Playing for the first time against the St. Patrick’s School Old Boys, ARFC led 3 times before eking out a hard-fought 4-3 win over them at their newly-laid fantastic artificial pitch at their home ground at St. Patrick’s School on 14 Aug 2022 at 5 pm.
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 |
20 | Composed Eng Lai | Sweeper |
15 | Towering Toh | Stopper |
6 | Unbeatable Darren | Left back |
17 | Nippy Kenny | Right mid |
23 | Talented Chun Haw | Centre Mid |
7 | Influential Sebastian (captain) | Centre Mid |
78 | Steely Tze Ern | Left Mid |
99 | Powerful Alvin | Striker |
9 | ARFC Scoring Legend Haron | Striker |
Substitutes: | ||
3 | Astute-reading sweeper Elvis |
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5 | Energetic Kerwin |
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19 | Skillful Wei Lit |
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28 | Hard-man Tjioe |
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31 | Wonder Wayne |
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xx | Daniel |
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Missing In Action: | ||
2 | Remarkable Rashid |
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4 | Dynamic Soon |
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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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14 | Combative Ron |
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16 | Marauding Guoxiong |
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18 | Determined Huiming |
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26 | Rampaging Raymond |
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27 | Left-foot wizard Kejendran (KJ) |
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29 | Flying Fremont |
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77 | Dependable Jinzhong |
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98 | Impeccable How Meng |
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ARFC started strongly and could have gone at least 2 goals ahead if not for some wayward finishing.
Within 77 seconds from the kick-off, Kenny, who made his return after his rather-serious injury and watched by his family, fizzed a cross field high from the right mid that saw Alvin bearing down on goal. Alas, with just their GK to beat, Alvin inexplicably lifted his placed-shot over the bar.
2 mins later, Sebastian passed to Chun Haw who then drilled in a brilliant ground ball from centre mid that saw the very-clever Haron running in from his striker position and pretending to receive the ball. Haron then let the ball ran past him and Kenny dashed in from his right mid position to beat their off-side trap. Kenny brought the ball all the way into the box but their GK managed to push Kenny’s shot over the bar for a corner.
ARFC was not to be denied 7 mins later. Chun Haw, who has been impressive all day, spotted Tze Ern’s call from the left. Chun Haw then pinged a precise cross-field ball, ala Steven Gerrard, and Tze Ern sprinted in from deep, brought the ball under control before calmly slotted past their GK for his 18th ARFC goal. 1-0 and with this goal, Tze Ern moved past Ron who was stuck at 17 ARFC goals.
ARFC then conceded a goal. 1-1
At the water-break mark, to give all substitutes a run-out, ARFC then made a string of substitutions with Tjioe, Weilit, Daniel, Wayne, Elvis and Kerwin replacing Chun Haw, Tze Ern, Haron, Alvin, Eng Lai and Toh respectively.
ARFC continued to press and was rewarded with a second goal. From the left, Darren’s booming throw-in caused mayhem in their penalty box due to the aerial challenges from Wayne and Kenny. Tjioe then reacted fastest to the loose ball by stabbing home from close range. 2-1 and this was Tjioe’s 68th ARFC goals.
Elvis and Kerwin then came up with 2 separate vital interceptions to thwart the opponents’ comeback.
Wei Lit then showcased his dribbling skills when he dribbled all the way from left to the left touchline and nearly scored.
Daniel then hit a shot that was saved by their GK before Kenny somehow sliced his shot wide.
In the 2nd half, the opponents equalised for the 2nd time after their scored from a quickly-taken free-kick that caught ARFC off-guard. 2-2
ARFC nearly regained the lead after Tjioe produced a deft chip just right inside the box. In a move that reminded everyone of Dennis Bergkamp, Alvin expertly trapped the ball with his left foot, and without breaking momentum, thundered in an outside right foot volley that had everyone screaming for goal. Alas, their GK had other ideas when he produced a full-length flying save to his left to turn the ball out for a corner.
Tjioe then fired in 2 shots from distance but both went wide.
Eng Lai then produced a vital interception when he read their counter-attack move perfectly and cleared the ball away for a throw-in.
Derrick then kept ARFC in the game when he saved an one-on-one shot from 7 metres out.
ARFC then regained its lead again after a superb corner from Wayne. From the right, Wayne curled a long hanging ball over their GK and the ball looked to be landed in at the far post. In a flash, Chun Haw made certain of the goal when he drifted in to nod the ball home almost from the goal line. 3-2 and this was Chun Haw’s 102nd ARFC goal.
Derrick then came to ARFC’s rescue when he stood tall with another close-range shot from 6 metres.
ARFC then conceded for the 3rd time. 3-3.
Darren and Alvin then combined down the left which saw Darren landed at the left inside the box. From an acute angle, Darren drilled in a shot that was parried by their GK. Unlucky!
With mins to go, ARFC took the lead for the 4th time which turned out to be the winning goal. From a superb long throw from the right, Wayne rose to challenge for the aerial ball. The ball then fell to the ground and Chun Haw’s speed of thought and movement saw him placing the ball to the bottom left corner, eluding a seas of players in the box. 4-3!
With this 103rd ARFC goal, Chun Haw moved to level terms with Toh who was stuck at 103 ARFC goals.
Man of the Match is jointly given to Chua and Alvin.
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