ARFC Veterans missed a glut of chances to win 4-3

Playing its 8^th veteran match, ARFC Veteran Team bounced back from its first defeat with a complacent 4-3 win over Mike’s Team.

ARFC Veterans welcomed Huiming back after his ankle injury from last month’s match but he had to be contented with a place in the substitutes’ bench.

ARFC Veterans started with this line-up:

GK – Haron

RB – Chua

Sweeper – Eng Lai

Stopper – Toh (captain)

LB – Qingxing

RM – Raymond

CM – Tong

CM – Soon

LM – Darren

SC – Blackburn

SC – Derrick

Subs:

Sebastian (dead leg)

Daniel

Huiming

ARFC Veterans started confidently and was in total control with some neat passing.  In the 5^th min, ARFC took the lead courtesy of a long punt down the right.  Derrick cleverly checked his run (as he was in an offside position) to allow Raymond to dash in from deep.  Seeing Tong calling for the ball, Raymond smartly cut the ball back from the by-line and Tong came in to side-foot the ball home. 1-0 and this was Tong’s 26^th ARFC goal.

2 mins later, ARFC Veterans doubled its lead.  Blackburn’s short corner to Derrick saw the latter returning the ball to him.  Blackburn’s swinging ball then saw Darren tapping the ball past their bewildered GK. 2-0 and this was Darren’s 13^th ARFC goal.

Sebastian then came in for the tiring Tong, while Huiming and Daniel replaced Toh and Blackburn respectively.

Within 77 seconds of coming on, Sebastian created ARFC Veterans’ 3^rd goal. Sebastian took a quick throw-in on the right over their left-back and Raymond urned past him and duly lifted the ball over their GK to the far corner.  3-0 and this was Raymond’s 11^th ARFC goal and his 1^st goal in 2018.

ARFC then conceded a goal. 3-1

ARFC restored its 3-goal cushion from Sebastian’s corner on the left.  The corner created mayhem in the box and Soon’s flick-backwards ball bounced into the net.  4-1 and this was Soon’s 77^th ARFC goal and his 1^st goal for ARFC Veterans.

Eng Lai then whipped in a vicious corner that saw the ball not cleared by their defence.  However, Derrick’s shot was blocked on the line.

Sebastian then fired in a long shot that clearly struck the hand of their defender but the referee waved the penalty appeal away. Probably, the referee was being very lenient as the opponents were already trailing by 3 goals.

Raymond then flicked at least 3 headers to Derrick but all his 3 attempts were thwarted or missed.

Derrick then chipped in a ball for Sebastian to break their off-side trap but Sebastian’s low shot was blocked.

From Derrick’s cut-back, Sebastian’s side-foot placed-shot hit the cross-bar and out.

In the 2^nd half, ARFC Veterans continued its control and dominance with so many chances created.

Tong was unlucky to hit the post while Sebastian just volleyed over.

Daniel then missed a couple of chances while Raymond saw his goal-bound shot brilliantly saved by their GK.

Of course, Derrick then proceeded to top it all by missing at least 5-6 chances with the majority of those chances created by Darren who played like a flying Ryan Giggs.

The opponents then pulled 2 goals back to lose 4-3 eventually.

Daniel then suffered a minor injury after an aerial challenge and was replaced by Toh who played as a striker.

It was good to see Qingxing putting in an assured performance at left-back, while Eng Lai led the defence well.

Credit to Haron too for volunteering to be GK for the whole match.

Though ARFC Veterans won the match, the attitude in the 2^nd half was rather appalling as many played with much complacency. ARFC Veterans would have to do much better in the next match.

King Kenny's all-action display in 2-2 draw

Powered by Kenny’s all-energy and high-octane performance, ARFC took a commanding 2-0 lead at half-time against the very fast and young Allied Forces (mostly 20s) but had to settle for a 2-2 draw eventually.

For the first time, ARFC played at the magnificent Deptford Ground pitch.

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

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

ARFC nearly took the lead within 17 seconds.  From their kick-off, Alvin and Kenny pressured the opponents into a mistake and Kenny latched on to the ball on the right from 40 metres out.  Spotting their GK off his line, Kenny lofted a high diagonal ball over their GK.  Though the ball struck the inner side of the right post, the ball streaked across goal but not into the net.  Super-duper unlucky but what an world-class effort from Kenny.

This move sparked and invoked huge confidence in how ARFC played out the entire first-half with a totally commanding and assured display marked by some very brilliant passing, movements and pressing of the opponents.

ARFC took the lead with a flowing pass-and-move routine that stunned the opponents. First, Rashid pinged a well-measured ball to the right for Soon to give chase.  Soon held the ball well and passed inwards to Kenny who then brought the ball further inwards and away from their defender.  Before Kenny could pull the trigger, Alvin instinctively curled the ball past their rooted GK for his 303^rd ARFC goal.  1-0!!

