Pick up match

Kyoto Tachibana High School　0-1（1st 0-0, 2nd 0-1）　Higashi Fukuoka High School

On 10 March, Kyoto Tachibana High School (Kyoto) and Higashi Fukuoka High School played against each other for Matchday 6 of Prince Takamado Trophy U-18 Premiere League West.

At this intensive match between the two high school teams, Kyoto Tachibana made efforts to make scoring opportunities such as the shot made by YAMANAKA Kei on 7 minutes, but they could not score. Higashi Fukuoka, on the other hand also tried to find good opportunities by using the width of the pitch by moving the ball around quickly, but they weren’t allowed to make any shots by Kyoto Tachibana’s defense. “It was the best defense that we did ever before. All of us had such a high attention to defense”, said Kyoto Tachibana’s OGAWA Reita.

The 2nd half started from 0-0, and Higashi Fukuoka started taking control of the match. 2 substitute players MOCHIYAMA Taiki and FUJIKAWA Kotaro energised side attacks. On 65 minutes, ODA Itsuki got the ball from right wing throw in and made a cross to the front of goal, and then FUJIKAWA headed the ball to push it in. That goal broke the seesaw game; Kyoto Tachibana couldn’t get any additional goal. Kyoto’s OGAWA said “After Higashi Fukuoka” scored, we lost a balance of defense”. On 75 minutes, Kyoto Tachibana’s TANAKA Yutaro made a deep pass and BANDO Ryo tried to place a chip shot after running onto the ball but this was saved by Higashi Fukuoka’s defense by WAKINO Atsushi. On 90 minutes, just before ending of the match, Higashi Fukuoka got their big chance. MOCHIYAMA got the long ball behind the opponent’s DF line and aimed at the goal in a 1 vs. 1 situation with Kyoto Tachibana’s goalkeeper but could not score. Finally, the intensive match against each other finished 1-0 with Higashi Fukuoka’s victory.

Head Coach and Players' Comments

YONEZAWA Kazunari, Head Coach（Kyoto Tachibana High School）
We had the difficult time in the 2nd half after we did fairly well in the 1st half. I thought it was difficult to change the pace, so we wanted to make good chances once we stole the ball in a good way. We had too much time to defend in our area to then have enough power to move the ball forward until shots in front of their goal. However, I still see the possibility to win the next match.

OGAWA Reita（Kyoto Tachibana High School）
Today we missed many of key players such as IWASAKI Yuto due to injury. Since we didn’t have the players that we usually rely on, the rest of us had such a high motivation to defend our goal and I think we actually did well. However, what we couldn’t do was scoring our chances and we lost a goal from a cross which was exactly our issue throughout this competition. As a result, we couldn’t win, but I can still say that we did well. So we hope that this is going to be a good experience for our next matches.

MORISHIGE Junya, Head Coach（Higashi Fukuoka High School）
In the 1st half, Kyoto Tachibana Players had stronger motivation to win. We had a lack of strong attitude to attack reflecting some times that we didn’t take shots even though we had chances. In the 2nd half, it was not bad because we could score and eventually win the match. Today our striker 岩﨑 couldn’t play but we really wanted to win. It was good that we could beat Kyoto Tachibana in the end. We do have issues but today I could see our players’ mentality have changed in a better way; that was one of the important things we got from this match.

MAIKUMA Seiya（Higashi Fukuoka High School）
In the first half, we struggled with the opponent’s consistent defense and we could not make shots. In the 2nd half we could gradually make good chances to score and I also made a shot, but it was such a shame that I couldn’t score. People might see us doing very good since we haven’t lost any matches since Matchday 2, but we still have a lot to improve considering how many mistakes we have made. I can play at this Premier League because our senior teammates made a good result in the previous season; we also have to keep winning for the younger teammates to play in this Premier League in the future. We play well in each given match.

Other results

Vissel Kobe U-18　8-4（1st 5-0, 2nd 3-4）　Nagoya Grampus U18
Oita Trinita U-18　2-3（1st 0-2, 2nd 2-1）　Gamba Osaka Youth
Riseisha High School　1-2（1st 1-0, 2nd 0-2）　Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18
Cerezo Osaka U-18　5-0（1st 2-0, 2nd 3-0）　Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Youth

Vissel Kobe U-18 (Hyogo) played against Nagoya Grampas U18 (Nagoya) at their home and they recorded 8 goals with the first goal scored by YAMAMOTO Ayato. Nagoya on the other hand started its attack from the 2nd half and got 4 goals back and the match finished with 8-4. Gamba Osaka Youth (Osaka) beat Oita Trinita U-18 (Oita) by TAKAGI Akito’s 2 goals. Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18 (Kyoto) won their match against Riseisha High School (Osaka) 2-0; Kyoto’s NUMA Daiki got 2 goals even though Riseisha High School got the first goal. Cerezo Osaka U-18 (Osaka) who had lost the previous match for the first time beat Sanfrecce Hiroshima FC Youth (Hiroshima) 5-0. Cerezo has defended its position as a top team since the opening match of the Premier League.