Fasting Haron blast 4 past opponent in 6-0 win

Due to feedback that it would be insane to play at 11 am, ARFC played on a cool and breezy evening at the SIA Sports club at a 7 pm kick-off time.  The end result?  A resounding 6-0 win over Golden Eagles FC on the back of a 4-goal salvo act by Haron.

 

Derrick also gamely volunteered to be GK though he has yet to regain full fitness after his ops.

 

ARFC started with this line-up:

Keeper - Talisman Derrick

Right-back – Dependable Jinzhong
Sweeper - Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
Stopper - Towering Toh (captain)
Left-back - Unbeatable Darren
Left mid - Wonder Wayne
Right mid - Marauding Guoxiong
Centre-mid - Talented Chun Haw
Centre-mid – Combative Ron
Striker – Unpredictable Blackburn
Striker – Powerful Alvin
 
Subs:

Influential Sebastian

Skilful Weilit
ARFC Scoring Legend Haron
Impeccable How Meng

Absent:

Speedy Hee

Dynamic Soon
Nippy Kenny
Commanding Ismail
Steely Tze Ern
Hard-man Tjioe
Sublime Khim

ARFC did not take long to stamp its authority in the match.

In the 7^th min, Jinzhong met Blackburn’s corner from the left perfectly.  His downward header took a wicked deflection off their defender at the line and completely wrong-footed their GK. 1-0 and this is Jinzhong’s 5^th ARFC goal.

Wayne and Alvin then combined down the left that resulted in Wayne’s fierce shot being turned away by their impressive GK.

How Meng, Weilit, Sebastian and Haron then replaced Chun Haw, Toh, Wayne and Blackburn respectively.

Sebastian made an immediate impact when his powerful and precise right corner was powered home by Haron’s head for his 223^rd ARFC goal. 2-0

Sebastian then made a piercing grounder through ball ala Xavi Hernandez into the box for Guoxiong who could have taken a shot but he chose to be selfless by passing and the ball was eventually cleared.

Seconds from the end, Guoxiong made an overlapping run down the right flank ala Dani Alves. His inch-perfect cross to the far post was met firmly by Alvin but their GK somehow flung himself across goal and miraculously blocked out Alvin’s header!  Amazing world-class save.

In the 2^nd half, ARFC continued its relentless attacks. How Meng, Wayne and Alvin tore their left side apart and the ball was swept across goal. The lurking Haron connected sweetly with a crisp first-time shot but their GK again made another flying save to turn the ball away for a corner. Unbelievable save!

From the resulting corner, Blackburn hit the ball right into the danger zone and Haron swooped in to head the ball home for an uncanny resemblance to his first-half goal! 3-0 and this was his 224^th ARFC goal.  

Toh then came very close when his bullet header from yet another Blackburn corner was hacked off the line by their covering defender.

How Meng, Alvin and Wayne then worked their triangular magic again at the right side. Wayne weavered his way down the right touch-line and his low cross evaded their GK and defenders for a grateful Haron who glided in from the blind side to tuck the ball high into the net for his 225^th ARFC goal. 4-0 and this was Haron’s 12^th ARFC career hat-trick.

 
Sebastian then side-footed wide from Alvin’s cut-back from yet another piece of good work by Wayne at the right flank.

ARFC then conceded a penalty. However, their kicker was completely distracted by Derrick’s wobbly leg stunt ala Bruce Grobblearr and Juzy Dudek that he blazed the ball high and wide.

Sebastian then saw his chipped shot sailed agonizingly wide of the top corner by 7 mm.

ARFC was then given a penalty after their defender handled the ball in the box. Meant as a farewell gift before his ops the next morning, Sebastian graciously stepped aside for him.  However, Derrick sprinted all the way from his GK position and asked to be the taker. In the end, Wayne was fooled as Haron stepped up instead to place the ball past their GK for his 226^th ARFC goal. 5-0

Haron has now scored 12 hat-tricks for ARFC which netted 41 goals.

Toh rounded off a good night of football when he charged in like a raging bull, completely bullied all their players and thumped in a super powerful header from Blackburn’s corner. 6-0 and this was Toh’s 83^rd ARFC goal.

All in all, this was a match where ARFC played very well with its passing and movements. The attitude was also tip top as all put in their fair share of defending and attacking work.

The attendance was also very good.

 
Voting results:

Haron – 13

Wayne – 9

Alvin – 6

Toh – 5

Jinzhong – 3

Guoxiong – 3

Chun Haw – 2

Darren – 2

How Meng – 1

Elvis – 1

Chun Haw leads the way to 2-1 victory

Playing on a desert-like weather at St Wilfrids pitch, ARFC overcame the tough challenge of EAFC with an inspiring performance from Chun Haw.  

 

A big credit to Ismail as well for playing despite fasting!

Just 7 mins before the 11 am kick-off time, Wayne informed that he could not make it. Thankfully, Toh and Soon turned up though Toh had a Father’s Day lunch at 1 pm and Soon just finished his routine 20-km training run. 

Before the match, ARFC warriors all looked dead which was made worse by the fact that the very young opponents were already warming up 30 mins before kick-off time.  

Upon seeing Soon’s arrival, the morale all ARFC warriors immediately shot up to the zinc roof and all were suddenly energized. 

ARFC started with 10 warriors as all 3 substitutes were late. 