ARF doubled its lead 7 mins later thanks to Guoxiong’s never-say-die attitude.  From a long ball down the right which looked to be a lost cause, Guoxiong simply gave chase and benefitted from an under-hit back pass from their left-back. With their GK stranded, Guoxiong simply chipped the ball over him for his 29^th ARFC goal. 2-0

This was also the first goal that Guoxiong scored for ARFC in 2018.

By now, the opponents were n sixes and sevens and simply could not cope with ARFC’s relentess pressing, ala Juergen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool side, led by Kenny.

Sebastian then picked up a loose ball from 37 metres but his precise chip was matched by a quick-pedaling GK who claimed the ball just under the cross-bar.

Derrick then came to the fore when he got down sharply to turn a fierce curling shot from their captain for a corner.

Toh was then wrongly adjudged to have fouled their defender during a Sebastian’s corner. 

In the 2^nd half, the youth and stamina of the opponents told in the end and also ARFC were tiring due to the way we played in the first half.

The opponents then scored 2 goals from fast counter-attacks moves.

ARFC nearly scored its 3^rd goal.  From Rashid’ wicked swerving free-kick, their GK dropped the ball and Alvin retrieved the ball near the touch-line.  Alvin then passed the ball to the front of the goal to Kenny but their covering defender hacked the ball away before Kenny could shoot.

With fast tiring legs, made worse by an injury to the very impressive Guoxiong, ARFC held on to a 2-2 draw which was a first draw for ARFC in 2018.

Special mention must be given to ARFC’s defence and the relentless pressing efforts from Kenny, Alvin, Guoxiong, Sebastian and Soon.

Voting Results:

Kenny – 11

Ron – 10

Guoxiong – 5

Alvin – 5

Toh – 3

Darren – 3

Sebastian – 2

Rashid – 2

Soon – 1

Darren's goal sparked come-from-behind 4-2 victory

Dishing out arguably its best performance for one half, ARFC staged a remarkable come-back with a thrilling 4-2 win over the very competitive Court FC.

ARFC was supported by Lingzhi, Ron’s beau.

ARFC suffered a crushing blow when world-class GK Derrick pulled out due to work.  Luckily, the loss was cushioned by the appearance of Rashid who rushed from his team-building event.

Credit must also go to Haron and Tze Ern for volunteering to be GK for each half.

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

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

ARFC was shocked by some very tough challenges from the opponents in the opening 7 mins and could not get its game going.  However, ARFC’s experience told and it began to assert itself in the match.

ARFC created some half-chances with Kenny, Alvin and Chun Haw taking some shot from distance. 

Toh even forayed upfront, went past 2 opponents but drilled his left-foot shot slightly wide.

Haron then pulled off a brilliant save when he tipped their looping shot onto the bar.

However, ARFC then conceded 2 goals from 2 free-kicks in fairly quick succession.  0-2

Rashid then came on for Sebastian with ARFC switching to 4-5-1 formation. 

Despite trailing by 2 goals, ARFC did not panicked at all and came out with guns blazing for the 2^nd half. 

Guoxiong signaled ARFC’s intent when he skillfully brought a high diagonal ball from Chun Haw on the right, and without breaking his stride, fired in a volley which was palmed away by their GK for a corner.

ARFC then earned a corner on the left.  Sebastian’s corner was headed away to the left but Kenny quickly picked up the ball. With a superb swerving left-foot cross to the far side, Darren swooped in and stretched out his right foot to beat their GK. 1-0 and this was Darren’s 12^th ARFC goal. 1-2.

ARFC then won a corner after Chun Haw was clumsily upended by their defender as he chased after a through-ball.  Alvin stepped up and sent their GK the wrong way for his 302^nd ARFC goal. 2-2

By now, ARFC was gaining confidence and momentum while the opponents were clearly shattered and it was hence no surprise when ARFC took the lead for the first time in the 67^th min.

First, Kenny won a challenge and the ball went to the left for Chun Haw.  Chun Haw then demonstrated fancy footwork by going past 2 opponents in very tight space but before he could shoot, Kenny duly rifled the ball into the roof of the net. 3-2 and this was Kenny’s 80^th ARFC goal.

Kenny could have scored his second of the day just 77 seconds later.  A series of intricate passes between Haron, Chun Haw and Rashid saw the latter releasing a piercing perfectly-weighted grounder to Kenny but Kenny inexplicably scooped the ball over.

ARFC then put the result to bed in the 77^th min.  Rashid passed the ball to Haron who brilliantly dummied the ball for Chun Haw to run in from deep. With an exquisite first-touch that saw Chun Haw pulled the ball away from their covering right-back, Chun Haw then thumped the ball home with his left-foot for his 71^st ARFC goal. 4-2

I think credit must also go to ARFC’s defence led ably by Ron.

Voting Results:

Chun Haw – 12

Kenny – 6

Guoxiong – 4

Ron – 4

Darren – 3

Rashid – 2

Haron – 1

Chua – 1

Sebastian – 1

Soon – 1