Hee's the HEEro in land-slide 6-0 victory

Despite missing almost half of the first-team regulars, ARFC still have enough in the tank to rout The Riders 6-0 in a totally one-sided match.

ARFC was supported by Lingzhi, Ron’s capable and lovely wife.

Kudos to Darren too for turning up to play one half despite having to attend to pressing family matters.

ARFC started with this line-up:

Keeper - Commanding Ismail

Right-back - Dependable Jinzhong

Sweeper - Combative Ron

Stopper - Towering Toh (captain)

Left-back - Unbeatable Darren  

Left-mid - Speedy Hee

Centre-mid - Dynamic Soon

Centre-mid - Marauding Guoxiong

Right-mid - Weilit

Striker - Unpredictable Blackburn 

Striker - Powerful Alvin

Subs:

ARFC Scoring Legend Haron

Impeccable How Meng

Eng Lai (guest player)

Dominic (guest player)

Ah Chua (guest player)

Chun Haw (guest player)

Jasper (guest player)

Absent:

Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Talisman Derrick

Nippy Kenny

Influential Sebastian

Steely Tze Ern

Sublime Khim  

Wonder Wayne

Hard-man Tjioe

Immaculate Indra

Booming Boon

Playing under a scorching heat and buoyed by the large last-min turnout, ARFC got off a to a great start when it opened the floodgates in the 17th min. Hee got the ball in the box and did a body feint before twisting away from the onrushing defender who callously kicked Hee's ankle from behind, leaving the referee with no choice but to award a penalty to Apex. Blackburn brushed aside all aspiring penalty-takers by casually stroked the ball home for his 140^th ARFC goal. 1-0

Barely 2minutes later, ARFC doubled its lead when Hee send a hopeful through ball in the middle of the field which was miskicked by the defender, allowing Alvin to face the goalkeeper one on one. Alvin shrugged off his profligacy in the previous matches by calmly dribbled past the goalkeeper before rolling the ball into the empty net. 2-0 and this was Alvin’s 239^th ARFC goal.

In the 27th min, ARFC put the result to bed with Hee yet again playing a pivotal role.  From a lovely through ball by Guoxiong in the middle, Hee’s crisp volley was parried by their keeper. Hee followed up and thumped his shot against an onrushing defender, ricochet off the bar and drop 0.99cm away from the goal line. Soon, who was lurking nearby from the blindside, had the simplest of job to tap the ball in for his 62^nd ARFC goal. 3-0.

Several substitutions were made in allowing everyone some playing time.

In the 37th min, off a corner taken by Blackburn, How Meng demonstrated that ARFC needed not always depend on Toh for headers when he leaped like a salmon to power in a bullet header for his 4^th ARFC goal. 4-0

Just before half-time, ARFC had a scare when an incident just outside its own box, saw Ron being clattered by the opponent's defender as they challenged for a high ball. Leaving up to his North Korean tank reputation, Ron escaped the incident unhurt while the defender suffered a deep cut causing blood to gush out from his forehead profusely.

ARFC good play continued in the second half albeit was wasteful in its attack which could have contributed to a bigger scoreline.

In the 59th min, Haron opened his account from a beautiful link-up play between the midfielders. Chun Haw tricked everyone when he delightfully dinked a through ball to the ever-running Soon who was coming from the blind side and managed to get the ball in the 6-yard box. Soon looked up and unselfishly passed the ball to Haron who had the easiest of task to tap the ball past the rooted keeper for his 214^th ARFC goal. 5-0.

How Meng got his second goal in the 77th min. Hee, who was having a field day at the left wing, sent a superb ball across the center of the goal. Haron could not reach there in time but managed to win the ball back. Haron looked up before sending a low ball in the middle. How Meng who was running in slightly miskicked his shot but it still managed to trickle pass the keeper towards the right bottom corner of the post. 6-0 and this was How Meng’s 5^th ARFC goal.

Voting results:

Soon – 7

Guoxiong – 5

Hee – 4

Alvin – 4

Haron – 3

How Meng – 3

Ron – 2

Jinzhong - 2

Kenny's world class goal salvaged 2-2 draw

For the second week in a row, ARFC could not killed off its opponents after taking the lead and had to settle for yet another draw, this time a 2-2 score against SR Voodoo.

ARFC was supported by Shidah and Aqeel, lovely queen and lively prince of Ismail, and Rayes, cute son of Darren.

ARFC started with this line-up:

Keeper - Commanding Ismail

Right-back - Marauding Guoxiong

Sweeper - Steely Tze Ern

Stopper - Towering Toh

Left-back - Unbeatable Darren  

Left-mid - Unpredictable Blackburn 

Centre-mid - Dynamic Soon

Centre-mid - Influential Sebastian

Right-mid - Nippy Kenny

Striker - Talisman Derrick (captain)

Striker - Powerful Alvin

Subs:

Impeccable How Meng

Astute-reading sweeper Elvis (late)

Dependable Jinzhong (late)

Weilit (guest player)

Absent:

ARFC Scoring Legend Haron

Combative Ron

Speedy Hee

Sublime Khim  

Wonder Wayne

Hard-man Tjioe

Immaculate Indra

Booming Boon

ARFC was obviously more affected by the heat but still had the initial control of the match though in all fairness, the opponents played with 10 men only.

