Prince Takamado Trophy will enter its 13th week of EAST on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 September.

Two teams who have built their momentum late will square off in Aomori. The contest is between Aomori Yamada High School (Aomori), who are on a three-match winning streak after the second half of the season began, and Shimizu S-pulse Youth (Shizuoka), who have gained two wins and one draw in the same stretch. Aomori Yamada’s attacking side has kept in form as scoring 10 goals in the recent three matches. In the 10th week, they netted five, and then they capped multiple goals in the first halves of the recent two matches. They show their strong offence scoring one goal after another. On the other hand, under head coach Hiraoka Hiroaki, the opposing Shimizu commit to continuously running to the final minutes and battling it out physically. Although some of their core players were called up for the senior team or national youth team, the rest of the players have made a great effort in the league.

“First of all we need to run more than them” said Honda Yuichiro, head coach of Ryutsu Keizaidai Kashiwa. The contender from Chiba will face Mitsubishi Yowa SC Youth (Tokyo) to obtain three points with their boss’s word in mind. Despite their lacklustre defence conceding 10 goals in the recent three matches, they defeated Kashiwa Reysol U-18 (Chiba) 4-1 with their strong offence making up for their defensive weakness. That victory over the league-leaders certainly motivated themselves. Mitsubishi Yowa, who sit at ninth in the table, are not in as bad a form as its placement suggests. They may get close to a win if their plan comes through, as Ikeda Jurato saying “after finishing the first half without conceding a goal, we will accelerate our offence.”

Fourth-placed Kashima Antlers Youth (Ibaraki) will meet third-placed Ichiritsu Funabashi High School (Chiba) at home. At the beginning of the season, players lamented their poor game management, saying “we cannot win in the end.” They have clutched, however, wins in the recent matches, showing their growth as putting up tenacious defence to secure their goal. In the upcoming fixture it will be worth watching how they play against Ichiritsu Funabashi, whose strength is also the solid defence.

Their defensive performances appear to determine the contest between Consadole Sapporo U-18 (Hokkaido) and Tokyo Verdy Youth (Tokyo), who conceded five goals in the last match and 13 goals in the recent three matches respectively. Tokyo Verdy’s Anzai Tatsuya urged his teammates to feel more pressure, commenting “we have a lot of players who got injured and can’t help but playing younger players, but it’s not time for being humble.” They want to win the contest on the road so that they can avenge their frustration.

[Pick-up Match of EAST Week 13]
Kashiwa Reysol U-18 vs JFA Academy Fukushima

Kashiwa Reysol U-18 (Chiba) will welcome JFA Academy Fukushima (Shizuoka) at home. In the latest match against Ryutsu Keizaidai Kashiwa, Kashiwa conceded multiple goals for the first time in this season, which gave them two straight losses. Even so, head coach Shimotaira Takahiro keeps his positive manner, saying “we learned we need more creativity in front of the goal in our offence. We saw some issues in our defence against opposing set pieces. Those turned out to be a good lesson.” Whether the leaders in the first half of the season can halt their own losing skid, the contest will be a good test for Kashiwa to show their true prowess. On the other hand, Academy Fukushima have built on their momentum routing Sapporo with five goals in the last match. Their speedy offence led by Kusano Yuki and Kagayama Taiki is very powerful. While the total time to defend is expected to be longer in the next match, Fukushima’s players try to convert the limited number of chances into goals to add up more points.

Kashiwa Reysol U-18 vs JFA Academy Fukushima
Date: Sunday 14 September, kick-off at 4 pm
Venue: Hitachi Kashiwa Sogo Ground / Artificial turf
Access: Walk 20 minutes from the East Exit of Tobu Noda Line & JR Joban Line “Kashiwa” station, or Take Tobu Bus from the East Exit of “Kashiwa” station at Stop No.1 to “Midorigaoka” or “Hitachi Kashiwa Soccer Stadium.” 1 minute walk to the stadium.