Keeper - Commanding Ismail

Right-back – Dependable Jinzhong

Sweeper - Unpredictable Blackburn

Stopper - Towering Toh

Left-back - Unbeatable Darren

Left mid - Speedy Hee

Right mid - Marauding Guoxiong

Centre-mid - Talented Chun Haw

Centre-mid – Influential Sebastian (captain)

Striker – Nippy Kenny

Subs:

Dynamic Soon (late)

Skilful Weilit (late)

Gary (guest player - late)

Absent:

Steely Tze Ern

Powerful Alvin

Wonder Wayne

Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Hard-man Tjioe

Talisman Derrick

Combative Ron

ARFC Scoring Legend Haron

Impeccable How Meng

Sublime Khim 

ARFC fired the first warning when Kenny was upended just outside the box. Sebastian’s curling free-kick, unfortunately, clipped the left cross-bar. 

Chun Haw was next to experience the bad luck. After Sebastian was brought down, Kenny stepped over the free-kick and Chun Haw’s powerful bender from distance bounced off the right stanchion! Unlucky! 

ARFC then took the lead after Chun Haw was upended in the box. Blackburn stepped up to drill the ball straight in for his 147^th ARFC goal. 1-0 

Kenny and Hee then worked tirelessly to close down their defence and made space but to no avail. 

ARFC then conceded an unlucky break-away goal. Ismail did well to block the first shot but the opponent slotted into the empty net. 1-1 

Kenny’s corner was then flicked on by Toh which caused a mayhem near the 6-yard area.  In the ensuing melee, Chun Haw was then brought down but the referee failed to notice the foul. 

7 mins into the 2^nd half, ARFC regained the lead after launching a quick counter-attack. From defending a corner, Sebastian passed to Gary on the left who in turn played to Hee. Without breaking his stride, Hee sliced a high ball to Kenny who had cleverly peeled away to the left flank and broke their off-side trap. Seeing their keeper charging out, Kenny expertly lofted the ball over him from left flank and the ball bounced and nestled nicely to the far post.  2-1 and this was Kenny’s 53^rd ARFC goal.  

As the match wore on, almost all ARFC warriors were fast tiring but the defence, on the back of yet another impeccable display from Darren, held firm. Ismail then read the match very well with several vital interceptions. 

Voting results: 

Darren – 9

Chun Haw – 9

Kenny – 5

Soon – 4

Guoxiong – 3

Ismail – 3

Sebastian – 1

Jinzhong – 1

Hee – 1

 

Darren's colossal display earned 2-2 draw

Playing on a cool afternoon at Orchid Park SS for the 3^rd successive match, ARFC fought back to draw 2-2 with a very young and energetic Rangers FC.   

As Ismail had earlier informed that he would be 15 mins late, Chun Haw was the GK first.

Elvis also made his first appearance after giving birth.

Keeper - Talented Chun Haw

Right-back – Guohui (guest player)

Sweeper - Astute-reading sweeper Elvis

Stopper - Dependable Jinzhong

Left-back - Unbeatable Darren

Left mid - Speedy Hee

Right mid - Marauding Guoxiong

Centre-mid - Steely Tze Ern

Centre-mid – Influential Sebastian

Centre-mid - Unpredictable Blackburn

Striker - Powerful Alvin (captain)

Subs:

 

Wonder Wayne

Commanding Ismail (late)

Gary (guest player)

Absent:

Nippy Kenny Dynamic Soon

Hard-man Tjioe

Talisman Derrick

Combative Ron

Skilful Weilit

Towering Toh

ARFC Scoring Legend Haron

Impeccable How Meng

Sublime Khim

ARFC went behind after they scored from a rebound off a free-kick. 0-1

Sebastian then produced the first of his many through balls when he pinged a ball down the right flank for Guoxiong. Guoxiong delivered a delicious ball across goal but instead of hitting the ball first time, Alvin took an extra touch and the ball was eventually cleared by their defender. 

ARFC then conceded another goal. 0-2 

Sebastian threaded yet another through ball but Alvin just narrowly lost out to their GK in the duel. 

From a free-kick on the right, Sebastian hit the ball directly at goal but their defender headed the ball off the line for a corner. 

From Sebastian’s corner, Guo Hui charged in but his powerful header was cleared off the line by the same defender. 

Sebastian then put Alvin through and Alvin powered in near the left touch-line but his square ball was smoothered by their keeper. 

Gary then chipped in a great ball to Wayne, who replaced Alvin earlier, but Wayne saw his powerful shot palmed away by their keeper for a corner.  

From Blackburn’s corner, Guohui charged in like a bull and his bullet header just squeezed in off the far post for his debut ARFC goal. 1-2 

In the second half, ARFC continued pressing but was indebted to its defence for holding firm.  

ARFC finally equalised. From the right midfield, Guoxiong played to Sebastian who then did a Sundram-like back heel to him. Guoxiong sped clear and crossed to Alvin who had peeled away from their defence. Though Alvin’s control was poor, he somehow recovered to poke the ball past their keeper and covering defender for his 261^st ARFC goal. 2-2 

ARFC, however, was hugely indebted to Ismail who produced a world-class save to preserve the draw. 

Voting results:

 Darren – 9

Guoxiong – 8

Jinzhong – 8

Chun Haw – 3

Sebastian – 2

Wayne – 1

Ismail – 1

Alvin – 1