Sebastian's spot-on with his spot-kick in 1-0 victory

Playing its 11^th veteran match, ARFC Veterans chalked up its 8^th victory courtesy of an expertly-taken penalty from Captain Sebastian.

Prior to the match, ARFC Veterans only had 12 players and had no choice but to call up Rashid and Guoxiong to bolster its ranks.  Huiming also turned up at the 11^th hour after his massage session ended early unexpectedly.

ARFC Veterans started with this line-up:

GK – Guoxiong

RB – Huiming

Sweeper – Elvis

Stopper – Toh

LB – Eng Lai

RM – Raymond

CM – Tjioe

CM – Sebastian (captain)

LM – Soon

SC – Haron

SC – Blackburn

Subs:

Qingxing

Chua

Kiat

Rashid

ARFC Veterans quickly stamped its authority in the match with Tjioe and Sebastian controlling the midfield, while Elvis led his defence well.

Huiming then pinged a nice ball down the right for Haron who managed to scoop the ball back to the top of the penalty box.  Blackburn arrived but his fierce shot flew just slightly over the bar.

Sebastian’s corner was met by Toh but he could not get a clean connection.

ARFC then won a free-kick after Tjioe was fouled about 37 metres away from goal.  Sebastian stepped up but his wicked curling ball was turned away by their GK for a corner.

From the ensuing corner, Blackburn delivered a missile that was met by the on-rushing Toh who powered home a header that almost burst the net.  However, Toh was denied his 100^th ARFC goal when the referee ruled that Toh had pushed a defender which was a wrong call totally.

Sebastian then picked up a clearance from their GK and from the centre circle, he spotted their GK off his line.  However, Sebastian’s Xabi Alonso-like placing shot looked to have landed at the top right corner until their GK rushed back and turned the ball away for a corner.

Rashid then replaced Sebastian and within minutes, he picked up another clearance from their GK but he only managed to curl his shot just wide of the post from 37,77 metres.

Qinnxing and Kiat then replaced Eng Lai and Huiming respectively.

After some neat passes between Soon and Haron, Haron expertly hit an inside-foot shot but their GK somehow got a touch to the ball which then hit the crossbar for a corner. Unlucky!

Chua then came on for the tiring Tjioe and Soon moved to centre midfield.

Sebastian then came back on to replace Blackburn with Raymond moving upfront and Soon moving to the right midfield.

From about 37 metres, Rashid then hit another delicious-looking left-foot curler which struck the right post.  Haron latched on to the loose ball but he was clumsily brought down by their GK. 

Haron stepped up to take the spot-kick but he blazed his shot to row Z which was totally unexpected.

In the second half, Raymond, who has been impressive all day at right wing and forward, then cut the ball back but Haron’s shot was narrowly wide.

Haron and Raymond than had chances in the box but they just could not get a footing to pull the trigger.

Tjioe, who volunteered to be GK for the 2^nd half, then produced a stunning back-leaping save to turn their cross-shot away.

ARFC then won its 2^nd penalty of the match after their defender handled Rashid’s shot.  Sebastian stepped forward this time and nonchalantly sent their GK the wrong way for his 107^th ARFC goal. 1-0

With this goal, Sebastian is now on level terms with Hee in ARFC’s all-time leading scorers chart.

Eng Lai nearly doubled ARFC Veterans’ lead after he picked up a loose ball from Guoxiong’s cross.  However, Eng Lai could not get enough power behind his shot.  But it did not matter as ARFC closed out the match for thoroughly-deserving a 1-0 win.

This was a match where all ARFC Veterans played well and totally dominated the match.

Both GKs (Guoxiong and Tjioe) provided steady hands which was also aided by Elvis’ commanding marshalling of the defence.  Kiat and Qingxing showed no rust at all and came up with several interceptions, while Toh and Huiming were totally dominating as stoppers.

Eng Lai and Chua also demonstrated their versatility when both played well as defender and midfielder during the match.

In midfield, Tjioe, Sebastian, Soon and Rashid were total monsters today, while Raymond and Guoxiong provided much-needed energy and pace down the right side.

Upfront, Haron and Blackburn held up play well and linked up brilliantly with the midfielders.