Bouncing back from a defeat in the previous match, ARFC out-played the OVA under-35 team at the fantastic brand-new artificial pitch at Victoria School on 8 May at 3 pm with a score-line of 6-2.
ARFC was supported by:
· Tjioe’s wife (Sandy) and children (Germaine and Zoey)
· Kenny’s wife (Joy) and children (Kai and Ellie)
· Elvis’ children (Tiara, Dylan and Gina)
· Guoxiong’s daughter (Clara)
ARFC also welcomed back KJ who made his first appearance in the new jerseys for the ARFC Open team.
ARFC was hit by the morning withdrawal of Derrick (GK) but luckily, we managed to activate Sunny as the stand-in GK.
ARFC took to the pitch with this 4-4-2 line-up:
Jersey No.: | Name | Position |
xx | Sunny (Guest GK) | Goalkeeper |
16 | Marauding Guoxiong | Right back |
3 | Astute-reading sweeper Elvis | Sweeper |
6 | Unbeatable Darren | Stopper |
5 | Energetic Kerwin | Left back |
23 | Talented Chun Haw | Right mid |
4 | Dynamic Soon | Centre Mid |
28 | Hard-man Tjioe | Centre Mid |
17 | Nippy Kenny | Left Mid |
9 | ARFC Scoring Legend Haron | Striker |
31 | Wonder Wayne | Striker |
Substitutes: | ||
7 | Influential Sebastian (captain) |
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19 | Skillful Weilit |
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27 | KJ |
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98 | Impeccable How Meng |
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99 | Powerful Alvin |
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Missing In Action: | ||
2 | Remarkable Rashid |
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8 | Precocious Javier |
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10 | Sublime Khim |
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11 | Speedy Hee |
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13 | Talisman Derrick |
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14 | Combative Ron |
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15 | Towering Toh |
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18 | Determined Huiming |
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20 | Composed Eng Lai |
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26 | Rampaging Raymond |
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29 | Flying Fremont |
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66 | Vintage Chua |
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77 | Dependable Jinzhong |
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78 | Steely Tze Ern |
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The opening exchanges saw both teams testing each other out and proceedings were even-stevens.
In the 7th min, Kerwin blazed a long-range rocket from a free-kick just wide.
In the17th min, ARFC trailed 0-1 after succumbing to their quick counter-attack.
ARFC then made a slew of changes with How Meng replacing Elvis and Weilit taking over Tjioe. Weilit took up the left mid with Kenny switching to the opposite flank, and Chun Haw partnering Soon at the middle.
Minutes later, Alvin came in for Haron, KJ replaced Kerwin at left back and Sebastian took over Soon.
The substitutions reaped dividends almost immediately.
ARFC won a corner after Kenny and Guoxiong combined well to force the opposing defence to concede the corner. Sebastian ran over and whipped in a corner at the danger zone (near penalty spot area). The ball ricocheted off their central defender and How Meng reacted quickest to prod the home. 1-1 and this was How Meng’s 19th ARFC goal, level with ex-ARFC winger Jesmond.
3 mins later, ARFC took the lead from another corner, this time on the left, which bore uncanny resemblance to Manchester United’s champions league final winning goal against Bayern Munich in 1999.
From the corner on the left, Sebastian (Beckham) swung in a delicious curler that was flicked on by Chun Haw (Sheringham) to Weilit (Solskjaer) who turned the ball home from inside the 6-yard box. Wonderful goal!
2-1 and this was Weilit’s 19th ARFC goal, same number of goals as How Meng and Jesmond.
The opponents then equalised 5 mins later. 2-2
Haron then replaced Wayne.
ARFC regrouped and regained its lead 7 mins later. From a high ball, Alvin fully utilised his upper body strength and brushed aside their impressive sweeper. Hearing Haron’s call, Alvin passed to Haron who showed brilliant awareness and turned sharply before expertly placing the ball to the bottom left corner past their despairing GK for his 274th ARFC goal. 3-2
Sunny then made 2 good saves to preserve ARFC’s lead.
In the 2nd half, ARFC extended its lead after Weilit was hacked down about 27 metres away from their goal. Sebastian took aim and delivered an exquisite curler over their wall which their flying GK got a slight touch but could not prevent the ball from nestling at the bottom left corner. Fantastic free-kick!
4-2 and this was Sebastian’s 122nd ARFC goal. His reward? He replaced himself with Chun Haw.
7 mins later, ARFC put the result beyond doubt from another free-kick after Weilit was fouled yet again. Alvin stood over the ball and hit a bender over the wall which their GK managed to touch the ball onto the cross-bar. Wayne then reacted the quickest by picking up the rebound and rolled the ball home for his 55th ARFC goal. Great move and anticipation from Wayne.
5 mins later, ARFC produced the Move-of-the-Match. On the right, Kerwin, Kenny, Chun Haw and Tjioe were playing wall-passes between themselves, thereby luring the opponents from moving towards our right. Suddenly, Kenny pumped a long high ball to the left which caught the opponents off-guard. Unfortunately, KJ, who had a very impressive match, just managed to over-run the ball which went out for a throw-in. Unfortunate but it was such a joy to watch this world-class flowing move.
3 mins later, Alvin put the icing on the cake with ARFC’s 6th goal in the match. Alvin nicked the ball away from their defender and nonchalantly produced a deft chip, ala Mo Salah, over their on-rushing GK. 6-2 and this was Alvin’s 338th ARFC goal.
ARFC then closed out the match for a well-deserved win.
The victory was largely due to the good team display from ARFC and everyone played well with at least about 60 mins for each player. It was also rare that there were 6 different goal-scorers for the 6 goals.
The top 10 goal-scorers for ARFC:
· Alvin – 338 goals
· Haron – 274 goals
· Blackburn – 164 goals
· Sebastian – 122 goals
· Hee – 117 goals
· Derrick – 113 goals
· Toh – 103 goals
· Chun Haw – 96 goals
· Soon – 93 goals
· Kenny – 86 goals
