Pick Up Match

Kyoto Tachibana High School 0-0  (1st 0-0, 2nd 0-0)  Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Youth

Kyoto Tachibana High School in their first ever season in the Premier League took on two-time league champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Youth (Hiroshima), and the match turned out to be a very close one to the end. Hiroshima looked for Kyoto Tachibana’s defensive gap from the start while passing the ball around in their defensive end and sometimes sending acute passes forward. But that did not lead to any good goal-scoring opportunities. “The opposing defenders wisely came into spaces we wanted to use,” said Kato Mutsuki. Then, Kyoto Tachibana gained their momentum and came close after defending tenaciously against Hiroshima’s attacks.  In the 41st minute, Ogawa Reita smashed a middle-ranged shot that hit the crossbar.

In the second half, Kyoto enhanced their momentum and dominated the match. In the 51st minute, Nakano Katsuya rounded the opposing goalkeeper and fired a shot, but it was denied by Hiroshima’s defender. In the 84th, after Nakano picked up the ball from a right corner kick and passed to the left edge of the area, Heuser Ken struck a shot but could not find a goal, either.

In the 89th minute, while the match looked like ending up with a draw, Shichi Taiki’s handball gave Hiroshima a penalty kick. But goalkeeper Yatagai Soki stopped the shot to escape from the ropes. The score remained scoreless until the end. Kyoto Tachibana clinched “a point as valuable as a win” said head coach Yonezawa Kazunari.

Head Coach and Players Comments

YONEZAWA Kazunari, Head Coach of Kyoto Tachibana High School
Our transition between offence and defence was slow in the last match against Hiroshima, so I told my players to show quick ones form the start today. We had a chance to win the match. I have a bit of regret, but we could show our tenacious play. I’m happy to see our practice over the summer pay off today.

SHIKI Taiki, Kyoto Tachibana High School
We could show a good performance in the first half of the last match against Higashi Fukuoka, but we ran out of steam and failed to battle it out in the second half. During the recent week, we repeated one-on-one drills to fight out in a match. I think such efforts led to winning one point. One of the good sides today was that we could show our striving defence to connect to our offence.

MOCHIZUKI Kazuyori, Head Coach of Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Youth
Today, we were forced to play players who got injured or were out of shape. I’m disappointed that we couldn’t win the match, having chances to get three points and having pinches that could’ve led us to a defeat. Even so, I give a credit to the fact that we could keep concentration and ended with a clean sheet.

ARAKI Hayato, Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Youth
I’ve learned how difficult playing a team behind us in a table is after watching J.League games. I kept in mind that this game wasn’t going to be easy when I took on this game. But up front spaces were limited and we couldn’t complete breaking through the opponents. The game was more difficult than the one I supposed.

Results of Other Matches

Higashiyama High School  1-2 (1st 0-1, 2nd 1-1)  Toyama Daiichi High School
Vissel Kobe U-18  5-1 (1st 2-0, 2nd 3-1)  Nagoya Grampus U18
Gamba Osaka Youth  2-1 (1st 2-1, 2nd 0-0)  Higashi Fukuoka High School
Cerezo Osaka U-18  1-1 (1st 0-1, 2nd 1-0)  Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18

The contest between eighth-placed Higashiyama High School (Kyoto) and nine-placed Toyama Daiichi High School (Toyama) finished with the former’s win with Nishimura Takuma’s two goals that gave his side to turn around the placements. Vissel Kobe U-18 (Hyogo), winning the four straight recent games, scored five goals against leaders Nagoya Grampus (Aichi) to keep their winning streak. With their two goals in the first half, Gamba Osaka Youth (Osaka) defeated Higashi Fukuoka High School (Fukuoka) to put up another win following the last match. Cerezo Osaka U-18 (Osaka) notched one point with Nukui Hayato’s equaliser although they allowed Kyoto Sanga F.C. U-18 (Kyoto) to take a lead earlier. As a result, Gamba Osaka moved up to the top spot and top six teams are scrambled within five points.