ARFC lost 1-3 to British Exiles

In a match played at the heavy artificial pitch at NUS Pitch 1, ARFC lost 1-3 to a very hard and competitive British Exiles team.

ARFC took the lead when their GK made a poor clearance to their left-back.  Demonstrating world-class anticipation, Guoxiong swooped in like a hawk to intercept the ball.  Spotting their GK off the line, Guoxiong instinctively lifted the ball over their GK for his 31st ARFC goal. 1-0

ARFC then conceded 3 goals to lose 1-3.

Soon struck winning goal in ARFC Veterans' 3-2 win

Playing its 14^th veteran match, ARFC Veterans put up a rather complacent performance though it still managed to edge out No Name 3-2.

On match-day morning, ARFC Veterans was still short of players and had to call up Rashid and Guoxiong to bolster its numbers.  However, several ARFC Veterans subsequently turned up at the 11^th hour. 

Kudos to Huiming for showing up despite being down with illness.  Role model!

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

GK – Guoxiong

RB – Kiat

Sweeper – Toh

Stopper – Tjioe

LB – Tong

RM – Raymond

CM – Sebastian

CM – Soon

LM – Darren

SC – Alvin

SC – Hee

Subs:

Haron

Eng Lai

Rashid

Huiming

ARFC Veterans was very eager and active and dominated the opening exchange though it did not manage to grab a breakthrough despite many chances.

Darren, a reborn left winger for ARFC Veterans, floated down the left flank before chipping in a delicious-looking cross that saw Hee leaping majestically but headed the ball just wide.

Sebastian then followed up when he made space for himself but hurried his shot and screwed it wide.

ARFC Veterans then suffered a crushing blow when Toh pulled his left thigh muscle after attempting a rare long-range shot with his left foot.  He was immediately replaced by Eng Lai.

Darren then played a ball to Sebastian who dummied the ball to Haron (who just came in for Hee) and continued his wall-pass run.  Haron read the move perfectly and returned the ball to Sebastian but the latter again skewed his shot just wide.

Despite coming up with so many nice passes and touches around the their penalty box, ARFC Veterans lacked penetration and could not scored.  Both Kiat and Tong also impressed as right and left back respectively, with Kiat making several forays up front while Tong produced a lung-busting overlapping run down the left flank but his cut-back did not reap benefits.

ARFC Veterans was then made to pay in the 2^nd half when the opponents scored with virtually its first attack of the match.  0-1

Within 177 seconds from the setback, ARFC Veterans equalised.  Sebastian’s nicely-floated corner kick from the right was met by Raymond who rose the highest to glance the ball to the top corner.  1-1 and this was Raymond’s 17^th ARFC goal, with 10 of those goals from ARFC Veterans matches, making him the highest goal-scorer for ARFC Veterans.

Alvin then squandered a golden opportunity when he was one-on-one with their GK.  However, he hesitated between going around GK and placing past their GK, and their GK managed to shepherd the ball out for a goal-kick.

Rashid then conjured a stunning long-range shot that was just narrowly over the bar.

ARFC finally took the lead in the 60^th min. The industrious Soon found himself with the ball in the box and played to Sebastian who was also in the box. Though Soon’s ball was slightly underhit and with their GK charging out, Sebastian managed to stretch and push the ball to Blackburn who was just outside the edge of the penalty box.  Taking aim and keeping his composure, Blackburn simply rifled the ball to the top left-hand corner for his 164^th ARFC goal. 2-1

Strangely enough, ARFC Veterans conceded another goal. 2-2

Raymond then suffered Alvin’s malaise when he was put through on goal.  Though he succeeded to go round their GK, he could not get a clean shot in.

ARFC Veterans then struck the winning goal in the 77^th min.  Blackburn passed the ball to Alvin on the left flank.  Soon made a run in from deep and Alvin passed the ball through to Soon after seeing his run.  Without breaking his stride, Soon rolled a grounder past their GK for his 81^st ARFC goal. 3-2

ARFC top-10 goal-scorers (as at 08 Oct 2018)

1. Alvin - 310 goals
2. Haron - 257 goals
3. Blackburn - 163 goals
4. Sebastian - 108 goals
5. Hee - 107 goals
6. Derrick - 106 goals
7. Toh - 99 goals
8. Kenny - 81 goals
9. Soon - 80 goals
10. Chun Haw - 73 goals

Chua's 7-star performance key to ARFC's 4-0 win

Supported by Tiara and Dylan (Elvis’ princess and prince), ARFC met the same opponents (V2) for the 2^nd successive match but this time round, the presence of both Darren and Chua made huge differences as V2 was comprehensively dismissed 4-0.

Special mention to Haron who gamely played as GK throughout the match.  He also kept a clean sheet!

ARFC started with only 10 warriors:  

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

With just 10 warriors, ARFC had to pace itself during the opening exchanges.  The opponents were also very eager to avenge it’s defeat last week and was charging at us furiously and ferociously.  Thankfully, Elvis and Toh led the defence well, with both Soon and Sebastian providing good shield in front of them.

ARFC took the lead in the 10^th min.  Darren’s long throw from the left flank bounced over Blackburn and their defenders in the box.  Alvin was the biggest beneficiary when he duly nodded the ball high t the far right corner.  1-0 and this was Alvin’s 310^th ARFC goal.

Rashid then came on after his arrival, with Chua joining him.  Ron then replaced YY as well.

From a quick attack down the left, Soon hit the post with his shot. Unlucky!

Sebastian then played a high ball to Alvin who made a perfect knock-down for Rashid to unleash a fierce volley that was just 77 mm over the bar.

