Sunday, July 20, 2014

Hee shrugged off disappointment of Melissa's absence with 10-star display


Strangely enough, without the presence of Melissa, Hee dished out a perfect-10 performance to inspire ARFC to a 6-1 victory over WN Footie at Bedok View SS on Sunday.

ARFC was once again supported by Shidah and Aqeel, lovely queen and lively prince of Ismail, and Joy, who had the privilege to witness her king’s (Kenny) last-grasp goal just as when she reached the pitch.

ARFC started with this line-up:

Keeper - Commanding Ismail
Right-back - Dependable Jinzhong
Sweeper - Astute-reading sweeper Elvis  
Stopper - Towering Toh  
Left-back - Unbeatable Darren
Left-mid - Speedy Hee
Centre-mid - Influential Sebastian (captain)
Centre-mid - Dynamic Soon  
Right-mid - Talisman Derrick
Striker - Unpredictable Blackburn
Striker - Nippy Kenny

Subs:

Powerful Alvin (late)
Impeccable How Meng (late)
Weilit (guest player- late)
Eng Lai (guest player)
Dom (Eng Lai’s son – guest player)

Absent:

ARFC Scoring Legend Haron
Marauding Guoxiong
Combative Ron
Wonder Wayne
Steely Tze Ern
Sublime Khim
Immaculate Indra
Hard-man Tjioe
Booming Boon

It was clear from the start that the opponent was also a passing team and both sides took some time to figure each other out.

ARFC made the break-through in the 17th min. Kenny and Hee combined well to get the ball into the penalty area. The ball was eventually retrieved by Toh near the right touch-line. Despite handicapped by his stiff neck, Toh still had a presence of mind to pass the ball out (just outside the 6-yard box) to Blackburn whose first shot was blocked by their keeper. From the rebound, Blackburn simply lashed the ball in for his 138th ARFC goal. 1-0

The opponents then equalized. 1-1.

Within 7 minutes, ARFC regained the lead.  Soon burst right through the heart of their midfield and found Alvin. In a flash, Alvin outside-right foot half-volley was hit sweetly but it struck the cross-bar with their keeper beaten. Thankfully, Alvin followed up with a propelling header for his 237th ARFC goal. 2-1

Ismail then came to ARFC’s rescue when he charged off ala Manual Neuer and foiled their striker who had broken ARFC’s off-side trap. World-class!

In the 2nd half, ARFC quickly put the result to bed with 2 quick-fire goals within 7 minutes of the re-start.

First, Weilit found space down the right flank and swung in a cross. Their keeper failed to collect cleanly and the ball fell to Hee who charged in from the far-post. Hee picked up the ball and fooled their keeper and defenders with a clever back-heel that saw the ball trickled into the net. 3-1 and this was Hee’s 96th ARFC goal.

ARFC then grabbed its 4th goal of the match. For the umpteenth time in the match, Kenny was brought down by yet another crunching-from-behind tackle. Sebastian chipped a diagonal free-kick down the left flank and Alvin managed to retrieve the ball before crossing the ball back into the danger area. How Meng won the header but his header was blocked by their keeper. Just as How Meng was about to kick the ball over the line, he was held back by their keeper, giving the inept referee no choice but to point to the spot. Sebastian stepped up and duly sent the keeper the wrong way for his 94th ARFC goal. 4-1

After about 20 minutes, ARFC scored its 5th goal of the match.  Derrick knocked a header from centre mid area to the right flank. Soon charged in like a bull and in one smooth stride and movement, swiveled and volleyed the ball over the keeper and to the far corner from almost 37.77 metres out! The goal was almost similar to Marco Van Basten’s Euro 88 final goal against the Soviet Union!

5-1 and this was Soon’s 61st ARFC goal.

With virtually the last kick of the match, Alvin found Kenny just outside the box at the right side. Seeing Joy walking into the venue, Kenny duly unleashed a scorcher that their keeper could not even see it before the ball nestled nicely to the far bottom corner. 6-1 and this was Kenny’s 42nd ARFC goal.

It would not be fair to end this match report without special mention of Elvis who was immaculate with the timing of his tackles and marshalling of the back-line.

Voting results:

Hee – 10
Soon – 8
Alvin – 5
Kenny – 4
Sebastian – 4
How Meng – 2
Jinzhong – 1
Ismail – 1
Blackburn – 1
Elvis – 1
Darren – 1
Derrick – 1

No comments: