Sebastian scored his 111th ARFC goal in 4-1 win

Playing its 20^th Veterans match on 29 Apr 2019 at 7 pm at Our Tampines Hub (OTH) pitch under very cool conditions, ARFC Veterans totally dominated the match but could only emerged with a 4-1 victory over DC FC.

ARFC Veterans was watched by Elvis’ prince (Dylan) and princess (Tiara). 

Due to poor response, Rashid was activated to bolster the numbers. Special thanks to Ismail too for coming to be GK after Derrick’s anus problem (not caused by being poked from behind).

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

GK – Ismail

RB – Eng Lai

Sweeper – Elvis

Stopper – Toh

LB – Chua

RM – Tze Ern

CM – Sebastian

CM – Son

LM - Darren

SC – Haron

SC – Hee

Subs:

Alvin

Rashid (late)

With its fast and furious start where the strikers and midfielders harassed the opponents ala Juergen Klopp’s Liverpool, ARFC Veterans took the lead with virtually its first attack of the match in the 3^rd min.

Hee made an intelligent run by peeling away and running down the left flank which Darren quickly spotted and sent a long ball to the left.  Displaying his world-renowned speed which is only slightly slower than Usain Bolt, Hee sprinted clear of their right back before crossing the ball into the box.  Haron dashed in and though the ball was slightly away from him, Haron still managed to twist his body, swivelled and slotted home his 267^th ARFC goal. 1-0

ARFC Veterans doubled its lead 5 mins later.  Tze Ern delivered yet another superb corner kick which saw Toh jumped and headed the ball downwards. The ball was blocked but rolled to the right side of the goal at the byeline.  In an improvised move, Soon then executed a back-heel right at the right byeline which deceived the opponents and GK, and the ball rolled into the net.  2-0 and this was Soon’s 83^rd ARFC goal.

ARFC Veterans put the result to bed with its 3^rd goal in the 17^th min.  Darren’s cross into the box was blocked by their stopper’s out-stretched hand, giving the referee no choice but to award a penalty.  Sebastian stepped up and hit the penalty to the usual spot – bottom left corner (GK’s right), that left their GK rooted to the spot.  3-0 and this was Sebastian’s 111^th ARFC goal.

Soon then had a goal incorrectly ruled out.  A series of passes between Tze Ern and Darren saw the latter chipping in a long ball into the penalty box.   Their defender tried to head clear but only succeeded into heading the ball backwards towards their own goal. With their GK stranded, the ball was slowly heading towards goal when Soon ran in from deep and touched the ball in.  However, the referee ruled, incorrectly, that Soon was off-side!  Unlucky Soon.

Sebastian then hit an outrageous volley from 37.77 metres but the ball was just 0.77mm over the bar.

From Tze Ern’s corner, Sebastian hit a half-volley with his left foot but the ball hit row Z.

Soon was not to be denied his 2^nd goal of the match.  Alvin held up the ball very well at the half-way line while waiting for someone to run in from deep.  Soon obliged and Alvin hit a defence-splitting ball to him.  Breaking clear from his own half, Soon ran in and despite the close attention of their defender, Soon placed the ball beyond the despairing dive of their GK.  4-0 and this was Soon’s 84^th ARFC goal.

This goal also saw Soon moving past Kenny who was stuck at 83 goals.

In the 2^nd half, ARFC Veterans had so many chances to increase the lead.

From a very clever reverse pass from Haron, Alvin powered clear but shot straight at their GK though no opponents were near him.

Soon was next to be infected by Alvin’s miss.  Despite facing their GK one-on-one, Soon also shot straight at their GK, missing the chance to notch his 2^nd-ever hat-trick for ARFC.

Soon’s first-ever hat-trick was on 08 March 2009 in a 6-3 win at the now-defunct MacPherson Secondary School pitch (near Tze Ern’s current big house)

Further bad luck heaped on Soon later.  From Sebastian’s classic corner on the right, Soon met the ball powerfully but the ball smacked against the cross-bar!  Really unlucky for him.

The opponents then scored a consolation goal 4-1

ARFC Veterans continued to miss many chances and had to be satisfied with a 4-1 win.

Besides the powerful strikers and energetic midfielders, credit must be given to Elvis, Eng Lai, Toh and Chua for holding the defence very well which allowed us to attack at will.