Jonathan marked ARFC debut with goal in impressive 4-1 win over Trinity Church

In arguably its best performance in recent times, ARFC overcame a very strong Trinity Church Team 4-1 at their home ground at St. Patrick’s School on 19 May 2024 at 3 pm.

Jonathan Sng made his ARFC bow and capped off his impressive display by netting his ARFC debut goal.

What was very nice to see was that many family members of ARFC warriors turned up despite the searing heat:

Ariq - Haron

Tracia, Clara and Claris - Guoxiong

Tiara, Dylan and Dylan - Elvis

Germaine - Alvin

Joy, Kai, Ellie and Ella - Kenny

Xiao Ling and Raphael - Derrick

Charity - Jonathan 

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

Jersey No.:	Name	Position
13	Talisman Derrick	Goalkeeper
5	Energetic Kerwin	Right back
28	Hard-man Tjioe	Sweeper
15	Towering Toh	Stopper
6	Unbeatable Darren	Left back
17	Nippy Kenny	Right mid
7	Influential Sebastian (captain)	Centre Mid
4	Dynamic Soon	Centre Mid
10	Sublime Khim	Left Mid
9	ARFC Scoring Legend Haron	Striker
99	Powerful Alvin	Striker
Substitutes:
3	Astute-reading sweeper Elvis
16	Marauding Guoxiong
19	Skillful Wei Lit
23	Talented Chun Haw
20	Composed Eng Lai
66	Vintage Chua
xx	Jonathan
Missing In Action:
2	Remarkable Rashid
14	Combative Ron
31	Wonder Wayne
78	Steely Tze Ern
98	Impeccable How Meng
xx	Divine Delon

The match was very evenly-matched though ARFC nearly opened the scoring in the 7th min.

Sebastian’s corner from the right was headed away and Kenny won the loose ball and played the ball back to Sebastian on the right.  With a quick swing, Sebastian’s floated ball back to the box was slightly mishit but it struck the crossbar and bounced out.

2 mins later, it was the turn of Kerwin to be unlucky.  Picking up a loose ball 30 mins away from their goal, Kerwin let fly a rocket but with their GK rooted to his spot, the ball cannoned against the crossbar and out for a goal kick.

Kenny then won a duel and played a reverse pass to Haron who just failed to reach the ball by a mere 0.99 mm.

At the 22nd min mark, ARFC made a string of substitutions with all subs coming on (except Elvis).

Wei Lit and Jonathan then combined to win the ball on the left.  Wei Lit, who had a good game, passed the ball back to Jonathan who killed the ball with a great first touch, took a step forward before hitting a long-range sliced shot to the top corner but it sailed just agonisingly over the bar.

ARFC was not to be denied 5 mins later with Wei Lit the main architect.  Not for the first time, Wei Lit won the ball at the left and again found Jonathan with a great pass.  Looking up, Jonathan unleashed a venomous low shot that was spilled by their GK.  In a flash, Kenny dashed in like Ian Rush and lifted the ball over their GK.  1-0 and this was Kenny’s 89th ARFC goal.

ARFC then came up wth a fantastic team move that started from Darren at left back.  His pass found Wei Lit at the left wing and with a quick turn, Wei Lit prodded the ball inwards to Chun Haw.  Hearing Guoxiong’s call at the right mid, Chun Haw spread the ball to him.  Guoxiong’s long cross sailed over their defence to the far left and Alvin chested the ball down.  With their GK to beat, Alvin hurried his shot and toe-poked the ball wide of goal.

Derrick then came to ARFC’s rescue when he stuck out a strong right hand to keep out a near-goal from their free-kick.

However, with virtually the last kick of the half, the opponents equalised from a corner routine that took a wicked deflection off Darren and wrong-footed Derrick. 1-1

In the 2nd half, ARFC won a fortuitous penalty after their left back handled the ball.  Haron stood up and despatched a coolly-taken penalty that sent their GK the wrong way.  It was Haron’s 2nd goal in successive matches.