ARFC doubled its lead in the 20^th min.  After some gen-genpressing from both Sebastian and Soon at their right-back area, their right back’s clearance could only reached Rashid who was at least 37 metres away from goal and slightly to the right.  Without hesitation and showing world-class vision, Rashid used his right foot instead of his preferred left foot and swung over to Blackburn who was standing just outside the penalty box.  Without letting the ball drop to the ground, Blackburn let fly a stupendous left foot volley ala Robin van Persie/James Rodriguez that saw the ball hit the top right hand corner that gave their flying GK no chance at all. 2-0 and this was Blackburn’s 163^rd ARFC goal.

ARFC tripled its lead in the 30^th min.  Haron hit a long drop-kick right to the centre circle area.  Showing out-of-the-world reading of the game, Sebastian then started his run from deep, in anticipation that Alvin would win the aerial duel for a flick-on.  True enough, Alvin did exactly just that and Sebastian ran in from deep.  Before their GK could charge out and with a defender closing in very fast, Sebastian lobbed over their GK for his 108^th ARFC goal. 3-0.

With this goal, Sebastian moved up to 4^th position in ARFC’s all-time top scorers list.

His reward for scoring?  Immediately replaced by Eng Lai.

In the 2^nd half, YY missed 2 chances in quick succession.  From a Sebastian’s free-kick, Darren challenged for the ball with their GK who only managed to punch the ball to YY who was in the box. However, YY could not get a clean shot at goal.

Minutes later, YY missed an even better chance when he could only produced a weak grounder with just the GK to beat.

Haron then produced a couple of get-down saves to preserve ARFC’s lead.

After withstanding some intense pressure by the opponents, ARFC grabbed a quick break-away goal.

The opponents tried to pass the ball down the right channel but was intercepted by Sebastian who was standing at the left-back position.  Sebastian then passed the ball to Darren who embarked on an Andrew Robertson-like overlapping run.  He passed the ball to Alvin who had pulled away to the left flank.  Alvin received the ball, held up a little before executing a perfectly-weighted grounder down the left flank. Continuing his run, Darren brought the ball inwards and despite with a narrow angle, he drilled the ball past their GK in a goal that was strikingly similar to Alan Kennedy’s European Cup final winning goal for Liverpool against Real Madrid in 1981. [If you all don’t believe me, go google to find out.]

4-0 and this was Darren’s 15^th ARFC goal, moving him on level terms with Elvis.

This 4-0 win was also ARFC’ 10^th victory in 21 matches in 2018 thus far.

The key difference between this and last week?  The presence of Chua who totally kept the ang moh left winger in his pocket.  If you all remembered, their ang moh left winger created lots of problems for us last week.

Voting results:

Darren – 10

Soon – 7

Chua – 7

Haron – 5

Toh – 3

Ron – 2

Elvis – 2

Wayne propelled ARFC to victory in its 600th match (open team)

Supported by Lingzhi (Ron’s beau), Tiara and Dylan (Elvis’ princess and prince), ARFC finally ended its 4-match winless streak with an exciting 5-4 win over V2.

ARFC was dealt a cruel blow before the match as 1^st-choice GK Derrick pulled out just minutes before the match.

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

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

ARFC started strongly, with Wayne very springly in his movements upfront.

However, ARFC received a huge set-back when Guoxiong pulled up with a groin strain and as replaced by Benard.

Nevertheless, ARFC was not affected and it was no surprise that ARFC took the lead through Wayne in the 7^th min.

From How Meng’s long drop-kick, Ron won the aerial duel and flicked the ball goalwards.  Wayne burst clear and duly slotted the ball home for his 38^th ARFC goal. 1-0

ARFC doubled its lead 7 mins later with Wayne again the scorer.  From yet another long kick from How Meng, Rashid brought the ball down nicely to Wayne who exchanged great wall-passes with Blackburn.  With a neat flick that caught their defence flat-footed, Blackburn put Wayne through who simply could not miss as he placed the ball home for his 39^th ARFC goal. 2-0

ARFC tripled its lead 5 mins later with a world-class team goal.  Again, How Meng’s long goal kick caused havoc as his long ball found Hee on the right midfield area. Thouh the ball was very high, Hee executed brilliant technique when he chested the high ball down and passed to Rashid.  After exchanging 1-2 with Blackburn, Rashid released Wayne down the right flank.  Wayne sped clear and squared the ball across to the onrushing Blackburn who tapped in from close range. 3-0 and this was Blackburn’s 162^nd ARFC goal.

In the 2^nd half, Guoxiong gamely volunteered to be GK though he could not run at all. Wonderful team player!

Even though Guoxiong could not run, he made a world-class save when he got down very sharply to turn a low shot over the post for a corner.

ARFC let up a little and soon conceded a goal. 3-1

ARFC’s pedigree told as it quickly regained its 3-goal advantage albeit with a little bit of luck.  From some pressure, Haron passed to Alvin in the box whose quick snap-shot was spilled by their GK.   As the ball was rolling slowly into the net, and in his desperation, their GK tried to scoop the bal away but only succeeded in turning the ball faster into the net.  4-1 and this was Alvin’s 309^th ARFC goal.

ARFC looked to have put the result to bed with its 5^th goal in the match.  From quick pressure on the right, the ball rolled to Tze Ern who was lurking just inside the box.  With a quick switch of his feet, Tze Ern swiveled and side-footed a left-foot grounder that hit the bottom right corner.  5-1 and this was Tze Ern’s 16^th ARFC goal, putting him on level terms with Raymond.

Tze Ern’s reward for scoring? He was immediately replaced as he needed to pick up his wife and children. What a great father!

Strangely enough, ARFC then allowed the opponents to score 3 quick goals to lead by 5-4 and did just enough to hold on to the narrow victory.

Voting results:

Wayne – 12

Ron – 11

Blackburn – 8

How Meng – 8

Soon – 3

Eng Lai – 1

Rashid – 1

Guoxiong – 1