ARFC off to a good start in tournament with 5-3 victory

Playing its first tournament match, ARFC banished its pre-season blues and finally secured its first victory in 2016 with a convincing 5-3 triumph over E’Valor.

ARFC welcomed back Darren after his 2016 hiatus.

ARFC started with this 4-4-2 line-up: 

Jersey no.	Name	Position
45	Commanding Ismail	Goalkeeper
31	Vintage Chua	Right-back
14	Combative Ron	Sweeper
15	Towering Toh (captain)	Stopper
6	Unbeatable Darren	Left-back
16	Marauding Guoxiong	Right-mid
10	Sublime Khim	Centre-mid
4	Dynamic Soon	Centre-mid
2	Unpredictable Blackburn	Left-mid
66	Wonder Wayne	Striker
11	Speedy Hee	Striker
Subs:
8	Talented Chun Haw
9	ARFC Scoring Legend Haron
20	Composed Eng Lai
21	Rampaging Raymond
33	Talisman Derrick
Absent:
3	Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
5	Impeccable How Meng
7	Influential Sebastian
17	Nippy Kenny
18	Determined Huiming
19	Skillful Weilit
28	Hard-man Tjioe
77	Dependable Jinzhong
78	Steely Tze Ern
99	Powerful Alvin

ARFC did not take long to stamp its authority in the match. Blackburn’s diagonal long ball was perfectly hit right into the heart of their defence. Soon managed to shield the ball from their on-rushing GK and laid it nicely on the platter for Wayne. Wayne needed no second invitation and duly swept the ball into the empty net for his 15^th ARFC goal.  1-0

ARFC doubled its lead courtesy of the triple-substitution act.  From the left, Raymond passed to Haron who dummied for Chun Haw who was running in from deep.  With a deft touch from his out-stretched leg, Chun Haw nipped the ball away from their central defender and dribbled into the 6-yard box.  With only their GK to beat, Chun Haw simply slammed the ball past their GK. 2-0 and this was Chun Haw’s 37^th ARFC goal.

Just 77 seconds into the re-start, Chun Haw found Hee with a delicate chip down the left. In his speedy move, Hee did not break his stride and unselfishly squared to Wayne. Wayne connected with the softest of a touch which saw the ball trickled past the line for his 16^th ARFC goal.  3-0

8 minutes later, Blackburn tried his luck from distance with a fierce volley. Their GK was caught off-guard and could not react to Blackburn’s stinging volley which almost tore the net. 4-0 and this was Blackburn’s 149^th ARFC goal. 

In the 69^th min, Blackburn took the free-kick just at the edge of the box in the centre area. Their GK could only parry his fierce shot and Haron, who cleverly stayed on-side, came in and steered the ball past their GK. Wonderful anticipation! 5-0 and this was Haron’s 229^th ARFC goal.

ARFC then slowed down and conceded 3 goals to win 5-3.

Voting results:

Chua – 9

Wayne – 8

Raymond – 7

Chun Haw – 6

Khim – 4

Darren – 4

Ron – 3

Blackburn – 2

Ismail – 2

Guoxiong – 1

Soon – 1

Haron – 1

Sebastian nets his 100th ARFC goal in 4-4 thriller

In a topsy-turvy match, ARFC led slipped a 2-goal lead to draw 4-4 with the OVA team at Victoria School pitch.


ARFC was once again supported by Lingzhi, Ron’s beau.


ARFC started with this 4-4-2 line-up: 

Jersey no.	Name	Position
45	Commanding Ismail	Goalkeeper
77	Dependable Jinzhong	Right-back
3	Astute-reading sweeper Elvis	Sweeper
15	Towering Toh	Stopper
31	Vintage Chua	Left-back
4	Dynamic Soon	Right-mid
7	Influential Sebastian (captain)	Centre-mid
14	Combative Ron	Centre-mid
2	Unpredictable Blackburn	Left-mid
66	Wonder Wayne	Striker
11	Speedy Hee	Striker
Subs:
8	Talented Chun Haw
9	ARFC Scoring Legend Haron (late)
78	Steely Tze Ern (late)
Absent:
5	Impeccable How Meng
6	Unbeatable Darren
10	Sublime Khim
16	Marauding Guoxiong
17	Nippy Kenny
18	Determined Huiming
19	Skillful Weilit
20	Composed Eng Lai
21	Rampaging Raymond
28	Hard-man Tjioe
33	Talisman Derrick
99	Powerful Alvin

Despite dominating the opening exchanges, ARFC found itself 0-1 down in the 17^th min after succumbing to a counter-attack. 


Chun Haw and Haron then came on for Wayne and Hee in the 20^th min.


Within minutes of coming on, Chun Haw equalised for ARFC.  From a quick break-away, Haron and Chun Haw then pulled to the right and left respectively.  With his trade-mark no-look reverse pass, Sebastian released Chun Haw down the left. Chun Haw looked to have lost control of the ball but miraculously recovered to steer the ball past their despairing GK for his 36^th ARFC goal. 1-1


Toh then came close but he just managed to send Sebastian’s corner 0.77 mm over the bar. 


The opponents then scored again to lead 2-1 at half-time.


Luckily, Tze Ern appeared for the 2^nd half and what an impact he made to ARFC.  Chun Haw won a header and the ball bounced right at the heart of their defence and their sweeper hesitated to clear the ball.  From nowhere, Tze Ern showed that he is faster, if not as fast, than Hee when he dashed in and promptly volleyed the ball past their stunned GK. 2-2 and this was Tze Ern’s 14^th ARFC goal, moving him on level terms with Wayne.

 

Chun Haw then won a penalty when he was clumsily upended in the box, paving the way for Sebastian to score his 100^th ARFC goal. Indeed, Sebastian did not disappoint and gave himself a perfect 42^nd birthday present in advance (actual day on 25 February) when he sent their GK the wrong way with a solid hard ball into the net. 3-2

 

With the goal, Sebastian joined the ‘ARFC Centurion Club’ whose members are:

• Alvin – 275 goals
• Haron – 228 goals
• Blackburn – 148 goals
• Derrick – 102 goals
• Hee – 102 goals
• Sebastian – 100 goals

The goal of the match came 7 mins later. Soon’s chipped ball saw Haron expertly cushioned the ball with a slide flick of his head. The ball bounced nicely in front of him and Haron showed his world-class instinct when he took a step and spotting their GK slightly off his line, volleyed in a high looping shot that sailed over their GK for his 228^th ARFC goal. 4-2


Toh then nearly got into the scoring act from Sebastian’s precise corner but his powerful header smacked against the cross-bar and cleared away by their defender.

ARFC then conceded 2 soft goals to draw 4-4, thereby continuing its winless start to 2016. 

Voting results: 

 

Chun Haw – 11
Chua – 11
Ismail – 6
Tze Ern – 4
Soon – 3
Haron – 3
Hee – 3
Ron – 1