JAFC 3-1 West Utd

The last time JAFC won by more than 2 goals, it was against West Utd. In the hope of history repeating itself, and in their search to fill in the gaps left by the injured striker Winston and Khai, JAFC started with the formidable pairing of Weiming and Jerry up front.

JAFC looked threatening going forward and should have opened the floodgates off a long throw from Aaron. The long throw was aimed towards Feroz, who rode the challenge of 2 men to flick the ball on. Alas, Jerry only managed to hook a left leg shot onto the post.

West looked dangerous on the break, with their left winger and deep-lying striker combining well on a couple of occasions. From a corner, the cross swerved and dipped towards the near post and in a unfortunate moment of miscommunication between goalkeeper and defender, Junrong sliced the ball into his own net.

Midway through the 1st half, Kennard suffered an injury to his achilles and was substituted by Steven Lam Fuhang, thus breaking up the formidable front pair as Jerry was drafted back into regular defensive duty. This move almost paid immediate dividends as Fuhang's energetic runs cut the West defence to shreds. However, JAFC weren't able to capitalise as Feroz and Weiming fired over from close range while Junrong was judged to be offside when he scored at the far post.

The 2nd half went the same way as the first. However, the tide turned as Fuhang lashed home from close range after another booming throw from Aaron. This deflated the spirit of a fast tiring West Utd side. 1-1!!

With Rafi and Feroz marshaling the midfield like gladiators and Weiming proving a real handful upfront, JAFC surged forward in search of an equilizer. But it was the inspirational Fuhang (no doubt well rested after AWOLing from last week's game against Admiralty) who showed a touch of class, threading the ball through for Manfred to slot past the keeper.

Shoulders slouched and spirits dashed, West Utd looked dead and buried. Late in injury time, JAFC had time to conjure a brilliant team move to add some gloss to the scoreline. From a free kick, Jerry passed the ball to Manfred down the left flank. Holding off the defender, Manfred passed the ball on to the overlapping Andrew who whipped in a delightful far-post cross with his weaker left foot to the lurking Sudi to place the ball past the keeper. 4 touches, 1 goal. Scoring sometimes seems so easy.

Lineup: Aziz, Aaron, Kennard (Fuhang), Anand, Andrew, Rafi, Feroz, Manfred, Junrong (Sudi), Jerry, Weiming

PS. Big game next week against Singapore Power. Hope all can turn up.