The 19th sec. of the Prince Takamado Trophy JFA U-18 Football Premier League 2022 EAST took place on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 October. At Prince Takamado Memorial JFA YUME Field, Yokohama F.Marinos Youth (Kanagawa), who are in the midst of the title race, and Maebashi Ikuei High School (Gunma), who are seeking to avoid relegation, engaged in a fierce battle, where the Yokohama side won by a score of 5-4.

Featured Match

Yokohama F.Marinos Youth 5-4 (1-3, 4-1) Maebashi Ikuei High School

Second placed Yokohama FM, who are six points behind the league leaders Kawasaki Frontale U-18 (Kanagawa), went into this match with extraordinary determination, as MATSUMURA Kosuke (#10) mentioned, “A loss today would put us out of contention for the title, so we knew we had to win.” In the 20th minute, first-year midfielder SHIRASU Kento (#43) responded to a loose ball and converted the opportunity to open the action.

Despite taking the lead, Yokohama FM struggled to pick up their pace, as Matsumura reflected, “Since the summer, we have had the tendency of playing defensively after scoring a goal.”

Desperately needing a win to stay out of the relegation zone, Maebashi Ikuei took advantage of their opponent’s passiveness, and responded with an equaliser scored by OKUBO Kaito (#8) in the 21st minute, followed by the go-ahead goal of NEZU Genki (#7) in the 41st minute. KOIKE Naoya (#9) added another goal during additional time to give Maebashi Ikuei a 3-1 lead at halftime.

After conceding three unanswered goals, the Yokohama offence, which boasts the most goals scored in the league, came out firing in the second half. FUNAKI Daisuke (#24) assisted back-to-back goals of UCHINO Kotaro (#9) in the 48th and 56th minutes, before Matsumura capitalised on a fast break in the 58th minute to turn the match around.

However, the match didn’t end there. In the 60th minute Maebashi Ikuei capitalised on a corner kick to level the score once again. With this goal giving them momentum, the visiting side created number of opportunities to threaten the Yokohama goal but couldn’t find ways to take the lead.

The decisive moment arrived in the 89th minute, when Yokohama FM’s goalkeeper FUKUI Ojiro (#20) initiated a counterattack. Matsumura showcased excellent techniques to control the ball before delivering a through ball into the open space, allowing MOCHIZUKI Kohei (#40) to strike a shot into the net, as the first-year striker later reflected, “I was initially thinking of passing the ball, but once I realised I had no options, I took my chance a went for it.”

With Kawasaki drawing on the same day, Yokohama FM are now only four points behind the leaders. The Premier League will now enter a break, with the exception of a few postponed matches, before resuming on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 November.

Coaches and Players' Comments

OKUMA Yuji, Coach (Yokohama F.Marinos Youth)
I must have been an exciting match for everyone watching, but as a coach I did not enjoy it at all. It feels like we have been too fixated on our build-up plays and have lost our willingness to score goals in our recent matches. In that sense, this match allowed us to regain our aggression. It was great to see our players play aggressively in the second half.

FW #40 MOCHIZUKI Kohei (Yokohama F.Marinos Youth)
The coach sent me off by telling me to score a goal, and I was able to score a goal because Matsumura delivered a great pass for me. He is such a great teammate. I wasn’t able to hit the ball exactly where I wanted, but I am glad it went in.

YAMADA Kosuke, Coach (Maebashi Ikuei High School)
We took a 3-1 lead into halftime in a match we desperately needed three points but ended up conceding a goal at the beginning of the second half, which allowed our opponents to regain their momentum. Today, Yokohama FM showed their strong determination to win the match. Although we managed to score four goals, we really need to dissect why we conceded five goals in today’s match.

MF #14 TOKUNAGA Ryo (Maebashi Ikuei High School)
Considering how the team has been playing lately, we really wanted to turn things around by winning today’s match. The seniors held a meeting prior to the match where everyone expressed their desire to make a change, which allowed us to play with a positive vibe. However, we weren’t able to change our tempo in the second half. We need to get better so that we can win matches like these.

Results of other matches

Kiryu Daiichi High School 2-2 (1-1, 1-1) Kawasaki Frontale U-18
Funabashi Municipal High School 2-1 (1-0, 1-1) JFA Academy Fukushima
Kashiwa Reysol U-18 2-3 (1-1, 1-2) Aomori Yamada High School
Ryutsu Keizai University Kashiwa High School 0-0 (0-0, 0-0) Yokohama FC Youth
FC Tokyo U-18  Postponed  Omiya Ardija U18

Kiryu Daiichi High School (Gunma) and Kawasaki Frontale U-18 (Kanagawa) played to a 2-2 draw with both sides sharing one point. Funabashi Municipal High School (Chiba) got their fourth win of the season, defeating JFA Academy Fukushima (Shizuoka) with goals from OTSUKA Seigo (#28) and KITAGAWA Sho (#6). Aomori Yamada High School (Aomori) conceded the equaliser to Kashiwa Reysol U-18 (Chiba) in the 83rd minute, but managed to pull off a victory, thanks to the go-ahead goal scored by NISHIWAKI Kotaro (#3) in the 84th minute. Ryutsu Keizai University Kashiwa High School (Chiba) and Yokohama FC Youth (Kanagawa) played to a scoreless draw after both sides failed to score a goal. The match between FC Tokyo U-18 (Tokyo) and Omiya Ardija U18 (Saitama) has been postponed to Thursday 3 November.

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Prince Takamado Trophy JFA U-18 Football Premier League 2022

League Duration: Sat. 2 April - Sun. 4 December 2022

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