2-1 and this was Haron’s 281st ARFC goal.

7 mins later came the move of the match that was really so nice to watch! 

From left, Khim dribbled past one opponent before finding Chun Haw in the middle.  Without breaking his stride, Chun Haw quickly moved the ball on to Kerwin.  Kerwin then spotted Jonathan’s run from deep and ping a perfectly-weighted ball down the right.  Breaking their offside trap, Jonathan powered into the box, shrugged their left back who was closing in menacingly before lifting the ball to the far post with a clean shot.  Superb move and finishing, and what a debut goal from Jonathan.  3-1 now.

Derrick then produced 2 unbelievable saves that every GK would be damn proud of!

First, the opponent curled a perfect ball to the top right hand corner that had goal screaming all the way.  Derrick then made a perfect move by taking a step backwards, stretching out his right hand to keep the ball out.  From the rebound, their striker reacted fastest and half-volleyed in a stinger but Derrick had other ideas when he saved with his leg!!!!! 

World-class is the word to describe these 2 saves in succession!

Derrick then made several punches as the opponents kept on raining crosses after crosses in.  Toh, Eng Lai, Tjioe and Elvis did very well by repelling such crosses too.

Elvis then produced the intervention of the match when the opponent tried to dribbled past him from a quick counter-attack.  Elvis then stuck out a trailing foot to block the ball and denied the opponent. Simply Virgil van Dijk-like move!

The opponent then pressured ARFC no end but to no avail with Tjioe, Toh, Elvis, Chua, Darren  and Eng Lai particularly impressive.

ARFC then out the result beyond doubt with its 4th goal of the match.

Khim won the ball and passed to Kenny who held the ball up.  Upon spotting Guoxiong’s run from deep into the left side of the box, Kenny’s timed his pass to perfection when he released the ball.  A gleeful Guoxiong did not waste Kenny’s pass when he slotted a brilliant left-foot shot past their GK.

4-1 and this was Guoxiong’s 39th ARFC goal.

This was really a great team performance against a strong and systematic Trinity Church Team. 

There is no ARFC warrior who did not play well but if there is a need to name Man-of-the-Match, then it has to be jointly given to Derrick, Darren and Wei Lit. 

Delon's debut goal amongst 6 different goal scorers in 6-2 victory

 

In a match that was somewhat arranged at the last minute, credit to all ARFC warriors for responding promptly and turning up for the match against NUSS on 4 May 2024 at 5 pm at SIA Sports Club.  This is especially heart-warming as it was on a Saturday which we seldom play, particularly Haron who actually rushed home to take his boots after his work.

All the efforts were rewarded when it defeated NUSS 6-2 with all 6 goals coming from 6 different scorers, including a debut goal from Delon.

At the request of NUSS, the match was played in 3 periods of 30 mins each.

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
6	Unbeatable Darren	Left back
16	Marauding Guoxiong	Right mid
7	Influential Sebastian (captain)	Centre Mid
4	Dynamic Soon	Centre Mid
xx	Divine Delon	Left Mid
31	Wonder Wayne	Striker
23	Talented Chun Haw	Striker
Substitutes:
2	Remarkable Rashid
9	ARFC Scoring Legend Haron
19	Skillful Wei Lit
xx	Akid (Rashid’s son)
Missing In Action:
1	Agile Zhi Chong
5	Energetic Kerwin
10	Sublime Khim
11	Speedy Hee
14	Combative Ron
17	Nippy Kenny
18	Determined Huiming
20	Composed Eng Lai
26	Rampaging Raymond
27	Left-foot wizard Kejendran (KJ)
28	Hard-man Tjioe
29	Flying Fremont
77	Dependable Jinzhong
78	Steely Tze Ern
98	Impeccable How Meng
99	Powerful Alvin

ARFC dominated proceedings and Chun Haw’s wicked corner from the left caught everyone by surprise but the ball struck the left post and bounced out. 

