Haron's 15th ARFC hat-trick key to ARFC Veterans' 5-3 win

Playing its 18^th veteran match against SRC Veterans at the Padang, Haron powered ARFC Veterans to a 5-3 victory and thereby maintaining its 100% record in 2019 (3 wins out of 3)

Due to initial poor responses, ARFC Veterans had to call up 4 guest players and 1 ARFC warrior to bolster its ranks.

Special credit goes to Ron who gamely turned up despite nursing a niggling heel injury.  Ron even lasted the whole match!  What a gem!

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

GK – Sunny (guest player)

RB – Andy (guest player)

Sweeper – Ron

Stopper – Toh

LB – Darren

RM – Derrick

CM – Sebastian

CM – Tze Ern

LM - Hee

SC – Haron

SC – Alvin

Subs:

Sunny (guest player) – late

John (guest player) – late

Wayne (ARFC warrior) – late

ARFC Veterans drew first blood within 177 seconds when Haron intercepted a poor pass across goal by their defender, and duly slotted home his 260^th ARFC goal. 1-0

However, ARFC Veterans went to sleep and conceded an equaliser 5 mins later.

ARFC Veterans then woke up and restore its lead 7 mins later.  Darren ping a long ball down the left and Alvin’s movement was great as he powered down the left.  Cutting the ball down to his favoured right foot, Alvin heard Haron’s call and sent in a inviting ball to the danger area between the penalty spot and 6-yard box.  Haron swooped in and planted a world-class diving header past their despairing GK. 2-1 and this was Haron’s 261^st ARFC goal.

Things got even better for Haron as he completed his hat-trick 7 mins later.  Tze Ern, who had a monster of a match, swung in a corner from the left. The ball was half clear high up into the air.  Toh then cushioned the ball down perfectly with an over-the-shoulder kick. The ball fell down nicely near the penalty spot and Haron executed his look-alike Fandi Ahmad-like bicycle kick that stunned all the opponents.  3-1 and this was Haron’s 262^nd ARFC goal.

This was also Haron’s 15^th hat-trick for ARFC which yielded 50 goals in total from those 15 hat-tricks.

However, Haron is still way behind Alvin’s all-time record of 27 hat-tricks which netted 90 goals.

In the 2^nd half, ARFC Veterans continued to press and soon extended its lead. From the left mid position, Tze Ern begun his solo run which took him past 3 opponents and all the way to the left bye-line.

Looking up and with no more space to go, Tze Ern produced a fantastic left-foot cross ala John Barnes all the way into the box.  The ball took a bounce near the penalty spot and Hee then came in from the blind side to head past their GK who despite getting a touch to the ball, was unable to prevent the ball from crossing the goal-line.  4-1 and this was Hee’s 108^th ARFC goal and first-ever ARFC Veterans goal!

Hee almost grabbed his brace when he met a delicious-looking cross from Darren but his powerful header smacked against the cross-bar.  Unlucky!

ARFC Veterans then put the result to bed in the 57^th min. Sebastian’s free-kick was blocked and the ball rolled back to him.  With a nonchalant look, Sebastian simply sliced the ball through their defence for Derrick to run in from deep.  Derrick just managed to reach the ball before 77 mm from the touchline on the left and sent in a low cross that eluded their GK, leaving Darren with the easiest of task to roll the ball into the empty net. 5-1 and this was Darren’s 17^th ARFC goal.

ARFC then eased up a bit and conceded 2 goals to win 5-3.

ARFC Veterans maintained 100% record in 2019 with 3-1 victory

Playing its 17^th veteran match against Poh Tiong Choon Logistics on 08 Mar 2019 (Friday) at 7 pm at the Hougang Stadium, ARFC Veterans maintained its 100% record in 2019 (2 wins out of 2) with a very controlled and patient display to win 3-1.

It was also the very first time that ARFC had played at the Hougang Stadium.

