Japanese Non-league Football News

The process of top Regional League teams continuing to strengthen their squads with loan signings prior to the Regional League Championship Winners' Play-off has continued, with Kansai League runners-up FC Mi-o Biwako Kusatsu snapping up 21-year-old defender Noriaki Ishizawa from Vissel Kobe and Yutaka Kaneko, 27, a defender from Ehime FC.

19-year-old defender Akira Kajiwara has joined JFL side SC Tottori on a two-month loan from J1 giants Oita Trinita.



The fresh-faced Akira Kajiwara

New Chugoku League champions Fagiano Okayama have strengthened their squad further ahead of the Regional League Championship Winners' Play-off tournament at the end of November, with no fewer than four loan signings until the end of January having been announced. Koji Matsuura, a 26-year-old striker, and 23-year-old defender Takaki Shigemitsu join from J2 side Tokyo Verdy 1969, while from New Wave Kitakyushu come defenders Yasuhiro Nomoto, 23, and 35-year-old Hiroyoshi Kuwabara.

東北社会人リーグ2部(優勝決定戦)

The winners of the two regionalised sections of the Tohoku League Division 2 held a play-off at the Kanegasaki Moriyama Sports Park in Iwate prefecture on Sunday to decide which of them would achieve automatic promotion to Division 1 for 2007. Furukawa Battery from the south overcame FC Akita Cambiare 4-2 and will therefore be promoted in place of Nippon Steel Kamaishi, while Cambiare now have one more opportunity to do the same in a second play-off against the Division 1 next-to-bottom side Morioka Zebra.




Furukawa Battery in yellow fight their way past Cambiare

Sun 29 Oct Furukawa Battery 4-2 FC Akita Cambiare

A win on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Sagawa Kyubin Chugoku was enough to give Fagiano Okayama their first ever Chugoku League title on Sunday and seal a place in the Regional League Championship Winners' Play-off. The club therefore keep alive their dream of a JFL place, at the expense of their rivals from Shimane prefecure, FC Central Chugoku, who chalked up a 6-3 thumping of Renofa Yamaguchi but nevertheless still fell a point short of Fagiano in the rankings. Elsewhere, bottom place Iwami SC managed only their second win of the season as they saw off JFE Steel 3-0, while Hiroshima Fujita SC rounded off a very disappointing season with a defeat at Hitachi Manufacturing Kasado.



Fagiano Okayama in white take on Sagawa Chugoku

Sun 29 Oct: FC Central Chugoku 6-3 Renofa Yamaguchi
Sun 29 Oct: Hitachi Manufacturing Kasado 1-0 Hiroshima Fujita SC
Sun 29 Oct: Iwami SC 3-0 JFE Steel
Sun 29 Oct: Sagawa Kyubin Chugoku 1-1 Fagiano Okayama (PK 4-5)

1 Fagiano Okayama 35 (+46)
2 FC Central Chugoku 34 (+34)
3 Sagawa Kyubin Chugoku 31 (+32)
4 Renofa Yamaguchi 25 (-3)
5 Hiroshima Fujita SC 12 (-19)
6 JFE Steel 12 (-29)
7 Hitachi Manufacturing Kasado 12 (-32)
8 Iwami SC 7 (-29)



Kowabunga! A first-ever Chugoku League win for Fagiano

TDK Akita completed their Tohoku League Division 1 season with a 3-1 win over NEC Tokin, which means that they have a 100% record of fourteen wins out of fourteen across the entire campaign. The next stop on the calendar, therefore, is the Regional League Championship Winners'Play-off tournament at the end of November, in which TDK take on YSCC from Kanto and the Kyushu League's Nippon Steel Oita for a place in the final stage.



A teeny tiny view of the TDK - NEC game

Sun 29 Oct: TDK Akita 3-1 NEC Tokin

1 TDK Akita 42 (+51)
2 Grulla Morioka 33 (+14)
3 NEC Tokin 22 (+6)
4 FC Primeiro 20 (-11)
5 Sendai Nakata Club 13 (-7)
6 Wiese Shiogama 12 (-5)
7 Morioka Zebra 12 (-18)
8 Nippon Steel Kamaishi 7 (-30)



Shunsuke Miura, scorer of two goals for TDK against NEC

In a thrilling last-game of the season finish to the 2006 Shikoku League campaign, Kagawa prefecture's Kamatamare Sanuki held on to the lead that they have held all season at the expense of their southern rivals - and 2005 title winners - Nangoku Kochi. A 3-3 draw between the two teams in Kochi on Sunday afternoon gives Kamatamare the championship with a two-point advantage over Nangoku and keeps the re-launched side on course for the Regional League Championship Winners' Play-off tournament and a shot at a JFL place.