ARFC took the lead in the 7th min after a brilliant team move.  From his right-back position, Chua moved the ball to Chun Haw.  Before the opponents could regroup, Chun Haw quickly executed a one-two with Wayne before speeding down the right flank to receive Wayne’s return ball.  Looking up, Chun Haw fizzed in a sizzling low ball across goal for Delon to tap into the empty net.  

1-0 and this was Delon’s debut goal for ARFC.

Chun Haw then shot wide from distance before chalking up his 2nd assist in the match.  From the corner on the left, Chun Haw’s delivery found Soon, of all people, right at the edge of the 6-yard box.  Soon surprised everyone by expertly heading the ball past their GK, a goal that Toh would be very proud of! 

2-0 and this was Soon’s 99th ARFC goal, and possibly his first-ever headed goal from him for ARFC!

ARFC nearly scored its 3rd goal in the match but Sebastian’s free-kick into the box just needed anyone to touch home but the ball just eluded everyone.

In the 2nd period, Rashid, Akin, Haron and Wei Lit took to the pitch, replacing Soon, Sebastian, Wayne and Delon, with Haron taking over the captain’s armband.

Chun Haw and Wei Lit linked up very well on the left before Wei Lit sent a low ball inwards.  Haron made a Steven Gerrard-like run from deep but his side-foot placed shot was just agonisingly wide.

Haron was again unlucky when he showed nifty footwork by first faking a shot with his right foot, fooling their defender, before his cracking left foot drive was deflected by their right back onto the left post.  Unlucky!

Haron was not to be denied 3 mins later.  Wei Lit and Wayne caused mayhem in the penalty area and when the loose ball bounced out, Haron wasted no time by volleying the ball, ala Robbie Fowler, home that gave their GK no chance at all!  

3-0 and this was Haron’s 280th ARFC goal.

Delon then came back on and made an instant impact when he wriggled his way down the right flank before finding Wayne with a perfect cross just at the 6-yard box that Wayne simply rifled the ball into the roof of the net. 

4-0 and this was Wayne’s 60th ARFC goal.

Derrick and Elvis then demonstrated their nifty footwork by faking and dribbling past their strikers on different occasions respectively. 

In the 3rd period, the opponents made a strong comeback and scored from a corner to reduce the deficit to 4-1.

Derrick then made a world-class save when he spread himself wide and saved a certain goal with his left foot! 

Derrick then topped the earlier save when he produced a save that even Gordon Banks would be very proud of.  From their corner which caused a melee, their striker looked to have scored when the ball was headed towards the empty net.  Derrick then defied logic for his age and size (words courtesy of Darren) when he arched backwards and made a out-of-this-world reflex save to turn the ball over for a corner!

Totally majestic world-class save from Derrick.

The opponents then scored another goal. 4-2 now.

Darren then doused the fire of the opponents when his fantastic free-kick from the left was also precise that Chun Haw just needed to put his foot to the ball and fired  into the roof of the net.

5-2 and this was Chun Haw’s 116th ARFC goal, taking him past Derrick’s 115 goals, to be at the 6th position in ARFC’s top scorers’ list as follows:

Alvin - 366 goals

Haron - 280 goals

Blackburn - 164 goals

Sebastian - 129 goals

Hee - 117 goals

Chun Haw - 116 goals

Derrick - 115 goals

ARFC was not done and scored its 6th goal almost right at the death.

Wayne linked up well with Delon and the opponents could only half clear the ball to the left.  In a flash, Wei Lit seized on to the ball, tricked his way past 2 opponents before arrowing his right foot shot to the far post.

6-2 and this was Wei Lit’s 22nd ARFC goal.

This was a high-octane team performance where everyone played very well. 

Particularly, Elvis put aside his recent poor form with an assuring and commanding display in defence, epitomised by his confident dribbles on 2 occasions when under pressure.  It was really wonderful to see that Elvis hardly put a foot wrong in this match!

 

Man-of-the-Match is jointly given to Chun Haw and Chua.