Japanese Non-league Football News

JEF Club had a comfortable enough game against bottom side Honda Lock in the last remaining round 19 JFL fixture on the holiday Monday, the three points helping JEF to move away from the relegation zone and further towards the comfort of mid-table. Shoma Mizunaga's 78th-minute goal for Lock was effectively a consolation for his beleaguered team, who are beginning to look as if they may struggle to stay out of regional football when the play-offs roll around.



Honda Lock on the defensive at JEF Club

Mon 17 Jul: JEF Club 3-1 Honda Lock

1 Honda FC 44 (+20)
2 Rosso Kumamoto 40 (+16)
3 Sagawa Kyubin Osaka 39 (+20)
4 Yokogawa Musashino 39 (+13)
5 Tochigi SC 38 (+14)
6 Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo 36 (+28)
7 YKK AP 36 (+21)
8 Alo's Hokuriku 33 (+15)
9 Sony Sendai 29 (+4)
10 SC Tottori 22 (+3)
11 Arte Takasaki 22 (-10)
12 JEF Club 19 (-7)
13 FC Kariya 16 (-17)
14 Sagawa Printing 16 (-20)
15 FC Ryukyu 12 (-13)
16 Ryutsu Keizai University 12 (-20)
17 Mitsubishi Mizushima 11 (-32)
18 Honda Lock 9 (-35)

There were only three games in the Tokai League Division 1 on Sunday, as title challengers Shizuoka FC's match with ACM Central is to be played in September. Before an astonishing crowd of 12,600 - easily the biggest outside the J-League this year - FC Gifu therefore took the opportunity to extend their lead over Shizuoka to six points with a 4-0 defeat of Yazaki Valente . Mid-table outfit Sagawa Kyubin Chukyo were the other big winners of the day, 4-2 against relegation candidates Fujieda City Hall, while Maruyasu Industry squeezed past Chukyo University.



One of the smaller FC Gifu fans at their match with Yazaki Valente

Sun 16 Jul: FC Gifu 4-0 Yazaki Valente
Sun 16 Jul: Maruyasu Industry 1-0 Chukyo University
Sun 16 Jul: Sagawa Kyubin Chukyo 4-2 Fujieda City Hall

1 FC Gifu 28 (+26)
2 Shizuoka FC 22 (+23)
3 Yazaki Valente 18 (-)
4 Sagawa Kyubin Chukyo 15 (+2)
5 Maruyasu Industry 13 (-3)
6 Chukyo University 8 (-4)
7 Fujieda City Hall 6 (-18)
8 ACM Central 1 (-21)