Celebration time for Kamatamare Sanuki

Sun 29 Oct: Nangoku Kochi 3-3 Kamatamare Sanuki

1 Kamatamare Sanuki 37 (+33)
2 Nangoku Kochi 35 (+43)
3 Ehime Shimanami 26 (+22)
4 Sanyo Electric Tokushima 20 (-)
5 Tokushima Vortis Amateur 18 (-)
6 Ventana AC 13 (-28)
7 Alex SC 11 (-27)
8 Sanwa Club 1 (-43)



The away support at Nangoku Kochi

The two key Sunday games affecting matters at the top of the JFL both ended in draws, to leave Honda FC six points in front of Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo, who are in turn three points to the good of both YKK AP and Rosso Kumamoto. It was a dramatic opening indeed to the Honda - YKK clash, as the home side took the lead with a sixth minute goal from hot property striker Junya Nitta, only for Mitsuru Hasegawa to level things up and, as it turned out, to conclude the scoring just eight minutes later. Rosso required a last-minute effort from Tamon Machida to rescue a 2-2 draw at SC Tottori, which means that the JFL hopefuls have just four points from their last four matches: clearly some way from being promotion form.

Alo's Hokuriku's Yoshio Kobayashi also netted in the closing seconds of his team's match as they recorded a 3-1 victory over Tochigi SC to go seventh, while Sony Sendai's defeat of lowly FC Ryukyu keeps them comfortably in mid-table. The undoubted score of the day, however, came in Gunma prefecture where Arte Takasaki continued their disastrous run of results with a 4-0 crushing by relegation-threatened Mitsubishi Mizushima. Okayama's Mitsubishi were three ahead at half-time thanks to goals from Kentaro Takamatsu, Kosuke Kan and Masato Kawaguchi and the result will provide them with a massive boost as they seek to fight their way out of the bottom two. Given that they now lie just a point shy of Ryukyu, anything could happen in the final six weeks of the season.



A rare day of celebration for Mitsubishi Mizushima

Sun 29 Oct: Arte Takasaki 0-4 Mitsubishi Mizushima
Sun 29 Oct: Honda FC 1-1 YKK AP
Sun 29 Oct: SC Tottori 2-2 Rosso Kumamoto
Sun 29 Oct: Sony Sendai 1-0 FC Ryukyu
Sun 29 Oct: Tochigi SC 1-2 Alo's Hokuriku

1 Honda FC 65 (+30)
2 Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo 59 (+40)
3 YKK AP 56 (+30)
4 Rosso Kumamoto 56 (+24)
5 Sagawa Kyubin Osaka 54 (+26)
6 Yokogawa Musashino 50 (+17)
7 Alo's Hokuriku 47 (+20)
8 Tochigi SC 46 (+11)
9 Sony Sendai 36 (-6)
10 JEF Club 31 (-12)
11 SC Tottori 29 (+2)
12 Sagawa Printing 28 (-20)
13 FC Kariya 27 (-15)
14 Arte Takasaki 26 (-29)
15 Ryutsu Keizai University 25 (-20)
16 FC Ryukyu 24 (-18)
17 Mitsubishi Mizushima 23 (-36)
18 Honda Lock 18 (-42)



Kohei Masumoto gets in a header for Tottori against Rosso

A comfortable 3-0 win over JEF Club on Saturday put Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo four points clear of their rivals in second place in the JFL, as the season now enters the closing straight. In-form Tokyo - who will be keeping a very close eye on Sunday's clash between Honda FC and YKK AP - have now conceded only one goal in their last five matches, but yet in Tetsuya Okubo boast the league's top scorer. Just about maintaining a position in the chasing pack are Sagawa Kyubin Osaka, who surprisingly trailed 2-1 at half-time to FC Kariya but fought back for a 3-2 victory, with the winner coming from Sho Gokyu fifteen minutes from time.

