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 2nd half. This was evidenced by the fact that the opponents did not even have a single shot at our goal at all in the 2nd 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 5th 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 37th 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 18th 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 2nd 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 18th 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!!
No comments:
Post a Comment