Out-of-sorts ARFC drew 3-3

In one of its most disjointed display ever seen, ARFC conceded a last-grasp goal to draw 3-3 against Jerry’s team at Tampines SAFRA.

ARFC was supported by Rayes, Derrick’s son.

Credit to both Haron and Derrick for volunteering to be GK for each half.

ARFC started with this line-up:

Keeper - ARFC Scoring Legend Haron

Right-back - Dependable Jinzhong

Sweeper - Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Stopper - Towering Toh

Left-back - Unbeatable Darren 

Left-mid - Skilful Weilit

Centre-mid - Combative Ron

Centre-mid - Influential Sebastian

Right-mid - Marauding Guoxiong  

Striker - Powerful Alvin (captain)

Striker - Talisman Derrick

Subs:

Nippy Kenny

Sublime Khim  

Speedy Hee

Unpredictable Blackburn

Dynamic Soon (late)

Steely Tze Ern (late)

Absent:

Wonder Wayne

Impeccable How Meng

Commanding Ismail

Hard-man Tjioe

Immaculate Indra

Booming Boon

Weilit was rewarded with a first-place spot after his recent impressive performances.

Strangely enough, ARFC had trouble controlling the ball on a rather wet surface.

Sebastian was first to try from a free-kick won by Derrick. However, his placing shot was put too near the centre and their impressive keeper tipped over for a corner.

From the resulting corner, Toh threatened but could not get any headway.

Picking up a loose ball from 47 metres out and seeing their keeper off his line, Sebastian side-footed shot was saved.

ARFC then conceded from a counter-attack. 0-1

Haron then got down sharply to produce a quick world-class double-save to keep ARFC in the match.

Weilit then justified his first-11 place when he slalomed his way into the penalty box before being upended. Sebastian stepped up and sent a waist-high diagonal ball to the keeper’s right and even with keeper going the right way, the ball still bulged the net. 1-1 and this was Sebastian’s 95^th ARFC goal.

Immediately after scoring, Sebastian was replaced by Soon.

A slew of substitutions also took place with all getting a run-out.

ARFC then conceded another goal. 1-2

ARFC equalised for the 2^nd time. From Darren’s long-throw from the left, Toh flicked on and in the goal-mouth melee, Blackburn poked the ball home for his 142^nd ARFC goal. 2-2

Khim then shot wide form just inside the box.

ARFC then took the lead with almost the last kick of the half. Blackburn was pushed to the ground and the referee had the easiest of decisions to award a penalty. Blackburn dusted himself off the ground and sent their keeper the wrong way for his 143^rd ARFC goal. 3-2

In the 2^nd half, ARFC totally dominated proceedings with the opponents getting no shots at all!

ARFC had so many chances that I almost lost count. From probably the only flowing move, Sebastian swept the ball to Guoxiong who then sent Hee galloping down the right flank. His low ball across the box was totally sweet but Haron and Kenny arrived just a wee bit too late.

Weiit then wriggled his way down the left touch-line but skewed his shot wide when Kenny was open.

Moments later, Kenny swiveled to just miss the goal by millimeters.

Blackburn then unleashed a high shot from almost the centre circle but unfortunately, the ball cannoned off the left post.

With virtually the last kick of the match, the opponents scored with their only shot in the 2^nd half to grab a 3-3 draw.

This was a match where ARFC was totally complacent and was not mentally prepared. The old adage is really true – if you do not have the right mentality in approaching a match, then the performance would really show.

In contrast, the opponents were really determined in chasing and closing down every ball, especially when we reached their half.

Voting results:

Weilit – 9

Kenny – 9

Ron – 7

Jinzhong – 4

Blackburn – 4

Guoxiong – 4

Hee – 3

Haron – 3

Khim – 2

Darren – 2

Soon – 1

Tze Ern – 1

Derrick becomes 5th ARFC Centurion Club member in 6-2 victory

Despite once again hit by a slew of last-min withdrawals, ARFC still had enough in its tank to brush aside SMS 6-2.

Credit to both Jinzhong and Derrick for volunteering to be GK for each half.