Lower down the league, a solitary Junichiro Azuma effort was enough to give all three points to Sagawa Printing in their match with Ryutsu Keizai University, a result that enabled Printing to move up three places in what is a particularly congested area of the table. The final match of the day saw the recent revival of bottom place Honda Lock come to a sudden halt. Two consecutive wins had given the Miyazaki side hope that they might be able to fight back and avoid the wooden spoon, but a 3-0 defeat at Yokogawa Musashino means that Mitsubishi Mizushima retain their two-point advantage.



Yokogawa and Honda Lock prepare for kick-off

Sat 28 Oct: Sagawa Kyubin Osaka 3-2 FC Kariya
Sat 28 Oct: Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo 3-0 JEF Club
Sat 28 Oct: Sagawa Printing 1-0 Ryutsu Keizai University
Sat 28 Oct: Yokogawa Musashino 3-0 Honda Lock

1 Honda FC 64 (+30)
2 Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo 59 (+40)
3 YKK AP 55 (+30)
4 Rosso Kumamoto 55 (+24)
5 Sagawa Kyubin Osaka 54 (+26)
6 Yokogawa Musashino 50 (+17)
7 Tochigi SC 46 (+12)
8 Alo's Hokuriku 44 (+19)
9 Sony Sendai 33 (-7)
10 JEF Club 31 (-12)
11 SC Tottori 28 (+2)
12 Sagawa Printing 28 (-20)
13 FC Kariya 27 (-15)
14 Arte Takasaki 26 (-25)
15 Ryutsu Keizai University 25 (-20)
16 FC Ryukyu 24 (-17)
17 Mitsubishi Mizushima 20 (-40)
18 Honda Lock 18 (-42)



Ex-Gamba Youth player Junichiro Azuma, scorer for Sagawa Printing

JFL hopefuls FC Gifu have signed 19-year-old striker Yu Hasegawa from Kashiwa Reysol... the Tokai League champions have also snapped up Tomoki Ikemoto, a forward from New Wave Kitakyushu, on loan until the end of the year, together with Gamba Osaka keeper Suguru Hino... V Varen Nagasaki have also taken steps to strenghten their squad in advance of the play-offs, with the loan signings of Tetsuro Kimura (ex-Sanfrecce Hiroshima) from Hokushinetsu League side Zweigen Kanazawa, and Shirao Hidehito from Matsumoto Yamaga FC... Toshihiro Yahata has left Matsumoto for a month at ambitious Prefectural league side Tonan SC Gunma.

The groups for the first stage of the Regional League Championship Winners' Play-off tournament to be held at the end of November have been announced. This is the competition by which teams from the Regional Leagues achieve promotion to the JFL and is therefore a vital step as far as the development of ambitious clubs across Japan is concerned.

Group A (to be played in Nagasaki)
Norbritz Hokkaido
Banditonce Kobe
[Chugoku League winners]

Group B (to be played in Nagasaki)
V Varen Nagasaki
Japan Soccer College
Luminozo Sayama

Group C (to be played in Kochi)
FC Gifu
FC Mi-o Biwako Kusatsu
Shizuoka FC
[Shikoku league winners]

Group D (to be played in Saitama)
TDK
YSCC
Nippon Steel Oita

Eagle-eyed readers will notice that the Tokai League's deadly rivals, FC Gifu and Shizuoka FC, are paired together in Group C, in what is sure to be one of the most fiercely-contested battles in the competition. The fixtures have already been confirmed for this particular group, as follows:
Fri 24 Nov Shizuoka FC - FC Gifu
Sat 25 Nov Shizuoka FC - FC Mi-o Biwako Kusatsu
Sun 26 Nov FC Mi-o Biwako Kusatsu - FC Gifu

JNFN will aim to provide full coverage of what is one of the most important parts of the Japanese non-league football calendar, starting with a series of profiles of each of the contenders, which will be uploaded to the site in the coming weeks.

JFL strugglers Honda Lock have for some reason chosen this moment in their season to announce the launch of a new mascot character, which they evidently hope will engage with supporters. The little fellow is so far un-named and as is traditional with these things, the club have invited fans to suggest something snappily memorable.



Brrrrr, scary

Former Cerezo Osaka and Yokohama F Marinos midfielder Nobuki Hara, 27, has left J2 frontrunners Vissel Kobe to join SC Tottori... Sony Sendai have signed Elio Arikawa, a midfielder from Associao Atletica Flamengo... defender Kim Myon Hi has left Sagawa Kyubin Osaka for Banditonce Kobe.



