Japanese Non-league Football News

Relegated from Division 1 of the Kanto League at the end of 2005, FC Aries look in danger of making it two demotions in consecutive seasons as they lie at the bottom of Division 2 at the halfway stage of 2006. Hitachi Tochigi Uva were their latest conquerors, leaving Aries two points behind All Kamisu SC, who picked up a 7-0 drubbing at home to leaders FC Machida Zelvia. Machida themselves are five points ahead of Furukawa Electrics Chiba, 3-0 winners over Ome FC, while Nirasaki Astros are fourth.



Oi! We're over here! No wonder All Kamisu SC lost 7-0 to Machida Zelvia

Sun 28 May: Aries FC 0-3 Hitachi Tochigi Uva
Sun 28 May: Nirasaki Astros 2-1 Kanagawa Teachers
Sun 28 May: Furukawa Electrics Chiba 3-0 Ome FC
Sun 28 May: All Kamisu SC 0-7 FC Machida Zelvia

1 FC Machida Zelvia 18 (+21)
2 Furukawa Electrics Chiba 13 (+3)
3 Nirasaki Astros 12 (+1)
4 Hitachi Tochigi Uva 11 (+1)
5 Kanagawa Teachers 8 (-1)
6 Ome FC 6 (-6)
7 All Kamisu SC 5 (-10)
8 Aries FC 3 (-9)

Potentially the shock side across all the Regional Leagues in 2006 are Yaita SC in Division 1 of the Kanto League, who midway through the season are seven points clear at the top of the division. Their most recent success was a 1-0 win at nearest challengers YSCC and as a result Toshiba Fuchu moved second following their 2-0 success over Hanno Bruder. Hanno won Division 2 last season and had high hopes of being able to make the step up, but instead are looking as if they may simply be relegated back immediately. Fighting with them to avoid the drop are MSDF Atsugi Marcus and Toho Titanium, who were pitched against each other on Sunday with Atsugi managing the only goal of the game - only their fourth of the season to date.



Hanno Bruder prepare for their defeat by Toshiba Fuchu

Sun 28 May: Luminozo Sayama 0-0 Saitama SC
Sun 28 May: MSDF Atsugi Marcus 1-0 Toho Titanium
Sun 28 May: Toshiba Fuchu 2-0 Hanno Bruder
Sun 28 May: YSCC 0-1 Yaita SC

1 Yaita SC 19 (+10)
2 Toshiba Fuchu 12 (+3)
3 YSCC 11 (+3)
4 Luminozo Sayama 11 (+2)
5 Saitama SC 8 (+1)
6 Toho Titanium 7 (-6)
7 MSDF Atsugi Marcus 6 (-8)
8 Hanno Bruder 5 (-5)



Saitama SC defend against a very short Luminozo Sayama player

Frontrunners Valiente Toyama and TOP Niigata faced each other on Sunday in round 7 of the Hokushinetsu League Division 2, Valiente emerging as clear leaders following a 4-0 victory. In second place now are Maruoka Phoenix, putting together a decent performance in this their first season at Regional level and 2-0 winners over fellow new boys LionPower Komatsu. At the bottom, Nissei Resin moved away from the foot of the table after their fourth draw of the season against FC Kanazu and it's all going horribly wrong this year for Toyama Shinjo Club, now dead last having lost 1-0 to FC Antelope.



"We are top of the league!" sing those happy fellows from Valiente Toyama

Sun 28 May: FC Antelope 1-0 Toyama Shinjo Club
Sun 28 May: Maruoka Phoenix 2-0 LionPower Komatsu
Sun 28 May: Nissei Resin 1-1 FC Kanazu
Sun 28 May: Valiente Toyama 4-0 TOP Niigata

1 Valiente Toyama 14 (+6)
2 Maruoka Phoenix 13 (+3)
3 TOP Niigata 11 (+3)
4 FC Antelope 11 (-1)
5 FC Kanazu 9 (+4)
6 LionPower Komatsu 9 (-1)
7 Nissei Resin 4 (-3)
8 Toyama Shinjo Club 4 (-11)

It seems as if every week is a vital week in Division 1 of the Hokushinetsu League and Sunday was no exception, as newly-promoted Matsumoto Yamaga Club finally made it to the top of the division thanks to their 6-0 crushing of Niigata University of Management. They were nevertheless aided by Nagano Elsa inflicting a first defeat of 2006 upon Japan Soccer College, which means that Nagano move second, just a point behind their prefectural rivals from Matsumoto. And it's those three teams who will almost certainly contest the title, as Zweigen Kanazawa were held to a 2-2 draw by Fervorosa; while the two most likely relegation candidates, Ueda Gentian and Teihens, shared a 0-0 draw.