ARFC started with this line-up:

Keeper - Dependable Jinzhong

Right-back - Steely Tze Ern

Sweeper - Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Stopper - Towering Toh (captain)

Left-back - Unbeatable Darren 

Left-mid - Unpredictable Blackburn

Centre-mid - Combative Ron

Centre-mid - Dynamic Soon

Right-mid - Talisman Derrick

Striker - Powerful Alvin

Striker - ARFC Scoring Legend Haron  

Subs:

Skilful Weilit

Absent:

Wonder Wayne

Speedy Hee

Impeccable How Meng

Influential Sebastian

Marauding Guoxiong

Commanding Ismail

Nippy Kenny

Sublime Khim  

Hard-man Tjioe

Immaculate Indra

Booming Boon

Straight from the kick off, ARFC stamped its authority by displaying a good possession game despite the searing heat. The opponent keeper was also tested several times. However, ARFC had to wait till the 17^th min before taking the lead.

From the left, Alvin picked up Blackburn's pass and upon looking up he saw Derrick shouting for the ball. With a delightful cross-chip over the opponent's defence, Derrick ran on to the bouncing ball and delightfully volleyed it (ala Van Persie) past the onrushing keeper that saw the ball nestled nicely and smugly into the bottom left-corner of the goalpost. 1-0 and this was Derrick’s 99^th ARFC goal.

7 mins after the re-start, ARFC doubled its lead. From the left again, Blackburn slid a beautiful through ball which saw Haron latching on to the ball.  The ball seemed quite fast initially which made Haron slowed down his pace as he saw the keeper coming out of his line. However, noticing that the keeper was apprehensive in taking control of the ball, Haron started sprinting again, defying his age and ever-growing belly. Haron got to the ball first, did a body feint and dribbled past the keeper to roll the ball into an empty net for his 217^th ARFC goal.  2-0.

In the 27th min, ARFC scored its third goal from yet another beautiful team-play. Ron, who was commanding in the centre of the field, got the ball and dribbled past several defenders before passing to Haron who was at the edge of the box. With his back facing the goal, Haron shielded the ball from the opponent's last man. Noticing that Ron was continuing his run, Haron cheekily back-heeled the ball (ala V. Sundram Moorthy) past the defender's legs which fell nicely for Ron. Ron took the ball forward while brushing off a last minute challenge from a defender before kicking it towards goal. Though Ron had somewhat miskicked the ball, the ball still somehow trickled past the keeper, hit the bottom left goalpost before going in. 3-0 and this was Ron’s 10^th ARFC goal.

ARFC was not done though, as it kept attacking the opponent's goal relentlessly. The score could have been much more if not for some poor finishing. 

In the 37th min, from a through ball on the right, Haron got to the end of it first and instinctively sent a low cross to the center of the box. Rushing in from the blind side, Alvin gleefully slammed the ball home to put the result to bed. 4-0 and this was Alvin’s 244^th ARFC goal.

Just before half-time, Apex received a scare when Weilit got to the wrong end of a high ball challenge. Weilit was rushing in to head the bouncing ball just as the opponent's defender was trying to kick it. Inadvertently, Weilit's face got into the defender's boot which resulted in him getting a 9cm long scar (laceration) at his left jaw. After a brief treatment on Weilit and ensuring that he was okay, the referee blew to end the first half. 

Further checks were made on Weilit during half-time. Lesser man would have asked to see doctor immediately but not warrior Weilit who insisted to carry on playing albeit with much pain on the jaw.  Superb bravado warrior Weilit!!

ARFC started the second half with Derrick in goal and Jinzhong playing at right back. The change however had somehow caused some disorientation to the team as it seemed very slow to get its move going, unlike in the first half. The opponent seemed to notice ARFC’s awkwardness and began attacking ARFC's goal. Derrick made several fine saves to keep the score status quo. However, he could do little in the 57th min to stop an unexpected long shot from the opponent who scored almost from the halfway line. 4-1. 

Frustrated at conceding the goal and its poor play, ARFC somehow started to wake up and improve its play slightly after that. 

The crowning moment for Derrick came in the 67th min.  Haron earned a penalty for ARFC when he was fouled in the box. The defender was fuming at the referee for giving the penalty as he claimed Haron had dived. Haron did not care as he exacted revenge on the same person who kicked him from behind just minutes earlier. 

As planned prior to the game, Derrick was to take this penalty. He ran all the way from his goal-line, put the ball at the spot and rammed the ball as hard as he can. However, similar to Ron's goal earlier, Derrick seemed to miskick his shot as the ball bounced several times towards the keeper before going under the latter's outstretched arms. 5-1

With this goal, Derrick has finally scored his 100^th ARFC goal and in the process became the 5^th ARFC Centurion Club member, after (in order of achievement) Haron, Alvin, Blackburn and Hee.