Nobuki Hara swaps J2 for the bright lights of Tottori

JFL outfit Tochigi SC, who are hoping to achieve a J-League place in 2008, have announced their intention to change the club's name. Tochigi are to invite suggestions from members of the public and fans living around their home prefecture, with the aim of coming up with something that encapsulates the notion of a fresh start and the birth of a local J-League team which can represent everyone in the community. It is undecided yet as to whether the club will use the new name for the 2007 season.

Two astonishing scorelines finished off the 2006 season in the Tohoku League Division 2 (North) on Sunday, as Tono Club confirmed their third place finish with a 9-2 thrashing of Hokuto Bank, while Aster Aomori concluded what has been a disastrous year with a 9-0 defeat at the hands of the students of Fuji Club 2003.

Sun 22 Oct: Aster Aomori 0-9 Fuji Club 2003
Sun 22 Oct Hokuto Bank 2-9 Tono Club

1 FC Akita Cambiare 40 (+32)
2 Mizusawa United Club 28 (+19)
3 Tono Club 23 (+12)
4 Fuji Club 2003 20 (+22)
5 Vanraure Hachinohe 19 (-1)
6 Hokuto Bank 17 (-2)
7 Aster Aomori 9 (-41)
8 TDK Shinwakai 5 (-41)

Following on from Sunday's games there is now only one more fixture remaining in the Tohoku League Division 1 - this coming weekend's encounter between champions TDK Akita and NEC Tokin. NEC confirmed their third-place finish with a 1-1 draw at FC Primeiro, while Grulla Morioka strolled to a comfortable 4-1 victory over relegated Nippon Steel Kamaishi. The key scoreline of the round, however, was undoubtedly Sendai Nakata Club's win against Wiese Shiogama, which enabled Sendai Nakata to leapfrog both Wiese and Morioka Zebra and so leave the latter facing a play-off to remain in the division.



Hiroyuki Nishi, two-goal hero for Grulla Morioka

Sun 22 Oct: FC Primeiro 1-1 NEC Tokin
Sun 22 Oct: Nippon Steel Kamaishi 1-4 Grulla Morioka
Sun 22 Oct: Sendai Nakata Club 3-1 Wiese Shiogama

1 TDK Akita 39 (+49)
2 Grulla Morioka 33 (+14)
3 NEC Tokin 22 (+8)
4 FC Primeiro 20 (-11)
5 Sendai Nakata Club 13 (-7)
6 Wiese Shiogama 12 (-5)
7 Morioka Zebra 12 (-18)
8 Nippon Steel Kamaishi 7 (-30)

The Tohoku League Division 2 (South) 2006 season came to a conclusion on Sunday with the last round of fixtures, which pitched together the top two teams, Furukawa Battery and Marysol Matsushima. But Furukawa had already made sure of the title and single promotion play-off place, leaving the result - a 1-1 draw - to be academic in terms of the end-of-season placings. Northern Peaks Koriyama finished the campaign strongly to end up a convincing third with a 4-1 win at Kanai Club, while Shichigahama SC leapfrogged FC Perada Fukushima to move out of the bottom two.



A Furukawa Battery spot kick against Marysol Matsushima

Sun 22 Oct: Kanai Club 1-4 Northern Peaks Koriyama
Sun 22 Oct: Marysol Matsushima 1-1 Furukawa Battery
Sun 22 Oct: FC Perada Fukushima 2-3 Shichigahama SC

1 Furukawa Battery 32 (+39)
2 Marysol Matsushima 28 (+35)
3 Northern Peaks Koriyama 27 (+29)
4 Kanai Club 15 (-24)
5 Shichigahama SC 11 (-14)
6 FC Perada Fukushima 10 (-14)
7 Kureha Chemicals 0 (-51)

There were two decisive fixtres in the Shikoku League on Sunday, Tokushima Vortis Amateur's 4-1 defeat of neighbours Alex SC meaning that the latter will have to participate in the New Year relegation play-offs to stay at Regional level, while Ventana AC live to fight another season. At the other end of the table, however, a 3-1 win at Ehime Shimanami means that Kamatamare Sanuki go into the championship decider next weekend against Nangoku Kochi in top spot and knowing that a draw will be good enough for them to take the title.