ARFC Veterans started with this 4-5-1 line-up:

GK – Darren

RB – Eng Lai

Sweeper – Elvis

Stopper – Toh

LB – Chua

RM – Raymond

CM – Sebastian

CM – Soon

CM - Ron

LM – Tong

SC – Alvin

Subs:

Hee

Rashid

Haron (late)

Tze Ern (late)

Special mention to Darren for volunteering to be GK for the first half.

Special credit to Ron for agreeing to be GK for the first 20 mins of the second half despite suffering an injury to his ankle.

Special mention to Raymond for taking over Ron as GK when the latter could not continued anymore.

ARFC Veterans took the lead in the 3^rd min.  From left back, Chua won the ball and passed to Sebastian.  Spotting Alvin’s run as he peeled away to the left wing area, Sebastian lofted a perfectly-weighted ball onto his path.  Alvin took a nice touch before squaring the ball across.  Soon, who started his run right after Sebastian’s ball, reached the area just inside the penalty box, swivelled and swept home across their GK for his 82^nd ARFC goal (5 goals were for the Veterans Team). 1-0

ARFC Veterans doubled its lead 7 mins later.  Eng Lai hit a high ball to the centre circle area.  With the ball bouncing, Raymond jumped and managed to head the ball away from their hesitant opponents. With a clear sight at goal, Raymond surged in with the ball and despite Alvin calling for the ball as he was free on the left, Raymond’s single-mindedness saw him drilled the ball into the corner. 2-0 and this was Raymond’s 11^th goal for the Veterans Team and 18^th ARFC goal overall.

ARFC Veterans was then the victim of a poor referee decision in the 17^th min. Sebastian’s reverse no-look pass picked up Tong in the box just above the penalty spot and Tong duly scored but was wrongly ruled offside.

In fact, the lousy referee continued to make at least 5-6 wrong calls especially on off-side decisions. 

ARFC Veterans then made a string of substitutions with Rashid coming on for the injured Ron, Hee for Tong, Haron for Alvin and Tze Ern for Chua.

Tze Ern then made the move of the match when he embarked on a 80-metre sprint from his left back position to chase after his own clearance. Amazingly, he still managed to reach the ball ahead of their right-back and even managed to win a throw-in!!!

In the 2^nd half, ARFC Veterans continued to press and build up play with patient passing.

There were several good moves and from one such move, Hee’s low shot was just wide. 

Rashid then unleashed a stinging volley that was just 0.12 cm over the bar.

Both Darren and Raymond also prodded both wings with some crosses but to no avail.

ARFC Veterans then deservingly extended its lead in the 5^7th min. Chua pinged a ball down the right flank to Raymond who brought he ball all the way to the byeline before crossing in.  Haron tried to challenge for the ball but the opponents’ GK spilled the ball into his path.  Haron then gratefully and gleefully placed the ball into the empty net.  3-0 and this was a typical poacher’s goal from Haron.  The goal was also Haron’s 259^th ARFC goal, with 7 of those goals coming from Veterans matches.

Rashid then passed to Raymond who could only shot straight at their GK.

Chua’s selflessness then produced the wrong result.  After intercepting a ball from their corner. Chua ran with the ball all the way up to their penalty box.  Despite not closed down by any opponents and with their GK at his mercy, Chua took the wrong option when he tried to pass to Haron and the ball was intercepted by their ex-S-League defender.  Of course, all the ARFC Veterans playfully chided Chua for not taking a shot which would surely have netted him a debut goal for ARFC.

The opponents then scored a breakaway goal. 3-1

Ron then reacted sharply with a low full-length diving save to keep out a certain goal.  Wonderful athlete. 

Elvis was totally commanding in leading his line while Toh was at his imperious self.

ARFC in stunning come-from-behind 5-2 victory with Toh's commanding display

In a friendly on 27 Jan 2019, ARFC staged a stunning comeback after trailing2 goals at half-time to emerge 5-2 victors against the young and fit LOL FC.

Wayne fired the first salvo when he let fly 3 shots but to no avail.

Sebastian then lasted a golden chance after being teed up by Soon when he placed his shot just 0.77 mm over the bar.

