Derrick continues his amazing scoring run with 4-goal salvo in 7-1 win

Coming up against ex-ARFC warrior Eng Lai’s team, Rangers FC, ARFC put in a professional outing to dismiss them 7-1 under a very surprising cool weather at Pasir Ris Crest SS.

ARFC welcomed back Kenny from his 2-week hiatus but he has to settle for a place on the bench.

ARFC started with this line-up:

Keeper - Commanding Ismail

Right-back - Marauding Guoxiong

Sweeper - Combative Ron  

Stopper - Dependable Jinzhong

Left-back - Unpredictable Blackburn

Left-mid - Speedy Hee

Centre-mid - Influential Sebastian (captain)

Centre-mid - Dynamic Soon  

Right-mid - Talisman Derrick

Striker - ARFC Scoring Legend Haron

Striker - Powerful Alvin

Subs:

Nippy Kenny

Absent:

Unbeatable Darren

Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Towering Toh

Wonder Wayne

Steely Tze Ern

Sublime Khim

Impeccable How Meng

Hard-man Tjioe

Booming Boon

It did not take long for ARFC to stamp its superiority on the match. From Hee’s long ball down the left channel, Alvin quickly sped down and cut slightly inwards. Before their right-back could close in, Alvin whipped in a vicious cross with his outside right foot that measured at 377 km/hr.  The ball was so fast that their retreating left-back could not avoid the ball in time and diverted the ball past his bewildered keeper for an own goal.   1-0 and this was the 34^th own goal conceded by ARFC’s opponents.

ARFC doubled its lead with a text-book corner routine. From Sebastian’s floating corner, Derrick showed that there is life after Toh for corner routine when he jumped highest to knock in a header ala Mat Hummels’ goal against Portugal. Their defender tried to clear the ball from under the goal-line but the ball had already crossed the line. 2-0 and this was Derrick’s 91^st ARFC goal.

Incidentally, this goal was also ARFC’s 100^th goal in the year 2014. In addition, Derrick has extended his amazing goal-scoring run to a 13^th consecutive matches!

Haron almost extended ARFC’s lead but from Kenny’s right-wing cross, Haron’s header skimmed the cross-bar. Unlucky!

Hee, Sebastian, Alvin and Soon also came up with shots but could not hit the target.

ARFC then conceded from a corner to lead 2-1 at half-time.

In the 2^nd half, ARFC scored its 3^rd goal in the match. Derrick exchanged a series of wall-passes with Haron before dispatching the ball home from just outside the 6-yard box. 3-1 and this was Derrick’s 92^nd ARFC goal.

Haron was again unlucky when from Sebastian's corner on the right, Haron eluded his marker but unfortunately thumped his header against the cross-bar again! Unlucky!

Derrick soon grabbed his hat-trick. Sebastian’s cross-field ball was hit down the left-hand side and Alvin came in from deep to face their keeper in the box. Alvin's shot was then saved by their keeper but the ball deflected kindly to Derrick who duly side-footed the ball into the empty net. 4-1 and this was Derrick’s 93^rd ARFC goal and 4^th-ever hat-trick for ARFC.

Derrick was not done. Blackburn pinged a long ball from left-back position down the right touch-line. Everybody, including the referee, thought the ball would roll out for a goal-kick. However, Guoxiong had other ideas when he chased the ball, retrieved the ball just before the ball hit the line and squared the ball into the 6-yard box. Derrick was the ultimate beneficiary when he bundled the ball past the keeper’s near-post for his 94^th ARFC goal. 5-1

Derrick’s 4^th hat-tricks saw him chalked up 18 goals. He moved past Sebastian and is now just one goal shy of Hee’s 95 ARFC goals.

Derrick then earned a penalty when he was upended. However, Ismail squandered the chance when he side-footed the spot-kick wide of goal.

Sebastian then got into the scoring act. Receiving a lay-off from Kenny about 37 metres from goal, Sebastian killed the ball with a superb first-touch, looked up and then chipped an exquisite ball ala Matthew Le Tissier that landed nicely at the top right-hand corner of their keeper’s goal, totally catching the keeper out. 6-1 and this was Sebastian’s 93^rd ARFC goal.

Haron finally got things right at the 3rd-time asking when he put the icing on the cake with minutes to go. Guoxiong, who had a dominating display at right-side, chipped the ball across the field and Haron took the ball down brilliantly. Haron allowed the ball to roll across just outside the penalty box which totally confused their defenders. Following the ball and before their keeper could close down, Haron’s deft touch with his inside right foot saw the ball rolled past their keeper and slowly inside the near post with a speed of just 77m/hr for his 211st ARFC goal. 7-1

Ismail then atoned for his penalty miss when he produced a Gordon Banks-like save against Pele when he back-pedalled and tipped the ball, destined for the top right-hand corner, over for a corner kick. Simply world-class save!

Voting results:

Derrick – 9

Guoxiong – 6

Ron – 4

Jinzhong – 4

Alvin – 4

Sebastian – 3

Haron – 2

Soon – 2

Hee – 2