ARFC was supported by Raymond (injured), lovely children of Elvis and Kenny and Haron’s son.
ARFC took to the pitch with this 4-4-2 line-up:
Jersey No.: | Name | Position |
xxx | Sunny (guest GK) | 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 |
17 | Nippy Kenny | Left Mid |
21 | Devastating Dominic | Striker |
99 | Powerful Alvin | Striker |
Substitutes: | ||
2 | Remarkable Rashid |
|
8 | Versatile Allan |
|
9 | ARFC Scoring Legend Haron |
|
14 | Combative Ron |
|
28 | Hard-man Tjioe |
|
98 | Impeccable How Meng |
|
Missing In Action: | ||
5 | Energetic Kerwin |
|
10 | Sublime Khim |
|
11 | Steely Tze Ern |
|
18 | Wonder Wayne |
|
19 | Skillful Wei Lit |
|
20 | Composed Eng Lai |
|
23 | Talented Chun Haw |
|
24 | Fearless Chong Ghee |
|
26 | Rampaging Raymond |
|
30 | Divine Delon |
|
77 | Robust Hong Lee |
|
79 | Enigma Enoch |
|
88 | Talisman Derrick |
|
Despite a comedic moment from Sebastian right from the kick-off, ARFC started brightly and within minutes, Dominic made a clever reverse pass down the left channel to put Kenny through. Bearing down at goal, Kenny’s well-placed shot was blocked by their diving GK. Unlucky!
ARFC was not to be denied 7 mins later. Playing out from the right back area, Sebastian received a pass from Chua before finding Guoxiong at the right mid. Spotting Dominic’s call for the ball, Guoxiong chipped in a well-paced ball right through the heart of their defence. In a flash, Dominic got ahead of their defender and planting the ball home with aplomb.
1-0 and this was Dominic’s 2nd goal in as many matches for ARFC.
From a corner, the loose ball was half cleared to outside the box but Sebastian’s half volley shot hit row Z.
ARFC then controlled the proceedings but could not carve out good chances.
At the 21st min mark, ARFC made a string of substitutions.
Sunny then came out tall from several high piercing balls hit into the 6-yard area as he managed to fist the balls away despite being challenged by several opponents.
The half ended 1-0.
ARFC doubled its lead 7 mins from the re-start. Alvin picked up a loose ball before releasing a slide-rule pass that saw Dominic ran in from deep and expertly drilled the ball under the legs of their GK.
2-0 and this was Dominic’s 3rd ARFC goal.
The opponents then hit the post from a counter-attack.
From a corner, the opponents whipped in a curling ball but Sunny was alert enough to claw the ball away to prevent a certain goal.
Elvis then came to the fore when he cleverly shepherded and forced their striker into non-shooting positions, ala Virgil van Dirk, on a couple of occasions.
Toh also demonstrated his invincibility in the air when he won virtually every high balls, while Ron’s aggressiveness (yet fair) was really missing from recent ARFC matches.
ARFC extended its lead in the 60thmin. From Rashid’s precise corner on the right, the ball was headed away by the opponents but Alvin arched his neck and planted a well-placed header into the far corner. A rare header goal from Alvin!
3-0 and this was Alvin’s 367th ARFC goal.
Slowly but surely, we are seeing the old Alvin back!
A special word of mention for Haron as well because he got into several good positions with his off-the-ball movements but we didn’t really find him enough.
How Meng then missed a golden chance after a mayhem in their box saw their GK went for a walk-about. Alas, How Meng’s back-heel ball was blocked by their defender on the line.
ARFC then conceded a goal in the 77thmin. 3-1 now.
ARFC then used its match intelligence to see out the match.
On behalf of ARFC, here’s wishing all of you a Happy and Healthy New Year!
