YKK AP and friend(s) before their draw with Yokogawa Musashino
JFL leaders YKK AP came perilously close to a shock defeat in Sunday's clash with Yokogawa Musashino, but Hiroki Kishida's ten goal of the season three minutes from time gave the Toyama side an equaliser and kept intact their unbeaten start to 2006. Their nearest challengers now are Rosso Kumamoto, four points behind but with six wins in the last seven and a 100% record in their home fixtures. The former Kyushu Leaguers coasted to a 3-1 win over FC Kariya, with Yutaka Takahashi on target for the seventh time in eight games. Honda FC meanwhile slumped to a shock 3-0 defeat at home to the previously out-of-form Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo to drop back to third and Tochigi SC maintained their challenge thanks to a last-minute Yoshihide Nishikawa winner against Sony Sendai.
Towards the foot of the table, FC Ryukyu are improving fast and their 2-0 win over rock-bottom Sagawa Printing now means that the Okinawans have lost just once in six. Honda Lock gained a vital 3-1 win to leapfrog Ryutsu Keizai University and so move out of the bottom two; and SC Tottori continue to be the league's draw specialists, their failure to hold on to a lead at Mitsubishi Mizushima meaning that they have now tied a remarkable eight out of eleven games.
Goalmouth action from the Mitsubishi Mizushima - SC Tottori game
Sunday 21st May: FC Ryukyu 2-0 Sagawa Printing
Sunday 21st May: Honda FC 0-3 Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo
Sunday 21st May: Honda Lock 3-1 Ryutsu Keizai University
Sunday 21st May: Mitsubishi Mizushima 2-2 SC Tottori
Sunday 21st May: Rosso Kumamoto 3-1 FC Kariya
Sunday 21st May: Tochigi SC 3-2 Sony Sendai
Sunday 21st May: YKK AP 1-1 Yokogawa Musashino
1 YKK AP 29 (+24)
2 Rosso Kumamoto 25 (+12)
3 Honda FC 25 (+11)
4 Tochigi SC 24 (+11)
5 Alo's Hokuriku 23 (+15)
6 Sagawa Kyubin Osaka 20 (+6)
7 Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo 19 (+15)
8 Yokogawa Musashino 17 (+3)
9 Sony Sendai 15 (-2)
10 Arte Takasaki 14 (-6)
11 SC Tottori 11 (-4)
12 FC Kariya 10 (-13)
13 FC Ryukyu 9 (-3)
14 JEF Club 9 (-5)
15 Mitsubishi Mizushima 8 (-15)
16 Honda Lock 8 (-18)
17 Ryutsu Keizai University 6 (-16)
18 Sagawa Printing 5 (-15)
A distinctly wonky view of FC Ryukyu's win over Sagawa Printing
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Saturday's big Kyushu League match ended in a 2-2 draw between title challengers V Varen Nagasaki and New Wave Kitakyushu, who let slip a two-goal lead. But the resulting penalty shoot-out, as dictated by local rules, was taken by New Wave by 8-7, so they notched up two points to V Varen's one. This means that the top three teams in the division have all played six games, V Varen lying on top with sixteen, Nippon Steel Oita second with fifteen and New Wave in third a further point behind. However, in one of the most exciting of the Regional competitions, Volca Kagoshima cannot be discounted as they have twelve points from only five matches and take part in another vital encounter at Nippon Steel on Sunday.
V Varen - New Wave. Guess what's just happened in the penalty shoot-out
Sat 20 May: V Varen Nagasaki 2-2 New Wave Kitakyushu (PK 7-8)
V Varen - New Wave. Guess what's just happened in the penalty shoot-out
Sat 20 May: V Varen Nagasaki 2-2 New Wave Kitakyushu (PK 7-8)
Arte Takasaki claimed their first away win of the season in one of the two JFL fixtures to be played on Saturday, former Sendai University player Satoshi Hongai firing in the last-minute winner at Alo's Hokuriku. While this hasn't moved the Gunma-based side up the table, it does mean that Takasaki now lie that bit closer to mid-ranking teams such as Sony Sendai and Yokogawa Musashino - a step in the right direction at least for a club with J-League ambitions after something of a disastrous start to the year. Alo's, meanwhile, now have just one win in five matches and are fading fast after a good opening six weeks to the campaign, despite retaining what is the best defensive record in the division.
Now up into sixth spot are Sagawa Kyubin Osaka, after they beat JEF Club 1-0 to return to winning ways after last weekend's defeat to leaders YKK AP. JEF , on the other hand, have lost three in a row and even more disastrously have yet to pick up a single point in their five home games.
Saturday 20th May: Alo's Hokuriku 0-1 Arte Takasaki
Saturday 20th May: JEF Club 0-1 Sagawa Kyubin Osaka
Now up into sixth spot are Sagawa Kyubin Osaka, after they beat JEF Club 1-0 to return to winning ways after last weekend's defeat to leaders YKK AP. JEF , on the other hand, have lost three in a row and even more disastrously have yet to pick up a single point in their five home games.
Saturday 20th May: Alo's Hokuriku 0-1 Arte Takasaki
Saturday 20th May: JEF Club 0-1 Sagawa Kyubin Osaka
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