Toh's brace of headers propelled ARFC's come-from-behind 4-2 victory

On the back of 2 power header goals from Toh, ARFC came from 0-2 down at half-time to eventually see off Old Men United 4-2 in a thrilling match.

ARFC was supported by Dylan and Tiara (Elvis’ kids) and Clara (Guoxiong’s princess).

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

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

ARFC was sluggish in the opening exchanges and was grateful to Fremont who made a flying save to tip their fierce shot over the bar. 

The opponents soon scored to lead 1-0.

ARFC then woke up from its slumber and tried to force its way into the match.

In the 17^th min, ARFC was really unlucky after Sebastian ran in from centre midfield to latch onto Soon’s well-weighed chip over their defence.  Alas, with their GK charging out and their sweeper leaning in, Sebastian’s left-foot lob was just 7 mm over the bar.

ARFC then fell further behind after the opponents scored from a quick counter-attack. 0-2

ARFC then made a string of substitutions with all Derrick replacing Wayne as striker, Chun haw taking over Weilit at right mid and Kerwin coming in for Hee. Kerwin took up the left-back position, with Darren moving up to left mid to lend more bite to its attack.

Alvin then hit a free-kick from the left but the ball was just 9 mm over the bar.

Derrick was then hacked down outside the box but Sebastian’s free-kick was disappointing as he sent the ball 77 mm over the bar.

ARFC almost pulled a goal back in the 35^th min after Chun Haw held up a cross from Guoxiong. Chun Haw then laid the ball into the path of Sebastian but the latter’s chip struck the stanchion of the goal and out for a goal-kick. Unlucky!

In the 2^nd half, Chun Haw partnered Soon at centre mid, with Wayne playin upfront with Alvin.  Hee took over Guoxiong.

7 mins after the restart, ARFC pulled a goal back with the credit going to Soon.  Showing great anticipation ala Kante, Soon robbed their centre mid of the ball before powering inwards and goalwards.  Weilit then called for the ball down the right and Soon duly obliged. Taking a great first touch, Weilit squared the ball across and the gleeful and grateful Alvin simply guided the ball into the empty net.  1-2 and this was Alvin’s 323^rd ARFC goal.

Hee then made the move of the match after their striker was clear on goal after evading our defence.  Out from nowhere, Hee chased back and made a stunning sliding block, ala Mark Lawrenson, to deny their striker.  Totally world-class block!

In the 57^th min, ARFC was awarded a penalty after Wayne’s perfect ball found Chun Haw through on goal.  Before he could pull the trigger, Chun Haw was shoved to the ground from behind.  At this juncture, Soon signalled to be replaced as he was feeling giddy.  Sebastian then came on to take the penalty.

As usual, Sebastian struck his spot-kick to the usual spot, bottom left corner, but was luckless once again as the ball hit the upright, rebounded off the back of their GK and rolled out for a corner!  Super unlucky as this was the second time in the match that Sebastian hit the woodwork.

With the miss, Sebastian’s proud record for not missing a penalty since 2016 was finally ended.

Wayne was next to be unlucky when his free-kick hit the left stanchion.

Alvin then passed the ball to the centre but Chun Haw sliced and skied the ball over.

Weilit then shot into the side netting after dribbling past their left-back.

After relentless attack, ARFC finally found its equaliser in the 70^th min.  Alvin’s corner from the left saw Toh charging in like a raging bull and thumped home a bullet header that almost bust the net.  Credit goes to Wayne too as his jumping also in a way prevented their defender from coming near Toh. 

2-2 and this was Toh’s 101^st ARFC goal, ended an almost one-year goal-drought as his last goal was on 30 Dec 2018 against Eagles FC in a 2-2 draw at The Arena pitch.

The opponents looked deflated while ARFC continued to attack.

In the 77^th min, ARFC took the lead for the first time after Hee passed to Alvin down the left.  Alvin’’s cross to the far post was somehow miskicked by Wayne but thankfully, Derrick was right at the top of the 6-yard box to turn the ball home for his 112^th ARFC goal. 3-2

ARFC was then again indebted to Fremont as almost straight the kick-off, their striker hit a great volley that looked to end up in the back of our net.  Fremont had other ideas, though, as he spreaded himself and used his left foot to turn the shot into the post and out for a corner.

With virtually the last kick of the match, ARFC scored its 4^th goal.  Sebastian’s corner from the left was me emphatically by Toh who powered home a header ala Olivier Bierhoff for his 102^nd ARFC goal. 4-2.

Voting results:

Fremont – 10

Toh – 9

Alvin – 8

Hee – 4

Chun Haw – 3

Weilit – 3

Soon – 2