Japanese Non-league Football News

2005 Tokyo Prefectural League champions FC Machida Zelvia are proving the dominant side in this season's Kanto League Division 2, as a 4-1 win at home to Nirasaki Astros continued their 100% record from the start of the season and established a gap of no fewer than five points between themselves and their nearest challangers. Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, these are now Furukawa Electrics Chiba, whose squad was boosted in the close season with a number of signings from newly-promoted JFL side JEF Club; a 4-2 win over Hitachi Tochigi Uva suggests that the new additions are paying dividends. Ome FC are continuing to have a frustrating time and a 0-0 draw with relegated Aries FC means that they have scored only three times in the four fixtures ths far. But bottom of the table now are All Kamisu SC, finding the going much tougher than their fellow newcomers Machida - and their 2-1 defeat by Kanagawa Teachers means they have yet to win a game.



Lovin' that green shirt, Nirasaki Astros

Thursday 4th May: Ome FC 0-0 Aries FC

Sunday 7th May: All Kamisu SC 1-2 Kanagawa Teachers
Sunday 7th May: FC Machida Zelvia 4-1 Nirasaki Astros
Sunday 7th May: Furukawa Electrics Chiba 4-2 Hitachi Tochigi Uva

1 FC Machida Zelvia 12 (+13)
2 Furukawa Electrics Chiba 7 (+1)
3 Hitachi Tochigi Uva 6 (-2)
4 Nirasaki Astros 5 (-1)
5 Kanagawa Teachers 4 (-1)
6 Ome FC 3 (-1)
7 Aries FC 3 (-4)
8 All Kamisu SC 2 (-5)

A busy holiday period in the top division of the Kansai League to report on, with reigning title holders Banditonce Kobe asserting their dominance over their rivals in no uncertain terms. They overcame AS Laranja Kyoto 3-1 in midweek and followed that with a 3-0 win over Sanyo Electric Sumoto, experienced Kansai League striker Kanji Nishimura getting three goals over the two games to bring his season's total so far to five.

There's now a six-point gap between the leaders and FC Mi-o Biwako Kusatsu, Kobe FC 1970 and Sanyo Sumoto. FC Mi-o's unexpected 2-1 defeat to Laranja means that there is no one clear challenger to Banditonce, as all the other teams continue to take points off each other. The exception to this is Takada FC, who after a good win in round 1 have lost four in a row and on Saturday crashed 4-0 to Kyoto Shiko Club to sink to the bottom of the table.



Naoto Nishimoto, scorer for FC Mi-o Biwako Kusatsu against AS Laranja Kyoto

Wednesday 3rd May: AS Laranja Kyoto 1-3 Banditonce Kobe
Wednesday 3rd May: Kyoto Shiko Club 0-1 Ain Food

Friday 5th May: Sanyo Electric Sumoto 3-2 Kobe FC 1970
Friday 5th May: Takada FC 1-2 FC Mi-o Biwako Kusatsu

Saturday 6th May: Banditonce Kobe 3-0 Sanyo Electric Sumoto
Saturday 6th May: FC Mi-o Biwako Kusatsu 1-2 AS Laranja Kyoto
Saturday 6th May: Kobe FC 1970 2-1 Ain Food
Saturday 6th May: Takada FC 0-4 Kyoto Shiko Club

1 Banditonce Kobe 15 (+11)
2 FC Mi-o Biwako Kusatsu 9 (+3)
3 Kobe FC 1970 9 (+1)
4 Sanyo Electric Sumoto 9 (-)
5 Ain Food 6 (-2)
6 AS Laranja Kyoto 6 (-4)
7 Kyoto Shiko Club 3 (-3)
8 Takada FC 3 (-6)