Sebastian's pair of penalties in vain in ARFC's 2-3 defeat

 Playing under hot weather against a young but not-so-sporting team called Chubby Alonso, ARFC suffered its first defeat in 2022 after falling 2-3 at the Compassvale SS pitch on 24 Apr at 3 pm.

 

ARFC welcomed back Eng Lai and Hee who made their first appearance in their new jerseys for the ARFC Open team. 

 

ARFC was severely hit by the late withdrawal of How Meng who was struck down by Covid19.

 

ARFC took to the pitch with this 4-4-2 line-up:

 

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

 

 

After some close exchanges, ARFC found itself 2 goals down.  0-2

 

ARFC did not give up and Kerwin threatened with several long throws which were not capitalised by ARFC.  Particularly, one long throw actually struck the cross-bar and bounced out.

 

At the 20^th min mark, ARFC then made changes with Alvin and Chun Haw replacing Hee and Guoxiong, with Kerwin switching to left midfield.  Eng Lai and Ron also took over from Elvis and Toh at the heart of the defence too.

 

The substitutions soon reaped dividends within 3 mins.  

 

Chua, who was impressive throughout, took a quick throw-in to Sebastian.  Sebastian then passed to Chun Haw who did a very clever flick ball with his right foot for the on-rushing Weilit who had charged into the box from his right midfield position.  Weilit killed the ball with a great first touch, moved in and was brought down by their left-back, giving the referee no choice but to point to the spot.   

 

Sebastian stepped up and with his usual penalty routine, slammed the ball to the usual spot, i.e bottom left corner of the goal frame. 

 

1-2 and this was Sebastian’s 120^th ARFC goal.

 

Chun Haw then met Kerwin’s missile-like throw-in but his glancing header was just 0.23 mm wide of the right post.

 

Derrick then came up with a fantastic block with his feet after their striker was clean through.

 

In the second half, Chun Haw replaced the tired Sebastian at centre mid and partnered Soon.  Within minutes, Chun Haw pinged a long diagonal ball ala Jordan Henderson down the right flank for Kerwin.  Kerwin reached the ball but his cross just eluded Alvin, who had made a brilliant run into the box, by about 0.99 mm!

 

The opponents then scored a break-away goal to lead 3-1.

 

Strangely enough, the opponents then engaged a provocative act by making uncalled for remarks at our fiery GK Derrick, even though they were already leading and having the upper hands in the match.  Their unsporting act nearly caused the match to be abandoned but thankfully good senses prevailed and the match proceeded.

 

Alvin then won a foot race with their hugely-impressive Eurasian defender and with their GK charging out, Alvin deftly lobbed the ball over their GK.  The ball looked to be ending up in the net till their covering defender made a last-ditch clearance.  Unlucky!

 

With 7 mins to go, Sebastian made a quick a throw-in to Hee who expertly trapped the ball and enticed their defender to close in.  Hee took a quick step forward and he was duly bundled over in the box, giving the referee the easiest of decisions to award another penalty.

 

Again, Sebastian took the penalty and the end result and destination of the ball were the same, i.e hit low and hard to the bottom left corner of the goal frame which gave their GK no chance at all.

 

2-3 and this was Sebastian’s 121^st ARFC goal.

 

ARFC tried to grab the equalising goal but to no avail despite valiant efforts from the team.

 

Man-of-the-Match has to be Tze Ern who did very well at left back and managed to repel their attacks and often faced with 2 speedy opponents at the same time.

Birthday Boy Chun Haw inspired ARFC's 4-4 come-back draw

  

In a heavily-delayed match due to useless/senseless lightning alert system, ARFC showed remarkable teamwork and determination to claw back from 0-4 down to draw 4-4 at the Greenridge SS on 17 Apr 2022 at 3 pm.

 

As a matter of fact, ARFC could have easily snatched victory if not for some “very weird” refereeing decisions throughout the match, including the fact that he shortened and ended the match after we totally dominated and ran all over the opponents in the 2^nd half.  This was evidenced by the fact that the opponents did not even have a single shot at our goal at all in the 2^nd half!

 

As the auntie only allowed the teams into the field about 40 mins after ARFC hastily took to the pitch with this 4-5-1 formation:

 

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

 

 

The only difference was that the opponents had already changed while waiting for the auntie to let both teams in, whereas ARFC warriors only changed when they were at the pitch side. 

 

ARFC then paid the price for not having proper warm-up and it showed when the referee blew for kick-off.

 

ARFC conceded a penalty in the 5^th min but perennial penalty-saver Derrick blocked their spot-kick with his feet when he read the kick perfectly. 

 

Incredulously, the referee somehow spotted that some ARFC warriors had ran into the box (it was a huge wonder on how he could see it as he was supposed to see whether GK had stepped off his line) before the penalty was taken, and ordered a re-take.

