Alvin's 32nd ARFC hat-trick in 6-4 win

 Bouncing back from 1^st first defeat on 24 Sep 2023, ARFC dished out a comprehensive yet messy victory over No Name 6-4 on 1 Oct 2023 at 3 pm t the magnificent Bartlet SS pitch.

 

ARFC was supported by Elvis’ 3 kids (Tiara, Dylan and Gina) and a SYT (Chun Haw’s girl).

 

ARFC also welcomed Delon into its fold after his impressive outing last Sunday.

 

Kudos to Soon who turned up to support despite his heavily-swollen ankle.

 

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

 

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

 

ARFC paid a heavy price for its slow start and soon found itself 0-2 behind after some lethargic display.

 

However, a very good sign is that ARFC did not panic at all and was very confident that it could claw its way back.

 

ARFC thought it had scored when Khim’s exquisite through ball saw Alvin breaking in and slotted under their GK.  Incredulously, the referee incorrectly ruled that Alvin was offside, striking an uncanny resemblance to Luis Diaz’s disallowed goal against Spurs just a few hours before.

 

Alvin did not let the setback deter him as he soon robbed their right-back of the ball and slotted under their GK for his 359^th ARFC goal. 1-2 now.

 

Sebastian’s free-kick on the left was then headed over by Toh from close range.

 

ARFC then grabbed an equaliser with a hell of a team goal.  From a quick counter attack, Chua laid the ball to Ron who duly passed the ball to Wayne who had pulled away to the right flank.  Wayne then spotted Darren’s overlapping run from his left back position and found him with a superb cross-field ball down the left flank, and continued his run into the box.

 

Darren did not disappoint as his cross into the box was met brilliantly by Wayne’s sliding first-time volley on the ground that left their GK rooted to the spot and saw the ball nestled nicely at the bottom left corner.  2-2 and this was Wayne’s 57^th ARFC goal.

 

At the water-break point, the 4 young guns (Chun Haw, Wei Lit, Delon and Kerwin) came on for the old guards (Sebastian, Ron, Khim and Eng Lai) to form the entire midfield.  Probably first time it happened in the entire ARFC history.

 

The moved reaped dividends almost immediately as Kerwin’s right wing cross was met by Chun Haw’s head and looked to have found the net.  However, their GK somehow stuck out his hands to keep out Chun Haw’s header but Wayne reacted quickest to thump home a sumptuous volley.  3-2 and this was Wayne’s 58^th ARFC goal.

 

Elvis also came up with stunning interceptions.

 

ARFC then went to sleep and conceded a 3^rd goal.  3-3 at half time.

 

At half-time mark, Fremont complaint of dizziness and Chun Haw duly took up the GK position.  Kudos to him!

 

Within minutes from the restart, Toh again wasted a golden opportunity when he again headed over from Sebastian’s corner.

 

ARFC’s relentless pressure soon told after Darren’s long throw from the left was flicked on by Toh and their defender took an unfortunate touch for an own goal.  4-3 and this was the 42^nd own goals conceded to ARFC in all the matches since 1991.

 

From the right flank, Kerwin then played the ball out to Sebastian whose precise cross was again headed over by Toh!

 

Alvin then showed Toh how it was done when he simply glanced the ball into the net off Kerwin’s long throw from the right.   5-3 and this was Alvin’s 360^th ARFC goal.

 

Alvin then grabbed his 32^nd ARFC hat-trick (total 108 goals) thanks largely to Chun Haw and Wei Lit.

 

Chun Haw’s long kick from his GK position found Wei Lit galloping down the left flank.  He then slalomed his way through before squaring the ball across for Alvin to drill home his 361^st ARFC goal. 6-3 now.

 

Chun Haw then made double saves in quick succession but was eventually beaten by a lobbed shot. 6-4.

 

A special shout-out to Chua who has always provided a reliable and effective option for ARFC with his unassuming yet reassuring performances all these years.  A true unsung hero for the team.