Pick-up Match

Kyoto Tachibana High School 2-1 (1st 1-0, 2nd 1-1) Vissel Kobe U-18

The Prince Takamado Trophy U-18 Premier League WEST had its matchday 3 on Sunday 26 April as Kyoto Tachibana High School (Kyoto) and Vissel Kobe U-18 (Hyogo) squared off against each other.

The match took action early on. In the 2nd minute, Kyoto Tachibana side IWASAKI Yuto cut inside from the right side through a combination with BANDO Ryo and stabbed the ball into the net from distance to give the home side an opener, as the opposing head coach looking back after the match saying “That was a good shot.” With their start being spoiled, Kobe went on to fight back but were not able to create clear-cut opportunities against tenacious Kyoto Tachibana defence. In the 42nd minute, after SASAKI Daiju initiated Kobe’s attack up front, the unmarked YAMAMOTO Ayato’s effort was saved by Kyoto Tachibana goalkeeper YATAGAI Soki.

Before the second half started, Kobe tried to activate their attacking end by replacing two of the three players up front, and this measure paid off right away. MIMA Kazuya, who just came on, headed home a low cross from FUJITANI So, who ran up the side, to give his side an equaliser. Despite allowing more attacking time to the opposition, Kyoto Tachibana also tried to rally back. They carved out some chances for a go-ahead goal on counter-attacks including TSUTSUMIHARA Tsubasa running through the opposing defence to Yatagai’s long ball in the 60th minute.

While both teams showed fierce battles in the midfield without converting their efforts into their second goal of the match, the side who went ahead was Kyoto Tachibana. In the 86th minute, Yatagai denying a counterattack promptly fed the ball to the right. Tsutsumihara received it and put a long ball into the box. And Iwasaki rushed and latched onto the pass past a defender before composedly finding the back of the net. The match score remained until the end. Kyoto Tachibana, who finished the first half of the last season winless, grabbed their first victory of this season in the third matchday.

Coaches and Players’ Comments

YONEZAWA Kazunari, Head Coach (Kyoto Tachibana High School)
The match went on just as we planned. We scored early, but I knew the match wouldn’t keep going with our lead. The players fought out for 90 minutes well with their concentration kept and lived up to my word, “It’s important to win this out. Even though you allow an equaliser, you go out and target for the second goal.” Thanks to the learnings from the last year that this league is not the place where we can play as we want, we are playing patiently this year even in tough situations.

BANDO Ryo (Kyoto Tachibana High School)
Last year we weren’t able to get any win in the first half of the season, and it was disappointing. So I had high motivation to win matches in this season at any cost. I’m very happy we not only grabbed our first win of the season in the third match, but also it was a win against a team from one of the J.League academies. Individually, I’m disappointed I missed a goal-scoring opportunity, but it was also good I was able to tee up a pass for (Iwasaki) Yuto’s goal. Not losing our concentration here at this point, we will pile up points one by one in the following matches and go for a higher place.

NODA Satoru, Head Coach (Vissel Kobe U-18)
The difference in the true ability between us appeared on the scoreline. In the first half, we weren’t able to control the ball as we wanted and failed to play our game, passing football. Even in that situation, we created a couple of critical chances. But if you can’t make it in such opportunities, the result turns out to be like this. It’s frustrating and I don’t know why we can’t start the match with the aggressive plays that we showed in the second half today. From the next one, we will improve the quality of plays and take advantage of them for a victory.

FUJITANI So (Vissel Kobe U-18)
Whatever the pitch condition was like, it’s disappointing we weren’t able play accurately. The first goal of the opponent was brought from my flank. If we would have got more tensed from the start of the match as a team, we could’ve denied the goal. So we need to make some improvement in the next match. Kyoto Tachibana were the team we drew with in the final match of the last season, and we had a bad memory left in our mind. To get away from the memory, we really wanted to win at any cost. I’m disappointed ending up like this.

Results from Other Matches

Oita Trinita U-18   3-1 (1st 1-0, 2nd 2-1)　Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Youth
Riseisha High School    1-3 (1st 0-0, 2nd 1-3)　Cerezo U-18
Grampus U18   1-2 (1st 0-2, 2nd 1-0)　Higashi Fukuoka High School
Gamba Osaka Youth    2-1(1st 0-0, 2nd 2-1)　Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18

Oita Trinita (Oita) cruised to a six-goal win over Nagoya Grampus U18 (Aichi) in the latest fixture. With keeping their momentum in the match against Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Youth (Hiroshima), Oita grabbed a 3-1 victory. Riseisha High School (Osaka) took on defending champions Cerezo Osaka U-18 (Osaka). Although the Osaka’s high school kept a clean first-half sheet, they gave up three goals within 11 minutes in the second half and lost the match 1-3. Nagoya Grampus U18 (Aichi), starting the season with straight defeats on the road, welcomed Higashi Fukuoka High School (Fukuoka) for the first home match. But the home side failed to clinch their first win of the season as the two goals they conceded in the first half weighed heavily on their shoulders. In the contest between Gamba Osaka Youth (Osaka) and Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18 (Kyoto), the former grabbed a victory with YAMANAKA Kaito’s late winner. As the result, Cerezo, the only team who succeeded in adding up consecutive wins, retained top spot.