Sharing his thoughts after the game, Derrick admitted that he was nervous upon taking the penalty, even more nervous than his wedding day.  Hence, he decided to simply whack as hard as he could and luckily for him, the kick was hard enough to creep into goal.

ARFC got another goal in the 79th min. Off a corner kick by Blackburn, the opponent tried to head the ball away but it went behind him instead. The ball fell nicely for Soon who was near the edge of the box, to side-foot the ball into goal for his 64^th ARFC goal. 6-1. 

ARFC conceded another goal just before full-time. The opponent swung a cross from the right by-line which seemed to hang in the air for the longest time but still would fall nicely for Derrick to catch. In his bid to confuse the opponent who were near him, Derrick shouted that the ball was his and tried to punch the ball away. However, to everyone's horror, Derrick failed to connect to the ball properly as it hit his gloves and into goal. 6-2. 

After the game, Derrick apologised for the last goal conceded as he admitted that his punch was poor and he had caused confusion to his own-self instead of the opponent. Derrick likened the punch to a certain Roberto Brendan but it was pointed out to him, that Brendan had never conceded such a goal.

Voting results:

Haron – 7

Derrick – 7

Tze Ern – 6

Soon – 3

Weilit – 3

Blackburn – 2

Elvis – 2

Alvin – 2

Toh – 2

Darren – 2

Top ARFC hat-trick Warriors (as at 22 Oct 2014)

Alvin - 22 hat-tricks / 73 goals
Haron - 11 / 37
Robin - 10 / 39
Blackburn - 6 / 18
Hee - 5 / 17
Derrick - 4 / 18
Jiongjiong - 4 / 14
Sebastian - 4 / 12
Chun Haw - 3 / 12

Top 10 ARFC scorers (as at 22 Oct 2014)

1. Alvin - 243
2. Haron - 216
3. Blackburn - 141
4. Hee - 100
5. Derrick - 98
6. Sebastian - 94
7. Toh - 79
8. Robin - 69
9. Soon - 63
10. Tjioe - 59

Hee enters ARFC Centurion Club with his 5th ARFC hat-trick in 4-0 win

Despite missing a clutch of warriors, ARFC had no trouble putting Tebing FC to the sword with a 4-0 win at Orchid Park SS.

Once again, special mention to Derrick who put team before self by volunteering to be the goalkeeper. Great team player!

ARFC was supported by Melissa, Hee’s muse.

ARFC started with this line-up:

Keeper - Talisman Derrick

Right-back - Jasper (guest player)

Sweeper - Towering Toh (captain)

Stopper - Dependable Jinzhong

Left-back - Unbeatable Darren 

Left-mid - Skilful Weilit

Centre-mid - Combative Ron

Centre-mid - Unpredictable Blackburn

Right-mid - Speedy Hee

Striker - Powerful Alvin

Striker - Wonder Wayne

Subs:

Dynamic Soon (late)

Chun Haw (guest player – late)

Absent:

ARFC Scoring Legend Haron  

Impeccable How Meng

Influential Sebastian

Marauding Guoxiong

Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Commanding Ismail

Nippy Kenny

Steely Tze Ern

Sublime Khim  

Hard-man Tjioe

Immaculate Indra

Booming Boon

ARFC took the lead in the 17^th min. After Hee was fouled by their defender, he dusted himself off the ground and fired a rocket free-kick through the wall for his 98^th ARFC goal. 1-0

Wayne deserved a mention for the goal too as he had stood in the wall and ducked when Hee fired in his free-kick through the gap Wayne created.

ARFC doubled its lead in the 37^th min. Alvin galloped down the right flank, cut in and laid the ball on the platter for the on-rushing Soon to simply dispatch the ball home for his 63^rd ARFC goal. 2-0

In the 57^th min, Hee slalomed his way past 3-4 defenders (ala Ryan Giggs’ goal against Arsenal in THAT FA Cup semi-final match) before placing the ball past their keeper for his 99^th ARFC goal. 3-0

In the 77^th min came the crowning moment in Hee’s ARFC career. From a long punt from Jinzhong, Hee demonstrated why he is arguably ARFC’s fastest player when he outpaced their defender despite being at least 27 metres behind in the first place. Hee then side-footed home his 100^th ARFC goal. 4-0

This was also Hee's 5th-ever hat-trick for ARFC.

