Pick-up Match

Kashima Antlers Youth 2-1（1st 0-0, 2nd 2-1）　JFA Academy Fukushima

The Prince Takamado Trophy Premier League EAST entered its matchday 5 on the final day of the Golden Week on Tuesday 6 May as Kashima Antlers Youth (Ibaraki) faced JFA Academy Fukushima (Shizuoka).

While Kashima have kept top spot unbeaten with three wins and one draw since the season began, Academy Fukushima have not yet recorded any victory. Kashima, trying to retain top spot, and Academy Fukushima, targeting for the first victory of the season, went head-to-head from the start of the match with strong hopes for a win.

Early in the match Kashima strategically had centre back Machida Hiroki and defensive midfielder Chiba Kenta as their focal points of offence and sent the ball to striker Kakita Yuki. On the other hand, Academy Fukushima centre backs Ueno Yosuke and Shimoguchi Wakaba coped with Kakita’s moves and connected the ball to up front. With Nobe Yuta on the right side and Yamahara Reon behind the striker leading their offence, Academy Fukushima played on counter-attacks to find openings but struggled to break through Kashima's solid defence. Kashima have conceded only one goal in the previous four matches.

As well as the scoreless first half, the second half saw both teams escalating their intense battles in front of goal with their defensive ends keeping up the fight. Academy Fukushima's Nobu volleyed Taniguchi Shuto's cross in the 60th minute, yet Kashima goalkeeper Oki Yuya denied the shot. Then Kashima head coach Kumagai Koji took actions to break the deadlock. Nishimoto Takanobu replaced Matsuura Koyo in the 70th minute, and forward Shikama Yuki was called into action with  midfielder Tanaka Toshiya coming out in the 78th minute. "I wanted to make some change up front," said Kashima boss, and his decision paid immediate dividends. 

In the 85th minute, when Shikama broke through the left flank and slotted a cross in, Kakita headed home for an opening goal. Kashima caught a wave with the goal, and Shikama again conquered Academy Fukushima's defence on the left flank one minute into stoppage time to assist Kakita's second goal of the day. In the closing minutes, Kashima allowed a consolation goal before the match ended at 2-1. Kashima secured top spot in the Premier League EAST table.

Meanwhile, although Academy Fukushima recorded the fifth consecutive loss with this defeat, it was a close match against the league leaders as Manaka Mikio looking back, "It was our best match so far." The match appeared to be the one that can be taken advantage of in the following matchdays.

Head Coaches' Comments

KUMAGAI Koji,Head Coach（Kashima Antlers Youth）
My players fought it out until the end even though they were not really in good shape.  This team's theme is to play tougher than last year. So they need to display quality in a tough situation so that they can grow into the future. Today substitutes played very well, and Kakita proved his growth with the goals. We have the next one soon, but we will work hard on training to get closer to a victory just as we have done so far.

MANAKA Mikio ,Head Coach（JFA Academy Fukushima）
Kashima don't miss any small gap. The players kept that in mind and played from the start with tense but allowed a gap only in the final four minutes. We are having trouble scoring multiple goals in one match, so we are required to play tenaciously and score when we have to. We haven't had any victory so far. Even so, we have grown compared to the first matchday and will try to keep on what we are working on.

Results from Other Matches

Omiya Ardija Youth　3-0（1st 1-0, 2nd 2-0）Shimizu S-pulse Youth
Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa　2-0（1st 0-0, 2nd 2-0）　Kashiwa Reysol U-18
Consadole Sapporo U-18　1-0（1st 0-0, 2nd 1-0）　Aomori Yamada High School
F.C. Tokyo U-18　1-1（1st 0-1, 2nd 1-0）　Ichiritsu Funabashi High School

Omiya Ardija Youth (Saitama) shut out Shimizu S-pulse Youth (Shizuoka) with three goals including Kawata Kento's goal and moved up to third place. The Kashiwa based outfits battle between Ryutsu Keizai University Kashiwa High School and Kashiwa Reysol U-18 ended with Ryutsu Keizai Kashiwa's win with two second-half goals. Ryutsu Keizai Kashiwa have been coming back with two straight wins from prior three straight losses. Consadole Sapporo U-18 (Hokkaido) welcomed Aomori Yamada High School (Aomori) at home as the Hokkaido side clinched their first victory of the season with ace Suga Daiki's winner. Aomori Yamada, who had kept in form with the first three wins, suffered another defeat following the loss in the previous match. Second-placed Ichiritsu Funabashi High School (Chiba) missed out on the three-match winning streak, conceding an equaliser to FC Tokyo U-18 (Tokyo)'s Sato Ryo in the 77th minute, which cancelled out Chiba side's one-goal lead. Still, Ichiritsu Funabashi have remained unbeaten along with Kashima and Omiya.