Japanese Non-league Football News

Marysol Matsushima charged back to the top of the Tohoku League Division 2 (South) on Sunday with a 7-0 drubbing of FC Perada Fukushima. This enabled them to take advantage of a shock slip-up by their title rivals Furukawa Battery, who could only manage a draw at mid-table Shichigahama SC. Northern Peaks Koriyama seem to be building for a promotion challenge next season, but for now strengthened their grip on third place as they crushed Kanai Club 8-2.



Shichigahama on the attack against Furukawa Battery

Sun 24 Sep: Marysol Matsushima 7-0 FC Perada Fukushima
Sun 24 Sep: Northern Peaks Koriyama 8-2 Kanai Club
Sun 24 Sep: Shichigahama SC 3-3 Furukawa Battery

1 Marysol Matsushima 27 (+35)
2 Furukawa Battery 25 (+31)
3 Northern Peaks Koriyama 18 (+16)
4 Kanai Club 12 (-20)
5 Shichigahama SC 8 (-14)
6 FC Perada Fukushima 4 (-21)
7 Kureha Chemicals 0 (-27)

The Shikoku League remains on a collision course as Nangoku Kochi and Kamatamare Sanuki seem likely to take their fight for the championship right down to the last match of the season at the end of October, when the two face each other in what amounts to a title play-off. Kamatamare might have led from the start of the year, but they needed a goal five minutes from time by star striker Hiroshi Ueta to complete a crucial victory over Sanyo Electric Tokushima that was played out in from of an impressive crowd of 600. But reigning champions Nangoku are evidently unwilling to concede their crown, as evidenced by their hard-fought 2-1 defeat of Ehime Shimanami that keeps them just two points behind Kamatamare and with a superior goal difference. Things are just as exciting at the other end of the table, where Alex SC jumped out of the relegation play-off places via a 2-1 win over Sanwa Club, while rivals Ventana AC slipped up as they went down 3-1 to Tokushima Vortis Amateur.



Slurp! Slurp! One fan shows his support for Kamatamare Sanuki

Sun 24 Sep: Ehime Shimanami 1-2 Nangoku Kochi
Sun 24 Sep: Kamatamare Sanuki 4-3 Sanyo Electric Tokushima
Sun 24 Sep: Sanwa Club 1-2 Alex SC
Sun 24 Sep: Ventana AC 1-3 Tokushima Vortis Amateur

1 Kamatamare Sanuki 33 (+31)
2 Nangoku Kochi 31 (+40)
3 Ehime Shimanami 26 (+24)
4 Sanyo Electric Tokushima 20 (+3)
5 Tokushima Vortis Amateur 15 (-3)
6 Alex SC 11 (-24)
7 Ventana AC 10 (-29)
8 Sanwa Club 1 (-42)



Tokushima Vortis Amateur in white get the better of Ventana AC

There were a couple of postponements in the Chguoku League on Sunday, in part as a result of FC Central Chugoku's involvement in the Emperor's Cup, but Fagiano Okayama took the opportunity to stretch their lead at the top of the table to six points with a 9-0 thrashing of hapless JFE Steel. With a crowd nearing 7000 at their home city's Momotaro Stadium, Fagiano's new Brazilian striker Jefferson chipped in with four goals, while JFE have now conceded no fewer than nineteen times in their last two matches. It was Sagawa Kyubin Chugoku who were their previous conquerors a couple of weeks ago, and Sagawa continued their good run of form to move second in the table - although they did need to come from behind in beating relegation-threatened Iwami SC 4-2.



Fagiano Okayama fans at the match with JFE Steel

Sun 24 Sep: Fagiano Okayama 9-0 JFE Steel
Sun 24 Sep: Sagawa Kyubin Chugoku 4-2 Iwami SC

1 Fagiano Okayama 30 (+38)
2 Sagawa Kyubin Chugoku 24 (+27)
3 FC Central Chugoku 22 (+19)
4 Renofa Yamaguchi 16 (-5)
5 JFE Steel 12 (-21)
6 Hitachi Manufacturing Kasado 9 (-15)
7 Hiroshima Fujita SC 9 (-17)
8 Iwami SC 4 (-26)