Pick-Up Match

Jumonji Junior High School　3-1 (1st 2-0, 2nd 1-1)　Kamimura Gakuen Junior High School Women's Football Club

The 20th All Japan Youth (U-15) Women's Championship had its quarterfinals on Tuesday 28 July.

The first match saw Jumonji Junior High School (Kanto 4/ Tokyo) and Kamimura Gakuen Junior High Women's Football Club (Kyushu 3/ Kagoshima) square off. The clash between junior high school organisations was heated from the start while Jumonji's NOGUCHI Yuki said, "We want to survive as best among junior high teams."

Kamimura Gakuen created an opening first. In the 10th minute, NOMIYAMA Yuko dribbled down the middle and sent the ball to the right flank. KONDO Yui ran through and dribbled into the box to take a shot, but her effort was saved by SHIRAO Akane. Although Jumonji couldn’t ignite them enough at the beginning as Noguchi said, "We were too slow to find our rhythm", the Tokyo side gradually rallied back.

In the 13th minute, Noguchi tapped in a loose ball from a right corner kick to break the deadlock. Jumonji grabbed their second goal in the 20th minute through OGAKI Mahiro's dribbling run before entering halftime with a 2-0 lead.

With their back against the wall, Kamimura Gakuen fully geared up on attacks from the start of the second half. Seven minutes into the second half, KATSURA Ai sneaked into the box with a one-two pass with her teammate after receiving a vertical pass from TOYOMURA Ayaka.

Through a goalmouth scramble, Nomiyama sent a loose ball just in front of goal into the left corner of the net to close the gap to one goal. Despite dominating the match afterwards, Kamimura Gakuen struggled to level the score. "After closing the gap to one goal, we weren't able to grab any more goals," said Nomiyama. Meanwhile, Jumonji added their third goal in the 55th minute.

HAMADA Megu dribbled up the pitch after picking up a second ball from corner kick in their end, and then NODA Ichika marked another goal to seal the win. With a 3-1 victory over Kamimura Gakuen, Jumonji claimed their first-ever last four spot.

Coachs' Comments

OTAKI Yasushi (Jumonji Junior High School)
This team aim to make use of fast-running players. We were able to play our game, which captain Noguchi controls the ball and then the team get into the opposing end by changing flanks. It was big we finished the first half with a two-goal lead. Kamimura Gakuen were strong and fast vertically, and we struggled with it. We allowed a goal through a long ball in the second half, but our players worked hard after that.

MIYASAKO Fumika (Kamimura Gakuen Junior High School Women's Football Club)
We grew during the tournament, but the loss was very disappointing. Today's contest was important as it was against opponents who are in the same generation and have trained in a similar environment. We weren't able to win it because there was something to improve, and I really think our players could've done better. They could've run more and showed off more hunger toward goal. We will keep up our hard-running part and never-give-up attitude as well as improve skills.

Other Matches

AS Elfen Saitama Mari (Kanto 1/Saitama)　0-3 ( 0-1, 0-2 ) JFA Academy Fukushima (Tokai 1/Shizuoka)　
Cerezo Osaka (Kansai 2/Osaka) 0-0 ( 0-0, 0-0, PSO 4-2 )　 Omiya FC Angels 05 (Kanto7/Saitama)　
Albirex Niigata Ladies (Hokushinetsu2/Niigata)　0-0 ( 0-0, 0-0, PSO 2-0 ) SFIDA Setagaya FC (Kanto2/Tokyo)

Kanto champions AS Elfen Saitama Mari faced JFA Academy Fukushima. After grabbing nine goals in two matches, the academy offence continued their momentum on the day as they scored three goals to secure a semi-final spot including ENDO Jun's opening goal in the 14th minute.

Cerezo Osaka were not able to break through Omiya FC's defence before the contest went into a penalty shootout. With four kickers netting, Cerezo snatched a victory.

The clash between Albirex Niigata Ladies and SFIDA Setagaya FC also saw both teams battle closely as the match lasted into penalties. Niigata Ladies custodian WADA Ryoka brilliantly saved three shots to give her side a victory.

The semi-finals will take place on Wednesday 29 July. For the right to advance to the semi-finals, JFA Academy Fukushima and Jumonji will face each other, and Cerezo Osaka and Niigata Ladies will play against each other.

JFA-TV (Japanese version only)

The 20th All Japan Youth (U-15) Women's Championship

Sat. 25 july - Fri. 31 July 2015
J-GREEN Sakai (Osaka)
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