ARFC also had 5 corners but we did not capitalise.

The opponents then scored 2 goals to lead 2-0 at half-time.

In the 2^nd half, ARFC unleashed its 4 young guns, Sufi and the 3 brothers (Larry, Lucas and Lewis), which brought devastating results.

Within 77 seconds of the re-start, Sufi powered down the right flank, went past their left-back easily and whipped in a low cross which was handled by their covering defender.  Alvin stepped up and drilled the spot-kick diagonal high across their GK for his 311^th ARFC goal. 1-2.

177 seconds later, ARFC grabbed the equaliser. Again, Sufi cut in from the right and sliced their left-back like a knife through the butter.  He passed across goal and Larry then lifted the ball out and over their GK’s hands before blasting the ball into the net. 2-2 and this was Larry’s 3^rd ARFC goal.

At this juncture, the opponents looked bewildered but things got worse for them 7 mins later.  A series of intricate passing and movement involving Rashid, Lewis and Larry saw Lewis threading a perfectly-weighed through ball to Lucas.  Putting a nice touch, Lucas cut into the centre before firing home for his 5^th ARFC goal. 3-2 now.

At this point, the opponents were totally stunned and all their passes either went astray or went straight to ARFC’s players.

The opponents’ misery was to be worsened 7 mins later. From a short corner, Sufi passed inwards which saw Lewis taking a nice touch before drilling home his debut goal for ARFC. 4-2.

However, Kiat, who was called up due to unavailability of several ARFC warriors, conceded a penalty.  Thankfully, guest GK Sunny guessed the correct way when he dived low and full-length to his left to keep out the penalty.

Kiat then redeemed himself when he hacked off the ball from the goal line after their corner was headed powerfully towards ARFC’s goal.

ARFC then compounded the opponents’ misery with the 5^th goal of the match. Lucas went on a solo run from midfield all the way into their box and duly thumped home a fierce shot that gave their GK no chance at all. 5-2 and this was Lucas’ 6^th ARFC goal.

Guoxiong then kept the scoeline down when he also cleared off the line in the dying minutes of the match.

[Note:  Thousand apologies – I lost all the voting results by you guys.]

ARFC edged out LAS FC 4-3 with a MOM display from Eng Lai

Dishing out a composed play, passing and movement, ARFC defeated a young and determined LAS FC 4-3 on 20 Jan 2019.

ARFC flew off the blocks right after the kick-off.  Within 77 seconds, Kenny received a ball from Sebastian and dribbled into the box.  With a sharp turn, Kenny eluded their defender but was hacked down.

Regular penalty-taker Sebastian then offered Eng Lai to take the penalty.  Eng Lai then duly sent their GK the wrong way with an expertly-taken spot-kick for his 7^th ARFC goal. 1-0 and the last time Eng Lai scored for ARFC was on 02 April 2017 in a 6-1 victory.

ARFC doubled its lead 7 mins later.  From a corner on the left, the ball was only half-cleared to Ron who was lurking suspiciously just inside the box.  Though Ron mishit his shot, the ball still managed to slip through their GK’s legs. 2-0 and this was Ron’s 15^th ARFC goal.

ARFC then went to sleep and conceded 2 goals to go in level at half-time.

In the second half, ARFC regained the lead 7 mins after the re-start. After a series of passing, the ball was blocked on several occasions in the box.  Thankfully, Kenny managed to bundled the ball home for his 83rd ARFC goal. 3-2 

7 mins later, Soon was unlucky when he late surge into the box saw him crashing his shot against the crossbar.

In the 77^th min, a moment of magic from Rashid sealed the deal.  From the left wing, he delivered a world-class cross ala John Barnes.  Wayne then matched Rashid’s brilliance with an equally world-class move as he expertly guided the ball into the far bottom corner though he was heavily marked by their big defender. 4-2 and this was Wayne’s 43^rd ARFC goal.

The opponents then pulled a goal back towards the end but ARFC held on for a 4-3 win.

[Note:  Thousand apologies – I lost all the voting results by you guys.]