Ahmad to shock the whole world, leaving their keeper rooted to the spot. Really world-class goal! 7-0 and this was Haron’s 207^th ARFC goal.

ARFC then conceded a late goal to emerge 7-1 winners.

Voting results:

Guoxiong – 9

Alvin – 8

Ron – 7

Sebastian – 6

Haron – 5

Derrick – 2

Hee – 2

Darren – 2

Jinzhong – 1

Soon scored ARFC 2nd-fastest goal in shock 4-5 loss

Despite the presence of Khim, arguably ARFC’s best player of all time, ARFC somehow succumbed to a surprise 4-5 defeat to Vivala Paris at the brand-new pristine artificial pitch at Pasir Ris Crest SS.

ARFC was supported by Melissa, Hee’s beau, who turned up to support despite carrying an ankle injury. Surely a prime candidate for ARFC Supporter of 2014!

Ismail’s lovely family also braved the heat by turning up!

ARFC started with this line-up:

Keeper - Commanding Ismail

Right-back - Marauding Guoxiong

Sweeper - Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Stopper - Towering Toh

Left-back - Sublime Khim

Left-mid - Speedy Hee

Centre-mid - Influential Sebastian (captain)

Centre-mid - Dynamic Soon

Right-mid - Talisman Derrick

Striker - Powerful Alvin

Striker - Nippy Kenny  

Subs:

Unpredictable Blackburn

Combative Ron (late)

Steely Tze Ern (late)

Indra (guest player)

Absent:

Impeccable How Meng

Hard-man Tjioe

ARFC Scoring Legend Haron

Unbeatable Darren

Dependable Jinzhong

Wonder Wayne

Booming Boon

ARFC made a flying start when a goal came after only 5 ARFC warriors touched the ball. Alvin and Kenny kicked off the match which saw the ball passed to Sebastian who chipped the ball down the right. The left-back headed back and Soon picked up the ball. Passing the ball down the right to Derrick, Soon continued his foray into the box. Derrick squared in a low ball and Soon arrived from deep to duly sweep the ball home! 1-0 and this was Soon’s 58^th ARFC goal.

The referee later said that it took only 33 seconds for Soon’s goal which is the 2^nd-fastest goal in ARFC’s history.

The fastest goal was scored by Alvin (about 17 seconds!!) in a land-slide 7-0 victory over Yellow Submarine on 11 Sep 2008.

ARFC continued it fiery start when Alvin poked the ball through to Kenny whose fierce shot rattled the cross-bar and almost broke it! Unlucky…

From the counter-attack, the opponents equalized. 1-1

Kenny’s bad luck continued when his under-hit shot squirmed past their keeper but bounced off the left post.

From Sebastian’s corner, Toh headed the ball back across goal but no one was there to capitalize.

Sebastian then executed a no-look pass into Alvin’s path but their defender made a superb recovery to block off Alvin.

From another counter-attack, the opponents scored. 1-2

Alvin was then sent off after collecting his second yellow in the match. Sportingly, the opponents allowed ARFC to make a substitution but would not allow Alvin from playing a further part in the match.

Kenny’s fortune finally took a turn when he scored. Blackburn showed supreme vision when his perfectly-weighted grounder pierced right into the heart of the defence and Kenny took a great first touch before lifting the ball over their keeper for his 36^th ARFC goal. 2-2

Sebastian then left at half-time for a family event.

In the 2^nd half, ARFC continued its relentless attack which reaped dividends after Blackburn chalked up another assist for Derrick to score his 83^rd ARFC goal. 3-2

With this goal, Derrick has now scored in the 6^th successive match!

However, the record is still being held by Alvin who netted in 9^th consecutive matches in 2008!

Things got better for ARFC. From a loose ball, Indra, who had such an impressive match but was not eligible for the votes, arrived from deep and without breaking his stride, repeated Steve Nicol’s 1986 league goal when he leashed in a world-class half-volley that had goal screaming all the way. True enough, the ball bulleted through a sea of defenders to hit the top left-hand corner! Brilliant and this was Indra’s 2^nd ARFC goal. 4-2

Ron was then sent off for committing a professional foul after he brutally hacked their midfielder to pieces after the latter had breached the entire defence and headed for goal.

Surprisingly, ARFC suffered a melt-down and conceded 2 penalties and a late goal to lose 4-5.

Voting results:

Derrick – 10

Soon – 9

Tze Ern – 9

Khim – 3

Kenny – 3

Blackburn – 2

Ismail – 2

Guoxiong – 2

Hee – 1

Elvis – 1