Upon witnessing Hee’s centurion goal for ARFC, Melissa dashed into the field and uttered some words into Hee’s ears that saw Hee grinning from ear to ear.

Unconfirmed report is that Melissa has agreed to Hee’s proposal!

With his 100 goals, Hee has become the 4th ARFC warrior, after Haron, Alvin and Blackburn, to enter the prestigious ARFC Centurion Club.

Voting results:

Hee – 9

Jinzhong – 8

Darren – 5

Weilit – 3

Alvin – 2

Blackburn – 2

Toh – 1

ARFC in shock 2-3 loss

Despite having the lion’s share of the match, ARFC fell to a shock 2-3 defeat to the CJC Alumni at he magnificent CJC pitch under cool and breezy weather.

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

In particular, Sebastian’s gorgeous and smart wife Caren also made her first support-support appearance since god-knows-when, together with Kaizaree Jade-Eden Tan.

ARFC started with this line-up:

Keeper - Commanding Ismail

Right-back - Dependable Jinzhong

Sweeper - Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Stopper - Towering Toh

Left-back - Combative Ron

Left-mid - Talisman Derrick

Centre-mid - Dynamic Soon

Centre-mid - Influential Sebastian (captain)

Right-mid - Marauding Guoxiong

Striker - ARFC Scoring Legend Haron  

Striker - Speedy Hee

Subs:

Impeccable How Meng

Skilful Weilit

Unpredictable Blackburn

Powerful Alvin (only arrived in 2^nd half)

Absent:

Unbeatable Darren 

Nippy Kenny

Steely Tze Ern

Sublime Khim  

Wonder Wayne

Hard-man Tjioe

Immaculate Indra

Booming Boon

ARFC was in total control throughout the first half.  Particularly, Toh came close on 2 occasions with his headers all from Sebastian’s corner kick.

After Guoxiong was fouled on the right, Sebastian floated in a free-kick which was met by Toh again but the opponents eventually managed to scrambled the ball away.

ARFC nearly took the lead. Chasing after long ball, Hee showed why he is nick-named Speedy when he won the duel against their sweeper despite being at least 20 metres behind.  Hee was cruelly brought down which should have earned their sweeper a red card as he was the last opponent. Derrick then showed his quick-thinking by playing a quick ball to Haron who drew their defender out before returning the ball to Derrick. With only the keeper to beat, however, Derrick’s somewhat weak shot was parried away by their keeper. Unlucky!

It was really a surprise when the half ended 0-0 as ARFC totally dominated proceedings.

Bizarrely, ARFC then fell behind from a counter-attack. 0-1

7 mins later, ARFC equalized after some passing down the right. The ball was passed from How Meng to Sebastian to Soon who then pushed the ball down the right for the over-lapping Jinzhong.  Almost at the right touch-line, Jinzhong swung over a delicious-looking hanging ball that was missed by their keeper. Alvin, who was impressive throughout, was the beneficiary as he nodded into the empty net for his 243^rd ARFC goal and his 3^rd goal in as many matches. 1-1

Alvin’s goal was also ARFC’s 1700^th goal since its beginning in Jun 1991.

ARFC’s joy was short-lived though as it conceded another counter-attack goal. 1-2

At this point, ARFC switched to a 3-man defence with Blackburn pushing up to support both Alvin and Derrick. 

The move almost paid dividends as Blackburn shot into row Z.

Minutes later, Alvin’s good work down the left flank was not rewarded. After wriggling his way down the left flank, Alvin laid a perfect ball to Blackburn who inexplicably drilled his left-foot shot wide!

Soon was next to try a long-range shot which was easily picked up by their keeper.

ARFC then conceded another goal. 1-3

ARFC pulled another goal back when Weilit exchanged a neat one-two with Alvin before firing the ball in the near post past their keeper. 2-3 and this was Weilit’s 9^th ARFC goal.

Weilit is now level in the ARFC scoring chart with Ron and Tze Ern , as well as Yoong (ex-player)

Voting results:

Sebastian – 7

Jinzhong – 7

Ron – 7

How Meng – 4

Hee – 4

Soon – 3

Alvin – 3

Weilit – 3

Haron – 2

Blackburn – 1

Toh – 1