 

From the re-take, Derrick read the mind of the same penalty taker and again blocked the kick with his feet.  World-class goal keeping!

 

However, ARFC then inexplicably conceded 4 goals within 17 mins to trail 0-4!

 

Realising that 4-5-1 formation didn’t work out, Sebastian then did a tactical switch to 4-4-2, with Chua, Weilit and Pardiphan replacing Elvis, Kerwin and Tjioe respectively. 

 

Darren then moved to stopper with How Meng dropping to Sweeper, and Pardiphan took up the left-back position.  Chua came in as right-back, with Guoxiong pushing up to right midfield.  Weilit was deployed as left midfield, with Chun Haw moving upfront to partner Wayne.

 

The switch paid dividends almost immediately.  Attacking down the right, Guoxiong received a cut-back from Wayne who did very well to hold up the ball throughout the match.  Looking up from his right byline position, Guoxiong swung in a cross to the far post which sailed over their GK to nestle nicely into the top left-hand corner.  1-4 and this was Guoxiong’s 37^th ARFC goal. 

 

Guoxiong’s last goal for ARFC was on 8 Dec 2019 when he netted in a 6-0 win at AMK SS.

 

With another attacking move down the right, ARFC grabbed another goal.  Guoxiong passed to Wayne who waited for Chun Haw to arrive.  Receiving the ball from Wayne, Chun Haw did a quick switch and heard Weilit’s call for the ball at the middle, about 27 metres away from their goal.  Off Chun Haw’s low pass, Weilit then killed the ball, looked up and clipped a well-placed curling ball over their GK that saw the ball landed at almost the same spot as Guoxiong’s goal.   

 

2-4 and this was Weilit’s 18^th ARFC goal, with his last goal for ARFC coming on 15 Mar 2020 in 4-4 draw.

 

By now, Chun Haw was driving ARFC forward in front of his watching parents and cutest daughter.  He was unlucky with a few shots and was also fouled repeatedly by the opponents.

 

The half-time then ended 2-4.

 

In the re-start, Tjioe replaced Sebastian.  10 mins later, Kerwin took over Wayne upfront.

 

Together with Soon, Tjioe then came to the fore with some very muscular pressing and won many good balls which propelled ARFC.

 

Kerwin also forcefully closed down their defenders and the opponents could not coped with him and brought him down.

 

Kerwin drew a foul after his sharp pull-back completed fooled their defender who had no choice but to hack Kerwin down.  From the resulting free-kick 37 metres out, Pardiphan simply drilled in a powerful rising shot that had goal screaming all the way.  Their GK got his hands to the ball but could not keep out the shot. 

 

3-4 and this was Pardiphan’s 2^nd goal for ARFC in as many matches.

 

3 mins later, ARFC drew level.

 

Pardiphan passed the ball to Chun Haw who turned away from the opponents before firing in a venomous dipping shot from distance.  Their GK flew and palmed the ball way for a corner.

 

From the resulting corner, Kerwin hit a precise ball into the box.  How Meng simply muscled his way into the box and thumped home a header, ala Konate’s goal against Man City in the FA Cup semi-final, that gave any GK in the world no chance at all!

 

4-4 and this was How Meng’s 18^th ARFC goal.

 

Chua then played a brilliant long low pass from his right-back position to Chun Haw but the latter’s shot was just slightly wide.

 

Sebastian and Elvis then came on for Weilit and Darren (who had a good game containing their speedy winger and striker) respectively.  Elvis then did well to marshall the defence. 

 

Wayne then replaced Guoxiong 2 mins later.

 

Pardiphan was then played in by Soon but his rocket was just 0.77 mm over the bar.

 

Sebastian then exchanged wall-passes with Chun Haw down the left flank before Chun Haw spun away but skied his shot about 0.23 mm over the bar.

  

How Meng then nearly scored another header. Off Kerwin’s corner kick from the right, How Meng lost his marker but the ball hit his shoulders for a goal kick.

 

ARFC then caused mayhem in the crowded penalty box with Wayne, Soon and Chun Haw pressurising them. The loose ball rolled out to Tjioe, and with Kerwin free to his right and shouted for the ball desperately, who could only managed to scoop the ball over the bar.

 

With literally the last kick of the match, Sebastian lumped a long high ball into the penalty box and the ball dropped and clearly hit their defender’s hands.  However, the referee somehow missed the clear handball. 

 

By now, the opponents were out of breath and were simply waiting for the referee to blow the final whistle which the referee duly obliged by ending the match at least 5 mins early.

 

This was probably the first time that ARFC had fight back to draw/win after going 4 goals down.

 

There is also a need to highlight a key but heart-warming moment in the match. Chun Haw was brought down at the middle of the park and when he got up, the opponents tried to provoke him by taunting him.  The Chun Haw of old would surely have take the bait but this time round, Chun Haw simply ignore him and walked away.  Truly maturing Chun Haw!!