Chances were a rare commodity though Kenny just narrowly failed to connect with Sebastian’s precise chip into the penalty box.

Derrick and Kenny then combined to put Alvin in the clear inside the box but Alvin took too long to take a shot and was closed down by their defender.

Derrick then won a free-kick just outside the box. From Alvin’s touch, Kenny’s fierce grounder a sea of defenders before the ball was cleared.

Blackburn’s corner from the left then caused mayhem as first Toh met the ball with a bullet header that was blocked by their defender. Derrick latched on the rebound but his shot was again blocked and subsequently cleared away.

ARFC then made 4 substitutions with the most immediate impact coming from How Meng. Within seconds of coming replacing Soon who was feeling a bit unwell, How Meng won the ball and dribbled upfield. He then exchanged a wall-pass with Derrick before driving into the box and dispatched the ball low into the bottom far corner to give ARFC the lead.

1-0 and this was his 3^rd ARFC goal, putting him on level terms with ARFC’s all-time best left-back by far at 3 goals.

In the 2^nd half, Kenny was set free by Alvin but he took the wrong option by going for goal when both Alvin and Blackburn were in a better position.

Darren then preserved ARFC’s lead after Ismail was beaten when he cleared off the line ala Ashley Cole.

The opponents then equalized from a counter-attack. 1-1

The opponents then took the lead in the dying minutes.1-2 and ARFC looked all dead and buried.

Incredulously, from the kick-off, Alvin touched to Kenny who unleashed a rocket that sailed all the way over their keeper ala Xabi Alonso to nestle nicely into the top left-hand corner. Simply brilliant and world-class! 2-2 and this was Kenny’s 45^th ARFC goal.

Special mention to Ismail who charged out several times to deny the opponents by making himself very big and commanding. The only weaknesses, probably, are his goal-kick and distribution. Once these 2 weaknesses are rectified, Ismail could well be on his way to becoming ARFC’s best goalkeeper.

Voting results:

Kenny – 11

Ismail – 10

Soon – 6

Tze Ern – 5

Darren – 2

Guoxiong – 2

How Meng – 2

Elvis – 1

Sebastian – 1

Blackburn – 1

Derrick – 1

ARFC in unlucky 1-1 draw

Despite an imperious display by Elvis and Toh, ARFC was let down by poor finishing in a 1-1 draw with Pioneer FC, the same opponent whom we lost 3-4 despite leading 3 times on 08 Jun 2014. 

ARFC was only supported by Melissa, rumoured-to-be Mrs Alan Chua soon.

ARFC started with this line-up:

Keeper - Dependable Jinzhong

Right-back - Combative Ron

Sweeper - Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Stopper - Towering Toh

Left-back - Unbeatable Darren  

Left-mid - Speedy Hee

Centre-mid - Dynamic Soon

Centre-mid - Influential Sebastian (captain)

Right-mid - Talisman Derrick

Striker - ARFC Scoring Legend Haron

Striker - Powerful Alvin

Subs:

Unpredictable Blackburn 

Weilit (guest player)

Absent:

Marauding Guoxiong

Commanding Ismail

Steely Tze Ern

Sublime Khim  

Nippy Kenny

Wonder Wayne

Impeccable How Meng

Hard-man Tjioe

Immaculate Indra

Booming Boon

ARFC started very well and kept its opponents in their own half. Particularly, Alvin created much giving their defenders a hard time.

ARFC took the lead in the 7^th min. Toh, who was sweeping up all aerial balls whole day, headed a high ball back towards the opponents half. Under pressure from Soon, their keeper charged out and made a hasty clearance to the area near centre line.  From 47 metres out and with the goal gaping, Haron showed quick sense of mind by lifting the ball high towards the goal. The execution was perfect ala Xabi Alonso as the ball took a bounce and hit the roof of the net. World-class goal. 1-0 and this was Haron’s 213^th ARFC goal.

Alvin could have made it two within 77 seconds. After robbing their sweeper, Alvin faced their keeper alone as their defenders were left trailing in their wake. However, Alvin hurried his shot and dragged his shot wide.

The opponents then pulled a goal back. 1-1

Elvis then tried to create chances with a couple of dribble upfield and spread several balls with his outside right foot. However, ARFC could not capitalize.

Haron nearly grabbed his brace but his shot bounced off the upright.

Toh then came close with a header.

Alvin was then released down the left flank and after drawing their impressive keeper out, Alvin squared the ball across for the on-rushing Derrick. However, their keeper got a crucial touch to divert the path of the ball which reached the back of Derrick. Derrick then tried to out-smart their keeper by attempting a back-heel which went horribly wrong as he totally mis-connect and the chance was lost.

Special word of mention to ARFC defence which kept the opponents quiet all day.

Voting results:

Toh – 10

Elvis – 8

Ron – 7

Darren – 4

Hee – 2

Soon – 2

Haron – 2

Blackburn – 1