Zweigen Kanazawa all out of breath after their draw with Fervorosa

Sun 28 May: Nagano Elsa 3-1 Japan Soccer College
Sun 28 May: Niigata University of Management 0-6 Matsumoto Yamaga Club
Sun 28 May: Teihens FC 0-0 Ueda Gentian
Sun 28 May: Zweigen Kanazawa 2-2 Fervorosa

1 Matsumoto Yamaga Club 19 (+19)
2 Nagano Elsa 18 (+21)
3 Japan Soccer College 16 (+20)
4 Zweigen Kanazawa 10 (+12)
5 Fervorosa 8 (+1)
6 Niigata University of Management 4 (-22)
7 Ueda Gentian 2 (-24)
8 Teihens FC 2 (-27)



Nagano Elsa on the way to victory over Japan Soccer College

The JFL round 12 fixtures were completed on Sunday, with Kodai Suzuki's last-minute strike - his tenth of the season - giving Honda FC the edge over Rosso Kumamoto in the day's big match. The win puts Honda into second place behind leaders YKK AP with Tochigi SC moving into third thanks to their 2-1 win at Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo. Elsewhere, last-placed Sagawa Printing gained a valuable point in a draw with Mitsubishi Mizushima to stay in touch behind Ryutsu Keizai University, but SC Tottori pulled off only their second win of the year in stunning style. Their 7-0 scoreline against Honda Lock - including two apiece for Tetsuya Hori and top scorer Hideki Uchiyama - is the biggest victory achieved in the JFL this season and moves the club closer to mid-table.



Kodai Suzuki turns in the winner for Honda FC against Rosso

Sun 28 May: Honda FC 2-1 Rosso Kumamoto
Sun 28 May: Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo 1-2 Tochigi SC
Sun 28 May: Sagawa Printing 1-1 Mitsubishi Mizushima
Sun 28 May: SC Tottori 7-0 Honda Lock

1 YKK AP 32 (+26)
2 Honda FC 28 (+12)
3 Tochigi SC 27 (+12)
4 Rosso Kumamoto 25 (+11)
5 Alo's Hokuriku 24 (+15)
6 Sagawa Kyubin Osaka 23 (+7)
7 Yokogawa Musashino 20 (+4)
8 Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo 19 (+14)
9 Sony Sendai 16 (-2)
10 SC Tottori 14 (+3)
11 Arte Takasaki 14 (-8)
12 FC Kariya 11 (-13)
13 FC Ryukyu 9 (-4)
14 JEF Club 9 (-6)
15 Mitsubishi Mizushima 9 (-15)
16 Honda Lock 8 (-25)
17 Ryutsu Keizai University 7 (-16)
18 Sagawa Printing 6 (-15)



It's true, you know. Seven goals. For Tottori

The Hokkaido League table is taking shape now, after two rounds of fixtures over the weekend. Title holders Norbritz Hokkaido dropped their first points of the year in a goalless draw in round 4 against Barefoot Hokkaido, which has allowed Blackpecker Hakodate to move to within a point in second place. It was an excellent weekend, too, for Thank FC, who followed a 7-0 thrashing of Tokachi Fairsky on Saturday with a 4-3 win over Sapporo Football Group. After an opening day win, Tokachi are clearly finding it hard to compete at Regional level, but it's the northern-most senior club in Japan - ACSC Asahikawa - who prop up the table after defeats against Barefoot and Toyota Motors Hokkaido left them with no points made it four losses out of four.



Toyota Motors Hokkaido host ACSC Asahikawa at Tomakomai

Sat 27 May: Barefoot Hokkaido 2-1 ACSC Asahikawa
Sat 27 May: Sapporo Football Group 1-3 Norbritz Hokkaido
Sat 27 May: Thank FC 7-0 Tokachi Fairsky
Sat 27 May: Toyota Motors Hokkaido 2-4 Blackpecker Hakodate

Sun 28 May: Blackpecker Hakodate 1-0 Tokachi Fairsky
Sun 28 May: Norbritz Hokkaido 0-0 Barefoot Hookaido
Sun 28 May: Thank FC 4-3 Sapporo Football Group
Sun 28 May: Toyota Motors Hokkaido 1-0 ACSC Asahikawa

1 Norbritz Hokkaido 10 (+13)
2 Blackpecker Hakodate 9 (+3)
3 Thank FC 7 (+5)
4 Sapporo Football Group 6 (+3)
5 Barefoot Hokkaido 5 (-)
6 Toyota Motors Hokkaido 5 (-1)
7 Tokachi Fairsky 3 (-11)
8 ACSC Asahikawa 0 (-12)



Norbritz Hokkaido in red, scrapping their way past Sapporo