Hui Ming turned back the clock with colossal defensive display in 0-1 loss

Faced with just 1 substitute, ARFC put up a determined display but was eventually hard done by the extreme hot and humid weather on 19 Jan 2020 at 3 pm at Naval Base SS.

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

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

It was always going to be an uphill task as ARFC was missing several key warriors in the match and fell behind in the 17^th min from a free-kick. 0-1

To its credit, ARFC upped its game and equalised in the 27^th min.  Wei Lit, who had improved in recent matches with his neat and nifty footwork, wriggled his way down the left flank.  Wei Lit then passed the ball to Sebastian who had arrived to ask for the ball.  Holding up the ball well, Sebastian then released the ball to Guoxiong who was just inside the box.  Looking up, Guoxiong hit a world-class curling shot that had their GK beaten all the way.  Alas, the ball hit the right post and rebounded away to the left, away from Alvin and Hee who were standing at the right side area in the box.

ARFC had another great chance 7 mins later when Darren’s missile-like long throw from the right saw Ron leaping the highest but his back-flick header just sailed about 0.14 mm over the bar, with their GK well-beaten.  Unlucky!

Sebastian’s corner from the left was well-hit but no one managed to head the ball in.

In the 2^nd half, it was clear that with just one substitute and the gruelling weather, ARFC was always going to be at the back-foot.  However, its dogged spirit did not weaver and held firmly against the opponents.

Fremont was clearly the hero as he produced at least 3 world-class saves ala Alisson Becker.

In the 60^th min, ARFC nearly equalised after Wei Lit embarked on a Gareth Bale-like run down the left wing.  Concurrently, Sebastian read his move and began making a run into the box.  Wei Lit then beat their right midfielder and then right back before squaring the ball across with their GK beaten.  However, Sebastian was not fast enough to tap the ball home as he was just 0.7 m away from the ball.  If there was Soon, he would surely have reached the ball.

By now, almost all ARFC warriors were struggling to even walk, let alone run, but they held on for a narrow 0-1 defeat.

Special credit must be given to Jinzhong who soldiered on despite suffering bad blisters at the foot.

Huiming was clearly the Man-of-the-Match with his defensive performance as he produced blocks after blocks.