Pick Up Match

Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18　5-3（1st 1-0、2nd 4-3）Higashiyama High School

“We were saying that it was going to be a must-win match today”, said Tanabe Yoji of Higashiyama High School. The Kyoto Derby became a contest of pride between Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18 and Higashiyama High School, two clubs who had earned only few points so far and remained near the bottom of the standings.

Kyoto caught the pace of the match early. As Okugawa Masaya commented “what we need to do have been clearer”, Kyoto showed quick attacks sending the ball up front right after getting it back. In the 11th minute, Okugawa struck a first-time shot for an opening goal after Onishi Yuki broke down the right flank. Kyoto continued dominating afterwards, but they couldn’t extend the lead before the break. “We got hung up ourselves missing the three golden opportunities” later said Nagashima Yushi.

After the break, Higashiyama created several goal opportunities with attacking wings, but could not convert them to goals, either. While pushing forward, they allowed Kyoto’s Okugawa and Numa Daiki to net additional goals and the deficit to grow to three. But the real start of the match came at this moment. Kamada Daichi sparked a comeback with a 71st-minute strike before Kamada again in the 72nd minute and Moriya Ryo in the 75th fired to tie the match.

After the three quick consecutive goals in five minutes, Higashiyama enhanced their pace to turn the score around. But Kyoto did not stay silent, either. Okugawa struck a free-kick in the 87th minute just before Onishi capped the Kyoto’s decisive fifth goal. The eight-goal fest ended with Kyoto’s victory in an aggressive 90-minute showdown.

Comments

KAWAKATSU Hiroyasu, Head Coach（Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18）
We beat up each other. Until 3-0 up, the match was sort of as we planned. We thought “it would probably go down like this.” But we allowed them to come back into a mess by losing three goals in a row. We have been reminded that missing opportunities to add right after scoring a goal makes the match tough. Because we have been getting some improvements but still a lot of stuff to solve, we try to grow up and try not to be easy on ourselves as we keep having matches from now to summer.

NAGASHIMA Yushi（Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18）
When we had the match tied at three, I blamed myself because I couldn’t take advantage of goal opportunities and got replaced. I’m relieved (Onishi) Yuki and (Okugawa) Masaya scored for our win. As a team, we need to solve how we overcome a situation like when we lose one goal and start losing our momentum. We missed lots of goal opportunities offensively, so we need to overcome that and be more clutch as well. I definitely want to win next match because it will be the last match of the first half of the season.

FUKUSHIGE Ryoichi, Head Coach（Higashiyama High School）
I want to appreciate our players for keeping fighting to the end. We could show collective attacking in this match unlike the previous matches when we were always a few steps behind. I’m pleased that we got goals in these two matches after the break and today we even got three goals. But we still allow too many goals. It is obvious that we allow those goals not because they break down our offense but because we just make our mistakes. We also need to make an adjustment to our tendency that we allow goals by not sorting out issues during a match.

IMURA Taisei（Higashiyama High School）
Defensive midfielders including myself didn’t try to receive passes in the first half, and as a result of it, our ball movement got worse and we gave the rhythm away. Before the second half (Kamada) Daichi and Coach Fukushige told me to try to receive the ball more, so I could touch the ball more and keep up my rhythm in the second half. What we still need to do is to minimise goals allowed. I feel bad for losing goals in spite of our offense doing good end scoring. To make it better, I want to stay focused on defence even when we are attacking.

Other Results

Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Youth　2-4（1st 1-0、2nd 1-4）　Higashi Fukuoka High School
Toyama Daiichi High School　1-0（1st 1-0、2nd 0-0）　Kyoto Tachibana High School
Gamba Osaka Youth　2-1（1st 1-1、2nd 1-0）　Nagoya Grampus U18
Vissel Kobe U-18　3-1（1st 1-0、2nd 2-1）　Cerezo Osaka U-18

Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Youth (Hiroshima), taking on Higashi Fukuoka High School (Fukuoka) at home, lost 2-4 after finishing the first half 1-0 but conceding consecutive goals to Kito Shunsuke and others. Toyama Daiichi High School (Toyama) snatched long-awaited points against Kyoto Tachibana High School (Kyoto) by protecting the slender lead obtained by the DF Murakami Hirokazu’s goal from a corner kick in the 10th minute. Gamba Osaka Youth (Osaka) goalkeeper Hayashi Mizuki welcomed a challenge saying “this is going to be a big test for us to move up in the table,” before Gamba faced league-leading Nagoya Grampus U18 (Aichi). Gamba’s FW Nakamura Fumiya made a difference with his goal just before the end of the close contest to hand Nagoya the first loss of the season. Vissel Kobe U-18 (Hyogo) defeated Cerezo Osaka U-18 (Osaka) for the first win in the last four matches.