Kamatamare star striker Eiji Morita shields the ball against Shimanami

Sun 22 Oct: Alex SC 1-4 Tokushima Vortis Amateur
Sun 22 Oct: Ehime Shimanami 1-3 Kamatamare Sanuki

1 Kamatamare Sanuki 36 (+33)
2 Nangoku Kochi 34 (+43)
3 Ehime Shimanami 26 (+22)
4 Sanyo Electric Tokushima 20 (-)
5 Tokushima Vortis Amateur 18 (-)
6 Ventana AC 13 (-28)
7 Alex SC 11 (-27)
8 Sanwa Club 1 (-43)

It's all going to be down to the wire next week to decide the Chugoku League title for 2006, as all three candidates picked up maximum points in their games on Sunday. In pole position are Fagiano Okayama, for whom new Brazilian star striker Jefferson notched up five in a 10-1 crushing of Hitachi Manufacturing Kasado, while Sagawa Kyubin Chugoku have the tiniest chance of retaining their title from last year following a 2-1 win over Hiroshima Fujita SC - but they will have to defeat Fagiano by eight goals in the final match of the season on Sunday and hope that FC Central Chugoku fail to win against Renofa Yamaguchi. It's FC Central who therefore provide the most realistic challenge to Fagiano, a straightforward enough 2-0 win at JFE Steel keeping them two points behind.



Fagiano fans at their team’s 10-1 thrashing of Hitachi

Sun 22 Oct: Fagiano Okayama 10-1 Hitachi Manufacturing Kasado
Sun 22 Oct: Iwami SC 1-2 Renofa Yamaguchi
Sun 22 Oct: JFE Steel 0-2 FC Central Chugoku
Sun 22 Oct: Sagawa Kyubin Chugoku 2-1 Hiroshima Fujita SC

1 Fagiano Okayama 33 (+46)
2 FC Central Chugoku 31 (+31)
3 Sagawa Kyubin Chugoku 30 (+32)
4 Renofa Yamaguchi 25 (-)
5 Hiroshima Fujita SC 12 (-18)
6 JFE Steel 12 (-26)
7 Hitachi Manufacturing Kasado 9 (-33)
8 Iwami SC 4 (-32)

JFL leaders Honda FC came from a goal down to win 2-1 at Alo's Hokuriku on Sunday, a result that puts them eight points clear of Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo with only seven matches to play. But the battle for second place would now appear to be down to just three teams - Sagawa Tokyo, YKK AP and J-League hopefuls Rosso Kumamoto - following one of the biggest shock results of the year. For Sagawa Kyubin Osaka now lie four points behind Rosso after having conceded a late Shoma Mizunaga goal in Miyazaki against lowly Honda Lock, who have been rooted to the bottom of the division for virtually the whole season.

Now, however, there would appear to be fresh hope for Lock that they might be able to avoid finishing in the solitary relegation play-off position, having picked up maximum points in the last two matches. The team just above them. Mitsubishi Mizushima, went down to a 2-0 defeat at home to Yokogawa Musashino and although both have a difficult set of fixtures between now and the end of the season, the gap between the two is down to just a couple of points and it is clear that Lock have the advantage of some good form.



Honda Lock battle their way to victory over Sagawa Osaka

Sun 22 Oct: Alo's Hokuriku 1-2 Honda FC
Sun 22 Oct: Honda Lock 2-1 Sagawa Kyubin Osaka
Sun 22 Oct: JEF Club 4-1 Sony Sendai
Sun 22 Oct: Mitsubishi Mizushima 0-2 Yokogawa Musashino

1 Honda FC 64 (+30)
2 Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo 56 (+37)
3 YKK AP 55 (+30)
4 Rosso Kumamoto 55 (+24)
5 Sagawa Kyubin Osaka 51 (+25)
6 Yokogawa Musashino 47 (+14)
7 Tochigi SC 46 (+12)
8 Alo's Hokuriku 44 (+19)
9 Sony Sendai 33 (-7)
10 JEF Club 31 (-9)
11 SC Tottori 28 (+2)
12 FC Kariya 27 (-14)
13 Arte Takasaki 26 (-25)
14 Ryutsu Keizai University 25 (-19)
15 Sagawa Printing 25 (-21)
16 FC Ryukyu 24 (-17)
17 Mitsubishi Mizushima 20 (-40)
18 Honda Lock 18 (-39)



Mitsubishi Mizushima in red on the attack against Yokogawa Musashino

Saturday's fixtures in the JFL were nothing short of a stone cold disaster for the two clubs nearest to leaders Honda FC in the race for the 2006 championship. Both YKK AP and Rosso Kumamoto will have gone into their fixtures hoping to close the gap between themselves and Honda to a more manageable three points in advance of the top team's match at Alo's Hokuriku on Sunday.

