After a couple of false starts and
disappointments, ARFC Veteran Team finally kicked off its debut match with a
thrilling end-to-end action 4-4 draw with The Kakis on 13 Aug 2017 at Unity
Secondary School.
The ARFC Veteran Team is only opened to ARFC
warriors aged 40 and above and this match was witnessed by the WAGS and
children of David, Kiat, Jeffrey and Ron. One-time ARFC GK Heng also turned up
to support.
Several ARFC Veterans, who have not played
for years, also turned up with mouldy boots and in David’s case, retro
shin-pads and ankle guards, “crocodile-mouth” boots which were torn open after a
couple of kicks.
After much deliberation, the ARFC Veteran
Team started with this line-up:
GK – Derrick
RB – David
Sweeper – Ron
Stopper – Huiming
LB – Qingxing
RM – Kiat
CM – Sebastian (Captain)
CM – Soon
LM – Khim
SC – Jeffrey
SC – Haron
Subs:
Tong
Eng Lai
Hee
Blackburn
Darren
Perhaps still in la-la land, ARFC soon found
itself 2 goals down after only 10 mins.
The fear was that ARFC could be in for a hiding.
However, ARFC’s famed determination and
never-say-die attitude soon emerged.
Haron then illustrated his class when his
placed shot was hacked off the line by their defender. Unlucky!
Captain Sebastian then sparked ARFC’s
come-back when his corner from the right was hit with ferocity and accuracy
into the danger area. Jeffrey,
whose home was just besides the school, then produced a stunning
stooping-diving header at the near post to power home a near-post goal that
shocked the whole crowd. 1-2 and
this was Jeffrey’s 50th ARFC goal!
With this goal, Jeffrey also ended his 8-year
goal-drought (to be fair to him, he stopped playing for ARFC for many years) as
his last ARFC goal was on 04 Jan 2009
against Monforto at Serangoon Sec Sch.
A slew of substitutions then took place.
Particularly, Darren made an immediate impact
when he embarked on an overlapping run down the left flank ala Roberto Carlos.
His cross then found Jeffrey at the far post. Jeffrey took a great first touch,
showed tremendous composure to trick their GK into committing before calmly
stroked home his 51st ARFC goal. 2-2!
Sebastian then saved ARFC when he headed
clear a goal-bound header at the line ala Ashley Cole from their corner.
Derrick then kept ARFC in the match when he
conjured a world-class block by spreading out his leg to deny their striker who
was clean through.
However, the opponents scored again to lead
3-2.
Just before half-time, Blackburn suddenly
came up with a “ton-jo” to surprise their GK at his near post. For this goal, credit must be given to
Haron who distracted their GK with a call for the ball at the far post. 3-3 and this was Blackburn’s 154th
ARFC goal.
In the 2nd half, ARFC continued to
attack and Jeffrey was really unlucky not to grab his hat-trick when his chip
was not high enough to elude their GK.
Eng Lai then cleared off their goal-bound
header.
ARFC then took the lead for the first time in
the match in the 67th min.
Haron won the ball upfield and sprayed the ball to Khim on the
right. Spotting Jeffrey making a
run into the box, Khim swung over a right-wing cross which saw Jeffrey swooping
in and swept home his 52nd ARFC goal! 4-3
With this goal, Jeffrey also scored his 3rd-ever
hat-trick for ARFC.
With 77 seconds to go, ARFC conceded a goal
to draw 4-4.
Special mention to all ARFC warriors,
especially to those who have not played for a long time. David, Kiat, Tong, Qingxing, Jeffrey,
Huiming all came up with some nice touches and reading of the match which was
really a huge credit to them.
Of course, the ARFC Veteran Team was aided
much by Soon’s industry, solid defending from Ron, Darren and Eng Lai, Khim’s
skills, great goalkeeping from Derrick (who also produced a comical performance
as striker for 20 mins in 2nd half), Hee’s harassing, Blackburn’s
unpredictability, Haron’s class and Sebastian’s leadership.
I think the ARFC Veteran Team will be
much stronger once stalwarts like Alvin, Chua, Damian, Daniel, Raymond, Robin,
Hwee and Boon turned up to play in future matches.
