Pick-up Match

Shimizu S-pulse Youth   1-2 (1-0, 0-2)   Omiya Ardija Youth 

The Prince Takamado Trophy U-18 Premier League EAST Matchday 8 was held on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 July as Shimizu S-pulse Youth (Shizuoka) faced Omiya Ardija Youth (Saitama) at S-Pulse Miho Ground on Saturday.

Against Shimizu with a pair of towering central defenders 186-cm-tall KENMOTSU Takumu and 189-cm-tall TATSUTA Yugo, Omiya went aggressively at the beginning of the match. In the 16th minute, Omiya forward OGASHIWA Tsuyoshi fired a shot through dribbling, but his shot was saved by Shimizu goalkeeper MIZUTANI Shunsuke.

After denying Omiya's opening, in the 17th minute, HIRATSUKA Jin of Shimizu intercepted a pass and hammered a blast to give his side a lead. Despite picking up the momentum, Omiya conceded a goal. And Ogashiwa attempted a solo goal in the 20th minute, but his effort was denied by the post.

Getting into the second half with Shimizu's one goal lead, Omiya's YAMADA Riku shone as he later said "we gave up a goal because of my mistake. I really wanted to get the one back." In the 57th minute, when Omiya were awarded a free kick and HASEGAWA Motoki sent a pass to space in front of goal, Yamada responded to it before stabbing a shot to cancel out the Shimizu's 1-0 lead.

Shimizu, however, controlled the match without feeling demoralised. On a 58-minute free kick opportunity, Hiratsuka fired a shot that shook the cross bar, but did not find the net. In the 66th minute, midfielder TAKI Yuta's shot was denied by Omiya goalkeeper MIYAZAKI Kotaro.

After getting out of a jam with a tie score, Omiya forward OKUNUKI Kanji reacted to a loose ball from goalkeeper Miyazaki's kick and steered a shot in the 87th minute. With his shot going into the back of the net, Omiya were successful in turning the score around. Omiya continued to halt Shimizu's rally with intense defence before clinching a 2-1 win.

Omiya's winning streak after the season break was extended to three matches. Coach OTSUKA Shinji expressed his pleasure, saying "we won because my players grew. It's great to get three points in such a tough match." On the other hand, Shimizu coach HIRAOKA Hiroaki said, "we opened the scoring at the right time and had some chances to get the second goal, but we ended up losing because we wasted the chances." They failed to get a consecutive win, but their flowing attacking football that they showed in the second half certainly gave them confidence.

Coach and Players' Comments

HIRAOKA Hiroaki, Coach (Shimizu S-Pulse Youth)
In the first half, my players looked heavy and weren't able to change their positions smoothly. Hiratsuka took advantage of a small chance to score an opening goal, but our attacking did not keep on after that. If we had added a goal, we would have been able to play in an easier way. We failed to get the second goal and gave up a goal because of an unnecessary foul, but the players shrugged it off. And our attacking started getting some flow. But we ended up allowing them to go ahead. Even so, my players played very well in a tough situation where defender Tatsuta got his leg hurt in the final stage of the match.

OTSUKA Shinji, Coach (Omiya Ardija Youth)
Today's match was held after two straight wins since the Premier League resumed. I told my players, "This match is the most important." We tried not to play halfway, which allows ourselves to say things like "It's good enough." The other point is set-pieces. While bringing down the opponents’ strength, we were talking about scoring goals through free kicks. Today, we showed what we've worked on so far by sharing ideas during training. This year's team have been more tenacious than the one at the beginning of the season. It's difficult to keep up our game for 90 minutes against this league's high-level teams. Under the theme of “how to defend while opponents talking control”, we've gained the tenacity and a high level of dedication.

YAMADA Riku (Omiya Ardija Youth)
We gave up a goal because of my mistake. I really wanted to get the one back. When we allowed a goal, I was almost feeling down but refreshed my mind to play again. The equaliser came off the cuff. The opposing defenders were sitting in their end at the free kick moment. And I said to the kicker Hasegawa "give it to me.” Then, he gestured like "I know it." He gave me a pass at the right time, and I found a shooting angle. All I needed to do was just kick it into the net. We will keep up our game like today and become an even more competitive team.

OGASHIWA Tsuyoshi (Omiya Ardija Youth)
I was in good form and able to go with dribbling. The three straight wins in the Premier League are good results, considering the situation where we didn't get wins in the first three matches. Before the break, we just got four points, but all of us looked back at ourselves during the break. And we faced the issue and weakness we had so that we could get the results after the Premier League resumed. Remembering what we talked about during the break, we will try to keep in form.

Other Matches

Albirex Niigata U-18   1-6 (0-2, 1-4)   Aomori Yamada High School
Ichiritsu Funabashi High School   1-1 (0-0, 1-1)   F.C. Tokyo U-18
Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa   1-0 (0-0, 1-0)   Kashiwa Reysol U-18
Yokohama F. Marinos Youth   2-2 (1-1, 1-1)   Kashima Antlers Youth

Aomori Yamada High School (Aomori) took a two-goal lead in the first half before thrashing Albirex Niigata U-18 (Niigata) by five goals with the second-half goal rout.

Aomori Yamada took sole possession of the lead as Ichiritsu Funabashi High School (Chiba) drew with F.C. Tokyo U-18 (Tokyo) at another venue.

Ryutsukeizaidai Kashiwa (Chiba) beat Kashiwa Reysol U-18 with SEKI Yamato's second-half goal. The Chiba side grabbed their first win of the season to add up their points to four.

Yokohama F. Marinos Youth (Kanagawa) and Kashima Antlers Youth (Ibaraki) shared the spoils 2-2 after a see-saw game.

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