But YKK's recent good form was brought to an abrupt end by Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo, who themselves move second following a superb 3-0 win in Toyama. Isao Kubota's late goal for Tochigi SC also condemned Rosso to their third home defeat of the year and knocks the Kyushu-based outfit back to fourth. Bearing it in mind that they need a top-two finish to gain their desired promotion to J2, this is clearly bad news - made worse by Sagawa Tokyo and Honda's apparent invincibility at present.

The three other games all had more of an impact upon the rankings in the lower half of the JFL table. FC Kariya and FC Ryukyu both let badly-needed victories slip through their fingers by conceding last-minute equalisers at home to Sagawa Printing and Arte Takasaki respectively. The big winners, however, were the students of Ibaraki's Ryutsu Keizai University, who moved above both Ryukyu and Sagawa Printing thanks to their 2-1 triumph over a declining SC Tottori.



FC Kariya and Sagawa Printing prepare to do battle

Sat 21 Oct: FC Kariya 2-2 Sagawa Printing
Sat 21 Oct: FC Ryukyu 1-1 Arte Takasaki
Sat 21 Oct: Rosso Kumamoto 0-1 Tochigi SC
Sat 21 Oct: Ryutsu Keizai University 2-1 SC Tottori
Sat 21 Oct: YKK AP 0-3 Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo

1 Honda FC 61 (+29)
2 Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo 56 (+37)
3 YKK AP 55 (+30)
4 Rosso Kumamoto 55 (+24)
5 Sagawa Kyubin Osaka 51 (+26)
6 Tochigi SC 46 (+12)
7 Alo's Hokuriku 44 (+20)
8 Yokogawa Musashino 44 (+12)
9 Sony Sendai 33 (-4)
10 SC Tottori 28 (+2)
11 JEF Club 28 (-12)
12 FC Kariya 27 (-14)
13 Arte Takasaki 26 (-25)
14 Ryutsu Keizai University 25 (-19)
15 Sagawa Printing 25 (-21)
16 FC Ryukyu 24 (-17)
17 Mitsubishi Mizushima 20 (-38)
18 Honda Lock 15 (-40)



SC Tottori before their game at RKU

With a vital victory over Northern Peaks Koriyama on Sunday and the late confirmation of another win earlier in the season against Kureha Chemicals, Furukawa Battery have claimed the Tohoku League Division 2 (South) title with a game to spare. Their 4-2 defeat of Northern Peaks means that Furukawa now lie four points ahead of Marysol Matsushima, with this coming Sunday's match between the two now being played for pride only. Elsewhere at the weekend, FC Perada Fuksuhima managed their biggest win of the season in defeating relegation play-off candidates Kureha 7-1 and Kanai Club anchored themselves firmly in mid-table with their win at Shichigahama SC.



Tug of love - Furukawa Battery in blue against Northern Peaks

Sun 15 Oct: Furukawa Battery 4-2 Northern Peaks Koriyama
Sun 15 Oct: Kureha Chemicals 1-7 FC Perada Fukushima
Sun 15 Oct: Shichigahama SC 2-3 Kanai Club

1 Furukawa Battery 31 (+39)
2 Marysol Matsushima 27 (+35)
3 Northern Peaks Koriyama 24 (+26)
4 Kanai Club 15 (-21)
5 FC Perada Fukushima 10 (-13)
6 Shichigahama SC 8 (-15)
7 Kureha Chemicals 0 (-51)

In their final game of the 2006 season on Sunday, Morioka Zebra gained a potentially vital 2-1 win at Wiese Shiogama to increase their chances of remaining in the Tohoku League Division 1. Below them, and each with one fixture remaining, are Sendai Nakata Club and Nippon Steel Kamaishi, with Sendai Nakata currently occupying the play-off spot and Nippon Steel apparently doomed to automatic relegation. All will be confirmed this coming weekend, when Nippon Steel host Grulla Morioka and Wiese travelling to Sendai Nakata.

