Japanese Non-league Football News

In a fixture postponed from mid-July on account of a typhoon in the region at the time, Okinawa Kariyushi beat Nippon Steel Oita 2-0 on Sunday 19 August to move ahead of both Volca Kagoshima and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki.

Sun 19 Aug: Okinawa Kariyushi 2-0 Nippon Steel Oita

1. Honda Lock 48 (+56)
2. New Wave Kitakyushu 46 (+43)
3. V Varen Nagasaki 44 (+59)
4. Nippon Steel Oita 34 (+15)
5. Okinawa Kariyushi 24 (-1)
6. Volca Kagoshima 24 (-6)
7. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki 22 (-22)
8. Osumi NIFS United 16 (-19)
9. Kaiho Bank SC 12 (-50)
10. Kumamoto Teachers 6 (-33)
11. Nanakuma Tombies 3 (-58)

After the postponement of the original fixture between the two at the beginning of the month, on account of Blackpecker Hakodate's involvement in a teachers' football tournament, Sapporo Winds beat their southern rivals in the rescheduled game on Sunday.

Sun 26 Aug: Sapporo Winds 5-1 Blackpecker Hakodate

1. Norbritz Hokkaido 30 (+41)
2. Sapporo Winds 25 (+21)
3. Barefoot Hokkaido 16 (-5)
4. Toyota Motors Hokkaido 14 (-4)
5. Blackpecker Hakodate 8 (-5)
6. Tokachifairsky Genesis 7 (-15)
7. Sapporo FC 8 (-12)
8. Hokushukai 6 (-23)

Gainare Tottori were two goals up inside six minutes of their away match against Ryutsu Keizai University on Sunday, but eventually crashed to a 4-2 defeat that leaves them stuck in the bottom four. RKU in the meantime pulled level on points with Tochigi SC in mid-table.

Sun 26 Aug: Ryutsu Keizai University 4-2 Gainare Tottori

1. Sagawa Kyubin SC 58 (+38)
2. Rosso Kumamoto 54 (+24)
3. YKK AP 44 (+11)
4. FC Gifu 43 (+9)
5. Alo's Hokuriku 42 (+4)
6. Honda FC 38 (+9)
7. Yokogawa Musashino 38 (+5)
8. JEF Reserves 36 (-)
9. Tochigi SC 35 (+9)
10. Ryutsu Keizai University 35 (-1)
11. Mitsubishi Mizushima 34 (-2)
12. Sagawa Printing 33 (-2)
13. TDK SC 29 (+2)
14. Sony Sendai 28 (-16)
15. Gainare Tottori 27 (-8)
16. FC Kariya 23 (-16)
17. FC Ryukyu 20 (-32)
18. Arte Takasaki 6 (-34)

Two goals early in the second half from new striker Noboru Kohara gave a major boost to the promotion hopes of Tochigi SC, in the only JFL fixture of the weekend. For Tochigi claimed a vital win over YKK AP to move ahead of both Mitsubishi Mizushima and Sagawa Printing in the standings, to leave the ambitious club eight points off the top four poosition required to claim a J2 spot for next year.

Sat 25 Aug: Tochigi SC 2-0 YKK AP

1. Sagawa Kyubin SC 58 (+38)
2. Rosso Kumamoto 54 (+24)
3. YKK AP 44 (+11)
4. FC Gifu 43 (+9)
5. Alo's Hokuriku 42 (+4)
6. Honda FC 38 (+9)
7. Yokogawa Musashino 38 (+5)
8. JEF Reserves 36 (-)
9. Tochigi SC 35 (+9)
10. Mitsubishi Mizushima 34 (-2)
11. Sagawa Printing 33 (-2)
12. Ryutsu Keizai University 32 (-3)
13. TDK SC 29 (+2)
14. Sony Sendai 28 (-16)
15. Gainare Tottori 27 (-6)
16. FC Kariya 23 (-16)
17. FC Ryukyu 20 (-32)
18. Arte Takasaki 6 (-34)

Chugoku League team Fagiano Okayama have become the first Regional League club to be awarded associate membership status of the J-League. Along with JFL sides Rosso Kumamoto, FC Gifu, Tochigi SC and Gainare Tottori, this clears the way for the Pheasants to gain promotion to J2, should they finish sufficiently high in the JFL.

