The seventh Sec. of the Prince Takamado Trophy JFA U-18 Football Premier League EAST 2019 took place on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 June, where fifth place Funabashi Municipal High School (Chiba) welcomed seventh place Kashima Antlers Youth (Ibaraki) to their home stadium.

Pick-up Match

Funabashi Municipal High School 0-0 (0-0, 0-0) Kashima Antlers Youth

During the season break, Funabashi Municipal suffered a loss at the semi-finals of the Inter-High School Championships qualifier, which means that they will be missing out on the summer tournament for the first time in seven years. Following their loss, coach HATA Shugo mentioned, “We trained very hard to prepare for this weekend’s match at the Premier League.”

However, the match saw Kashima take the initiative in the early minutes, keeping the Funabashi side pinned in their own territory. In the 14th minute, Kashima’s KODA Soshi (#4) struck a header that nearly gave them the lead, but Funabashi Municipal’s KANEKO Reon (#25) made a superb save to keep the score intact.

With the match entering the second half scoreless, Funabashi Municipal started to gain control of the match, as their two fullbacks, HATA Taiga (#2) and UEMATSU Kento (#3) made continuous runs to add layers to the offence. Led by IWATA Kasumi (#14), the home side initiated many attacks from the flanks to threaten the Kashima goal, as ISHIDA Yusuke (#16) later reflected, “Compared to the first half, we created better opportunities in the second half.”

Despite taking control of the match, Funabashi Municipal struggled to solve the opposing defence line. As Kashima’s coach NAKAMURA Kosei later reflected, “There was no need to panic because we had great confident in our defence.” While Funabashi’s KAZAWA Hiyu (#11) came close in the 49th and 57th minute to break the deadlock, his efforts fell short from scoring a goal against the defending champions.

The match finished with neither side scoring a goal, as the two sides shared a point apiece in this scoreless draw.

Coaches and Players' Comments

HATA Shugo, Coach (Funabashi Municipal High School)
After our loss at the Inter-High School Championships qualifier, we had to make a change and we wanted to showcase that change in this match. That is why we worked hard all week. The players might have been fatigued from the training sessions, and we looked a bit slow to start the match. However, the team looked great in the second half, as we took control of the ball possession and initiated many attacks from the flanks. We hope to continue on this performance in our future matches.

DF #16 ISHIDA Yusuke (Funabashi Municipal High School)
We weren’t able to play our game in the first half and faced a difficult stretch, but it was great to see our team keeping a clean sheet during that stint. In the second half, we managed to create many opportunities, but failed to convert them. I think we weren’t focused enough, and I feel lucky that we didn’t concede any goals today. We saw our fullbacks making numbers of runs down the line in the second half, which allowed us to create more opportunities compared to the first half.

NAKAMURA Kosei, Coach (Kashima Antlers Youth)
In today’s match, we showed some good ball movements, while we also showed some direct plays aimed straight towards the goal. From here on, we just need to heighten the quality of our plays to convert those opportunities. In terms of defence, there was no need to panic because we had great confident in our defence line. If our defence was vulnerable, we could have been in last place by now, so we should consider that as a positive aspect of our team.

GK #1 YAMADA Taiki (Kashima Antlers Youth)
Following the intermission period of the Premier League, we changed our playing style to a more passing football. I feel like we were able to showcase some good football in the first half, but we weren’t critical enough at the final third. As a goalkeeper, I entered the match with a strong intention to keep a clean sheet, so I feel like I was able to do my job at very least.

Results of other matches

Shimizu S-Pulse Youth 1-2 (0-1, 1-1) Aomori Yamada High School
Ryutsu Keizai University Kashiwa High School 2-2 (1-1, 1-1) Urawa Red Diamonds Youth
Omiya Ardija U18 0-2 (0-1, 0-1) Kashiwa Reysol U-18
Jubilo Iwata U-18 2-2 (1-1, 1-1) Shoshi High School

Aomori Yamada High School (Aomori) won over third place Shimizu S-Pulse Youth (Shizuoka) to remain in the top spot of the EAST. Second place Kashiwa Reysol U-18 (Chiba) remains in the hunt for first place with their win over Omiya Ardija U18 (Saitama). Two fixtures ended in the same result, as Ryutsu Keizai University Kashiwa High School (Chiba) vs Urawa Red Diamonds Youth (Saitama), and Jubilo Iwata U-18 (Shizuoka) vs Shoshi High School (Fukushima), each ended in a 2-2 draw.

Prince Takamado Trophy JFA U-18 Football Premier League 2019

League Duration: Sat. 6 April - Sun. 8 December 2019

League Information