Pick Up Match

Kashima Antlers Youth 2, Shimizu S-pulse Youth 3（1-1 in the first half、2nd 1-2 in the second half）

In a weather that felt a bit like the summer, Kashima Antlers Youth (Ibaraki) and Shimizu S-Pulse Youth (Shizuoka) played a hard-nosed, back-and-forth contest.
Kashima got a pace with the amount of their momentum early. They put pressure on the opponents with their man defense and when they took the ball, they simply fed it to the front line. And trying to finish their offense with shots, they reduced risks on their defensive side of ball. On 32nd minute, Hirato Taiki, who robbed the ball in the Shimizu territory, took off using a one-two pass with Shikama Yuki and struck a goal. But Shimizu hit an equalizer in the injury time before halftime. In the second half, Kashima, who were looking to add scores on quick offense, Suzuki Yuma penetrated from the left side into the middle and launched a shot. It was saved by the opponents' goalkeeper, but Shikama put the loose ball into the goal mouth to retake a lead.

Meanwhile, Shimizu tried to change the situation by switching their tactics and personnels. After the second goal of Kashima, Shimizu moved Miyamoto Kota from the defensive line to the mid field, and Mizutani Takuma from the middle to the front line. Mizutani withdrew opposing players and it helped to give some of his teammates open spaces. Afterwards, Shimizu got to move the ball better. Then, Shimizu sent in Shibata Yusuke, who's good at dribbling, in the 75th minute, to energise their side attacks, and it gave them more chances to get deep in their opponent's territory. Shimizu tied the game again, 2-2, on 88th minute, when Mizutani put in a loose ball after a cross from the right side. Shimizu kept their momentum and Shibata netted the game-winner reacting to a floating pass of Numano Seiya in the injury time of the latter half.

''We kept believing that we would win even after we tied the game,'' said Mizutani, whose Shimizu extended their winning to five since the season opener and preserved their top spot position in the standings.

Comments From Head Coach & Players

KUMAGAI Koji, Head Coach（Kashima Antlers Youth）
We pursued the ball aggressively, with our front line included, and got the momentum in the first half. But Shimizu was currently the leading team in the league and we thought we were cautious enough about how we'd play the second half, but we ended up not being able to correct our issues when we were in bad spirals. It gave us some confidence on that we allowed them to tie but retook a lead. But it will be a key point for us how we will be able to finish strong in the last moments of both the first half and second half in order for us to earn three points. Kashima have a lot of second-year players, so we hope to gain as much experience as we can and resolve issues.

MACHIDA Koki（Kashima Antlers Youth）
Since Shimizu S-Pulse Youth had been winning four games in a row and had offensive capabilities, they were indeed a tough team. Yet we thought that we would come on top if we would keep doing what we usually do in our practices. In fact, we were in a good pace until some time in the second half. We will have to correct the issue that we could not preserve leads, but we would like to improve on our physicality and mentality during the layoff for the league, and hope to prepare ourselves by the time the league resumes. We took losses in the previous week and this week, but how we played weren't necessarily bad, and it will important for us to keep doing what we have done until the very end.

OENOKI Katsuii,Head Coach（Shimizu S-pulse Youth）
I wish we could have had the momentum even more firmly. Especially until the mid point of the first half, we were overwhelmed by the opponents' physicality and speed. While we had few offensive opportunities, we should have moved the ball more to settle us down, but we rushed to attack laterally and it may have been one of the reasons why we had hard times in the game. But in the second half, where the opponents began showing signs of the fatigue, we had the concentration to score and that's something we can give a credit to. Maybe as they allowed the lead and it was a wake-up call to them, our players looked to play with better composure late in the game, which was the most significant moment of the game.

SHIBATA Yusuke（Shimizu S-pulse Youth）
As I was able to score a goal coming off the bench for the second straight game since last week's Aomori Yamada game, I am frankly pleased. On the game-winning score, I just received a good pass, so I just made a trap and netted it with composure. I think that it was a goal that was scored by the whole team, and I would like to thank my teammate who fed me the pass. We have won five games in a row since our season-opening game, and that is because all of us share the sense of the never-give-up mentality to not abandon any game until the end. Because we work on our practices with better attitudes, we are able to come on top in the end in a tough game like today's.

Other Results

Consadole SapporoU-18　1-5（1st 1-3、2nd 0-2）　Aomori Yamada High School
Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa　0-2（1st 0-1、2nd 0-1）　Ichiritsu Funabashi High School
Kashiwa Reysol U-18　5-1（1st 0-0、2nd 5-1）　Mitsubishi Yowa SC Youth
JFA Academy Fukushima　1-1（1st 0-0、2nd 1-1）　Tokyo Verdy Youth

Aomori Yamada High School (Aomori) beat Consadole Sapporo Under-18 (Hokkaido) away. They took a 2-0 lead at half and firmly added some other goals to post their first win of the season. Funabashi Municipal High School (Chiba)'s Fujii Taku scored a goal for the second consecutive game to lead the team to a 2-0 win over Ryutsu Keizai University Kashiwa High School (Chiba), coming up to the third place in the standings with the winning streak. Kashiwa Reysol Under-18 (Chiba) offense exploded in the latter half. Starting with Shirakawa Keishiro's first goal, Kashiwa ended up notching five goals against Mitsubishi Yowa S.C. Youth (Tokyo) to earn three points. In a game between JFA Academy Fukushima (Fukushima) and Tokyo Verdy Youth (Tokyo), Fukushima gave up a game-tying goal in the injury time in the second half, and it ended in a 1-1 draw.

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