ARFC top-10 scorers (as at 01 July 2019)

1. Alvin - 313
2. Haron - 267
3. Blackburn - 164
4. Hee - 113
5. Sebastian - 112
6. Derrick - 110
7. Toh - 100
8. Soon - 84
9. Kenny - 83
10. Chun Haw - 78

Guoxiong's 7-star performance in 5-1 win

On the back on an inspiring performance from Guoxiong, ARFC swept aside the hardworking Tebing FC 5-1 on a hot and humid day. 

ARFC was supported by:

Clara (Guoxiong’s daughter)

Rio and Lingzhi (Ron’s son and wife)

Dylan and Tiara (Elvis’ children)

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

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

ARFC gave its supporters an early scare when it produced some tentative passes which were nearly capitalised by the hardworking opponents.

Guoxiong followed up with his strong performance from the previous match b totally dominating the right flank. Particularly, his 2 precise crosses found Alvin but the latter’s control and touch let him down as he lost the 2 balls in quick succession.

Chun Haw then let fly a long-range 35-metres shot which was high and wide.

At the 25^th min mark, ARFC then made an inspired substitutions with Hee and Sebastian coming on for Weilit and Ron respectively.

With seconds, Guoxiong’s cross from the right struck the out-stretched arms of their left back, giving the referee an easy decision to award a penalty kick.

For the first time ever, no one wanted to take the kick as Sebastian (have yet to touch the ball), Eng Lai, Elvis, Chun Haw and Alvin all did not want to take.  Left with no choice, Sebastian then stepped up and the outcome is the same expected one – drilling a low, hard and diagonal ball into the bottom left hand corner.  1-0 and this was Sebastian’s 112^th ARFC goal.

About 77 seconds from the re-start, ARFC doubled its lead.  From Guoxiong’s pressure, their left back hit a poor back pass to their GK.  Alvin intercepted the ball and though faced with only their GK to beat, Alvin showed his unselfishness when he rolled the ball across for Hee to dash in from the blind side and tapped the ball into the empty net.  2-0 and this was Hee’s 113^th ARFC goal.

Rashid then replaced Soon who had taken a slight knock.

ARFC then conceded a goal to lead 2-1 at half-time.

7 mins from the re-start, ARFC produced the move and goal of the match ala Liverpool-like goal.  First, Darren (Robertson) won the ball at left-back and passed to Soon (Henderson). Soon then laid the ball to Rashid (Shaqiri) who saw Alvin (Salah) moving up to ask for the ball.  Alvin received the ball and nailed a defence-splitting ball to Weilit (Mane) who beat their off-side trap by making an intelligent diagonal run from the right into the centre. Weilit won the ball ahead of their GK and dragged the ball wide, but thankfully, Chun Haw (Firminho) came in from the left and swept a sweet grounder into the unguarded net. What a beautifully-crafted team goal. 

3-1 and this was Chun Haw’s 78^th ARFC goal.

Guoxiong then swung in a perfectly-weighted cross but Alvin somehow headed over when unmarked.

Weilit then produced a nice cut-back from the right flank to the on-rushing Sebastian but he side-footed the ball wide.

ARFC was then indebted to Kerwin who produced a string of flying saves to deny the opponents.

ARFC then put the result to bed in the 77^th min. Hee took a quick throw-in to Guoxiong who, for the 7^th time in the match, delivered a delicious-looking cross into the box.  Ron ran in from deep but just missed his header.  Luckily, Rashid picked up the loose ball right at the left bye-line, looked up and chipped in a laser-sharp high ball back to the far post.  Left unmarked, Alvin did not disappoint this time as he leaped and nodded home his 313^th ARFC goal. 4-1

Weilit then produced nifty footwork by going around their defender but his shot was saved.

Rashid then sent a wild ball down the left flank and all causes seemed to be lost but Alvin had other ideas.  He mustered up his strength and engaged a running dual with their right-back.  Of course, Alvin muscled him away and managed to retrieve the ball right at the left touch-line.  Holding up the ball, Alvin heard Sebastian’s call for the ball and duly passed the ball back. Alas, Sebastian disappointed Alvin when his chip to the far top corner was plucked by their GK.

With virtually the last kick of the match, ARFC out the icing on the cake with its 5^th goal of the match. 

Sebastian’s corner was hit to the danger zone, as usual, and both Toh and Kerwin (who had sprinted from his goal for the corner) both failed to connect cleanly with the ball in the air.  Thankfully, the loose ball fell nicely to Darren who was standing just outside the 6-yard box and he duly obliged by blasting the ball home through a sea of players.  5-1 and this was Darren’s 20^th ARFC goal.

It is very obvious that Guoxiong is the Man-of-the-Match as both his offensive and defensive displays were world-class today.  He totally controlled the right midfield and when playing as right-back in second half, he totally kept their impressive left winger quiet.

Voting results:

Guoxiong – 8

Kerwin – 7

Ron – 7

Darren – 5

Soon – 5

Weilit – 3

Alvin – 2

Rashid – 2

ARFC in undeserving 0-2 loss

Resuming its playing calendar after the Hari Raya break, ARFC could not find its rhythm and succumbed to a 0-2 loss against HHH at Our Tampines Hub pitch.

ARFC started with this 4-5-1 line-up with Ron volunteering to be GK as Kerwin was late:

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

ARFC started strongly with incessant pressing from Raymond, Alvin, Soon and Sebastian.  Within 77 seconds of the start, their sweeper made a hasty clearance and the bouncing ball was picked up by Raymond outside the box.  Hearing Sebastian’s call for the ball, Raymond’s pass was slightly under-hit and Sebastian drove his shot high.

Rashid then hit a stinging shot with their GK stranded but could not find the target.

Guoxiong then won a foul after he was taken down by a Rugby-like tackle just outside the box.  Rashid stepped up but his curling shot was just 0.77mm wide of the right post.

Tze Ern then conjured 2 very beautifully-taken corner kicks in succession but no ARFC warriors, including Toh, could profit from it.

The opponents then scored a breakaway goal to lead 1-0 at half-time.

In the 2^nd half, ARFC kept up its pressure by chasing hard for every ball.  From one such move, Rashid sent his right foot grounder narrowly wide.

Sebastian then wasted a golden opportunity after Rashid and Alvin combined superbly down the right.  From Rashid square ball across outside the box, Sebastian could have taken a shot but he chose the wrong decision to dummy the ball after hearing a shout for the ball. 

The opponents then scored another breakaway goal to lead 2-0.

Javier then produced a mazy dribble and run down the right side and beat their defenders.  His low ball across goal reached Alvin who was totally unmarked at the far post.  Everybody, including those watching from the library, was already shouting ‘GOAL’ but Alvin inexplicably side-footed the ball wide, ala Raheem Sterling’s miss against Chelsea. Stunning miss that already stunned everyone!

Despite strong runs from Raymond and Guoxiong at the right flank, ARFC could not find a goal and lost 0-2.

Voting results:

Rashid – 11

Guoxiong – 11

Tze Ern – 8

Ron – 7

Soon – 3

Toh – 1

Raymond – 1