Sun 15 Oct: Wiese Shiogama 1-2 Morioka Zebra

1 TDK Akita 39 (+49)
2 Grulla Morioka 30 (+11)
3 NEC Tokin 21 (+8)
4 FC Primeiro 19 (-11)
5 Wiese Shiogama 12 (-3)
6 Morioka Zebra 12 (-18)
7 Sendai Nakata Club 10 (-9)
8 Nippon Steel Kamaishi 7 (-27)

You know you want to see it - the Shizuoka FC team bus

In the final of this year's All-Japan Shakaijin tournament in Akita on Wednesday, Kyushu League champions V Varen Nagasaki overcame Tokai Leaguers Shizuoka FC 1-0 to take the trophy. Despite the opposition having the better of play throughout most of the match, V Varen took their chance midway through the second half, when midfielder Wataru Tagami fired home from just outside the penalty area. Shizuoka came closest to an equaliser in injury time through Yu Kawamura, whose long range free-kick hit the bar. Disappointment for Shizuoka, certainly, but indications are that it is nevertheless becoming more and more likely that they will be awarded what amounts to a wildcard entry into the end-of-season Regional League Championship Winners' Play-off - and so their longer-term dream of promotion to the JFL is still alive.



Ooooh, the tension. It’s the pre-final ceremony

V Varen Nagasaki 1-0 Shizuoka FC

Favourites FC Gifu were squeezed out at the semi-final stage of the 2006 All-Japan Shakaijin tournament in Akita prefecture on Monday. Their match-up with V Varen Nagasaki was always likely to be the battle of the Regional League giants and the Kyushu League champions edged past their Tokai League counterparts via a penalty shoot-out, the two sides having been deadlocked at 1-1 after extra time. Ironically enough in tomorrow's final, V Varen will take on Gifu's own local rivals, Shizuoka FC, who overcame New Wave Kitakyushu 2-1 in the other semi-final - and with indications from the JFA being that the winner or finalist of this year's competition maybe granted a place in the Regional League Championship Winners' Play-off for a place in the JFL, this was without doubt the match of the year for Shizuoka.

FC Gifu 1-1 V Varen Nagasaki (PK 4-5)
New Wave Kitakyushu 1-2 Shizuoka FC

There are almost two full rounds of Tohoku League Division 2 (North) results to report upon, with champions FC Akita Cambiare stretching their lead to twelve points following away wins at Aster Aomori and Tono Club. Remaining in second are Mizusawa United Club thanks to a draw against Tono and a 9-1 drubbing of poor TDK Shinwakai, who are rooted to the foot of the table having failed to get to grips with the demands of Regional level football. The same cannot be said for fellow new boys Fuji Club 2003, who continue to give a respectable account of themselves and moved mid-table courtesy of an 8-0 win over the inconsistent Vanraure Hachinohe.

Sun 08 Oct: Aster Aomori 2-6 FC Akita Cambiare
Sun 08 Oct: Fuji Club 2003 8-0 Vanraure Hachinohe
Sun 08 Oct: Hokuto Bank 4-2 TDK Shinwakai
Sun 08 Oct: Mizusawa United Club 2-2 Tono Club

Sun 15 Oct: Aster Aomori 2-5 Vanraure Hachinohe
Sun 15 Oct: Mizusawa United Club 9-1 TDK Shinwakai
Sun 15 Oct: Tono Club 1-2 FC Akita Cambiare

1 FC Akita Cambiare 40 (+32)
2 Mizusawa United Club 28 (+19)
3 Tono Club 20 (+5)
4 Vanraure Hachinohe 19 (-1)
5 Fuji Club 2003 17 (+13)
6 Hokuto Bank 17 (+5)
7 Aster Aomori 9 (-32)
8 TDK Shinwakai 5 (-41)

Rosso Kumamoto have signed 20-year-old midfielder Kosuke Yoshii from J2 side Shonan Bellmare... in the mean time, forward Akira Takabe and midfielder Hirotaka Uchibayashi have left Rosso on a two-month loan deal at Kansai Leaguers FC Mi-o Biwako Kusatsu... two new signings, too, for SC Tottori, in the shape of Ryo Ota - a 24-year-old midfielder from Tsukuba University - and a 24-year-old coach, Nobukazu Hatano from Hotta Wonderlands...



