ARFC edged out St. Patrick's School Old Boys in 4-3 thriller

  

 

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
5	Energetic Kerwin
19	Skillful Wei Lit
28	Hard-man Tjioe
31	Wonder Wayne
xx	Daniel
Missing In Action:
2	Remarkable Rashid
4	Dynamic Soon
8	Precocious Javier
10	Sublime Khim
11	Speedy Hee
14	Combative Ron
16	Marauding Guoxiong
18	Determined Huiming
26	Rampaging Raymond
27	Left-foot wizard Kejendran (KJ)
29	Flying Fremont
77	Dependable Jinzhong
98	Impeccable How Meng

 

 

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 18^th 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 68^th 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 2^nd half, the opponents equalised for the 2^nd 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 102^nd 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 3^rd 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 4^th 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 103^rd 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.

Alvin's 350th ARFC goal in 2-2 draw

 

 

 

In a match against FC Feduk at Our Tampines Hub (OTH) on 17 Jul at 3 pm, ARFC twice threw away its lead and was forced to settle for a 2-2 draw.

 

As Derrick pulled out at the 11^th hour due to diarrhoea, ARFC had to call up Zhi Chong as its guest keeper.

 

As Sebastian was still troubled by hamstring and groin concerns, Haron captained and led the team out from the tunnel

 

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

 

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

 

 

The opponents capitalised on ARFC’s slow start and nearly scored within the first 5 minutes. Thankfully, Zhi Chong came to the rescue with 2 superb saves.

 

ARFC soon woke up its ideas and gradually took over control with some slick passing and movement.

 

In the 17^th min, ARFC opened the scoring through a simple one-two move.  Alvin, who has been in phenomenal red-hot form recently with his goals, played a simple one-two with Khim who flicked the ball inwards for Alvin to latch on. Alvin eluded their defence and fired past their GK for his 350^th ARFC goal. 1-0 and what a move!

 

In an almost similar move 5 mins later, Chun Haw exchanged passes with Khim on the left, and followed by another similar one-two with Haron.  Chun Haw then dribbled inwards and faced with their GK to beat, his sliced placing shot was deflected by their GK for a corner.  Unlucky but superb movements!

 

Sebastian then received a pass from Khim at the top of the box, and then deceived their defence by threading a no-look pass to Alvin in the box. However, their GK was quick off his line to gather the ball before Alvin could pull the trigger.

 

Darren then combined with Khim, before putting Chun Haw clear down the left.  Chun Haw’s inviting cross was met by Wayne who managed to just head slightly wide of the goal.

 

Darren then rescued ARFC after ARFC was caught napping by the opponents’ quick counter-attack. Their striker looked to equalise until Darren came from nowhere to make a world-class recovery block!

 

With almost the last kick of the half, Soon laid the ball to Haron who was at the D of the penalty box. However, Haron just lofted the ball about 0.9 mm over the bar!

 

The first half ended 1-0.

 

ARFC was severely weakened after Soon left for a dinner at half-time.

 

ARFC then conceded a goal. 1-1

 

ARFC kept on pressing and was unlucky on several occasions.

 

Particularly, their GK produced an out-of-this-world save to deny Haron in the 67^th min.

 

Chun Haw, Darren, Alvin and Khim combined down the left that saw Khim receiving the ball at left flank area. Looking up, Khim saw Haron swooping in from the right, and duly delivered a perfect cross into the box that eluded their defence.  When Haron moved in to meet the cross just outside the 6-yard box area, and even before he met the ball, every ARFC warriors were already screaming for goal.  Haron met the ball with an emphatic thumping header but only god knows how their GK managed to palm the ball out for a corner!!

 

Guoxiong then made a brilliant recovery tackle to prevent their striker from scoring. Great defender!

 

 

ARFC finally regained its lead in the 77^th min.  First, Guoxiong passed to Wei Lit on the right and the latter then passed to Chun Haw.  Chun Haw then made wall-passes with Wei Lit before sprinting clear down the right touch-line.  Seeing Haron free in the box, Chun Haw fizzed in a low cross which Haron connected perfectly and powerfully that their GK could not keep out the ball though he got his palms to it.  2-1 and this was Haron’s 276^th ARFC goal.

 

Unfortunately, ARFC conceded another goal almost at the end to draw 2-2.

 

 

List of ARFC scorers with 23 goals and above:

 

 

1	Alvin	350 goals
2	Haron	276
3	Blackburn	164
4	Sebastian	125
5	Hee	117
6	Derrick	114
7	Toh	103
8	Chun Haw	101
9	Soon	94
10	Kenny	86
11	Robin	69
12	Tjioe	67
13	Khim	62
14	Wayne	55
15	Jeffrey	53
16	Guoxiong	37
17	Tong	27
18	Darren	26
19	Kiat	25
20	Raymond	25
21	David	23