ARFC's defence super power in 4-1 victory

With Alvin at the helm again and trying out the 3-5-2 formation again, ARFC came out tops against a very young, fit and determined opponents 4-1.

As usual, Derrick put aeroplane while Jinzhong did not get his wife’s permission to play (as usual too).

ARFC started with this 4-3-3 line-up:

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

Due to the small pitch, Chun Haw fired in a shot straight from the kick-off.  Alas, it sailed just over.

ARFC was then awarded a free-kick after Alvin was fouled about 20 metres from goal.  Fresh from his Korea trip, Sebastian changed his free-kick routine when he drilled a grounder instead but their defender deflected the ball wide for a corner.

ARFC opened the scoring in the 7^th min after some quick thinking from Kerwin. After he was fouled at the left side, he quickly got up and switched a long ball to the right which was trapped down perfectly by Chua.  Chua passed to Guoxiong who faked a cross with his right foot, switched to his left foot and whipped in a curling ball.  Alvin stuck his neck out to head into the net that gave their GK no chance at all.  Great team move and it was Alvin’s 326^th ARFC goal.  1-0.

3 mins later, ARFC was awarded another free-kick just outside the penalty box.  Alvin tapped the ball 0.77 cm to Sebastian who stopped the ball, and Alvin bent the ball goalwards but was blocked for a corner.  Unlucky.

The referee then awarded a penalty to ARFC after the ball hit the opponent’s out –stretched arm after a melee.  Alvin stepped up and drilled a high diagonal ball into the top left-hand corner.  This type of penalty, no GK in the world, not even Buffon could save it.  2-0 and this was Alvin’s 327^th ARFC goal.

Andrew then dived low to smoother a dangerously-looking grounder on a wet surface. Fantastic save.

Hee then came on and nearly scored after he won an aerial dual with their sweeper.  Faced with their GK, Hee lobbed just 0.11 cm wide.  Unlucky!

In the 2^nd half, ARFC strangely was very subdued and was under heavy pressure from the opponents. Thankfully, ARFC’s defence did very well to repel all attacks.

Andrew again came up with a quick low diving save.

Andre then topped his previous 2 saves when he reacted quickest with a world-class flying save to tip a fierce shot over the bar. Simply world-class!

Alvin then saw his curling free-kick parried away by their GK.

In the 67^th min, ARFC put the result to bed with the goal of the match.  Sebastian drilled in a corner from the right and Chun Haw rose high but their defender rose higher to head the ball away.  Standing at the top of the penalty box, How Meng cushioned the high ball down with his head, waited for the ball to drop before thundering a crisp tight volley through a sea of defenders past their stunned GK.  Out of the world goal!

3-0 and this was How Meng’s 16^th ARFC goal.

The opponents then pulled a goal back.

ARFC restored its 3-goal margin 7 mins from time.  From the left, Sebastian executed a well-weighted and perfectly-placed corner all the way to the far post which saw Kerwin half-volleyed the ball across goal.  The ball nestled nicely into the bottom left corner for his 3^rd ARFC goal.

Kerwin’s beau Nicole was so excited at Kerwin’s goal that she did 77 Mexican waves on her own.

I wish to take this opportunity to highlight the great display by ARFC’s defenders in this match.

Elvis, Eng Lai, Huiming and How Meng were very immersed and focused with their blocks and interceptions and gave the opponents very little room to move.  This is not easy, especially when you consider that the opponents can actually be their children’s ages.

I think this was probably the best match that Eng Lai had played.

Chua and Darren also did not allow the opponents to get past them at all during the match.

Voting results:

Darren – 8

How Meng – 7

Chua – 6

Eng Lai – 6

Elvis – 6

Alvin – 2

Sebastian – 1

Guoxiong – 1

Kerwin – 1
Chun Haw - 1