FC Mi-o Biwako Kusatsu’s new, as yet un-named, mascot

Monday was quarter-finals day in the All-Japan Shakaijin tournament in Akita prefecture - and the last four are to be made up of teams from just two of Japan's nine regions. The favourites are Tokai League champions FC Gifu, who breezed past AS Laranja Kyoto, while from the same league come Shizuoka FC, conquerors of Kanto League title winners YSCC. In the semi-finals will come a clash about as big as they come at Regional level - for FC Gifu are scheduled to meet Kyushu League champions V Varen Nagasaki, 2-1 victors over ambitious new Kanto side FC Machida Zelvia.. The final position in the last four is taken up by New Wave Kitakyushu, who were 4-0 up at half-time during their tie with Okinawa Kariyushi and eventually won 5-1.

FC Gifu 3-0 AS Laranja Kyoto
FC Machida Zelvia 1-2 V Varen Nagasaki
Okinawa Kariyushi 1-5 New Wave Kitakyushu
Shizuoka FC 2-1 YSCC

FC Central Chugoku crushed Hitachi Manufacturing Kasado 6-1 in their game in hand in the Chugoku League on Sunday, closing the gap between themselves and leaders Fagiano Okayama to just two points with two fixtures remaining. And while Fagiano have the superior goal difference, FC Central have the more straightforward games still to play, against JFE Steel and Renofa Yamaguchi - while Fagiano must in the last match of the season on 29th October visit third-placed Sagawa Kyubin Chugoku, still in with an outside chance of retaining their title.

Sun 15 Oct: Hiroshima Fujita SC 3-4 Renofa Yamaguchi
Sun 15 Oct: Hitachi Manufacturing Kasado 1-6 FC Central Chugoku

1 Fagiano Okayama 30 (+37)
2 FC Central Chugoku 28 (+29)
3 Sagawa Kyubin Chugoku 27 (+31)
4 Renofa Yamaguchi 22 (-1)
5 Hiroshima Fujita SC 12 (-17)
6 JFE Steel 12 (-24)
7 Hitachi Manufacturing Kasado 9 (-24)
8 Iwami SC 4 (-31)

It was more or less business as usual for JFL leaders Honda FC as their league schedule re-opened on Sunday, second-half goals from lethal front pairing Junya Nitta and Kodai Suzuki helping them to a 2-0 win over Tochigi SC. Their nearest challengers are now six points off the pace, although both YKK AP and Rosso Kumamoto managed away wins to remain in touch, at Sony Sendai and Ryutsu Keizai University respectively.

The other action was towards the foot of the division, as Honda Lock gained their first away win of the year at Sagawa Printing, thanks to three goals in fourteen minutes mid-way through the second period. Still five points adrift of Mitsubishi Mizushima it looks like too little too late for Lock, but fellow strugglers FC Kariya moved up two places following their 4-3 win at SC Tottori, Yasuhiro Nakayama twice getting his name on the scoresheet.



JFL leaders Honda FC before their clash with Tochigi

Sun 15 Oct: Honda FC 2-0 Tochigi SC
Sun 15 Oct: Ryutsu Keizai University 1-2 Rosso Kumamoto
Sun 15 Oct: Sagawa Printing 1-3 Honda Lock
Sun 15 Oct: SC Tottori 3-4 FC Kariya
Sun 15 Oct: Sony Sendai 0-3 YKK AP

1 Honda FC 61 (+29)
2 YKK AP 55 (+33)
3 Rosso Kumamoto 55 (+25)
4 Sagawa Kyubin Tokyo 53 (+34)
5 Sagawa Kyubin Osaka 51 (+26)
6 Alo's Hokuriku 44 (+20)
7 Yokogawa Musashino 44 (+12)
8 Tochigi SC 43 (+11)
9 Sony Sendai 33 (-4)
10 SC Tottori 28 (+3)
11 JEF Club 28 (-12)
12 FC Kariya 26 (-14)
13 Arte Takasaki 25 (-25)
14 Sagawa Printing 24 (-21)
15 FC Ryukyu 23 (-17)
16 Ryutsu Keizai University 22 (-20)
17 Mitsubishi Mizushima 20 (-38)
18 Honda Lock 15 (-40)



Tottori fans witness their team’s defeat by - pffft - FC Kariya