The Chugoku League for this season has incorporated an end-of-year play-off system that means that Fagiano cannot yet be confirmed as regional champions, although they have won all thirteen of their league matches played to date. Assuming that they do indeed take the title, they will proceed to the Regional League Championship Winners' Play-off tournament, by which teams gain promotion to the JFL - for which they will be hot favourites, having narrowly missed out last year.

While JFL leaders Sagawa Kyubin SC had their Sunday match against Tochigi SC postponed due to bad weather, second place side Rosso Kumamoto had to make do with a draw at fellow promotional hopefuls FC Gifu. Ex-Arte Takasaki midfielder Kiyoshi Saito gave Rosso the lead on 20 minutes only for the home side's Hiromi Kojima to level things up just before half time.

And Gifu drop back to fourth place, overtaken by a YKK AP side who strolled to a 5-1 win over Yokogawa Musashino. Star defender Yuki Hamano was twice on target for YKK, but Yokogawa have picked up just a single point from their last four games and are slipping down the table. Also experiencing rather uncertain form at present are TDK SC and their game with Sony Sendai highlighted their current jittery form.

Forward Go Togashi put the Akita-based side two up with just fifteen minutes remaining, but Sony quickly pulled themselves back into the match and goals in the dying seconds from Yosuke Nishi and key forward Junpei Murata clinched a remarkable comeback victory. This kept TDK in the bottom six, where FC Kariya managed a rare win thanks to another last-minute goal from Tomohiro Ito at fellow strugglers FC Ryukyu.

Sun 19 Aug: FC Gifu 1-1 Rosso Kumamoto
Sun 19 Aug: FC Ryukyu 3-4 FC Kariya
Sun 19 Aug: TDK SC 2-3 Sony Sendai
Sun 19 Aug: YKK AP 5-1 Yokogawa Musashino

1. Sagawa Kyubin SC 58 (+38)
2. Rosso Kumamoto 54 (+24)
3. YKK AP 44 (+13)
4. FC Gifu 43 (+9)
5. Alo's Hokuriku 42 (+4)
6. Honda FC 38 (+9)
7. Yokogawa Musashino 38 (+5)
8. JEF Reserves 36 (-)
9. Mitsubishi Mizushima 34 (-2)
10. Sagawa Printing 33 (-2)
11. Tochigi SC 32 (+7)
12. Ryutsu Keizai University 32 (-3)
13. TDK SC 29 (+2)
14. Sony Sendai 28 (-16)
15. Gainare Tottori 27 (-6)
16. FC Kariya 23 (-16)
17. FC Ryukyu 20 (-32)
18. Arte Takasaki 6 (-34)

There was only one JFL fixture played on Saturday, with Honda FC held to a 2-2 draw at home by Alo's Hokuriku despite two goals from star striker Kodai Suzuki. Alo's as a consequence leapfrog neighbours and rivals YKK AP into the top four.

Sat 18 Aug: Honda FC 2-2 Alo's Hokuriku

1. Sagawa Kyubin SC 58 (+38)
2. Rosso Kumamoto 53 (+24)
3. FC Gifu 42 (+9)
4. Alo's Hokuriku 42 (+4)
5. YKK AP 41 (+9)
6. Honda FC 38 (+9)
7. Yokogawa Musashino 38 (+9)
8. JEF Reserves 36 (-)
9. Mitsubishi Mizushima 34 (-2)
10. Sagawa Printing 33 (-2)
11. Tochigi SC 32 (+7)
12. Ryutsu Keizai University 32 (-3)
13. TDK SC 29 (+3)
14. Gainare Tottori 27 (-6)
15. Sony Sendai 25 (-17)
16. FC Kariya 20 (-17)
17. FC Ryukyu 20 (-31)
18. Arte Takasaki 6 (-34)

...Yuji Mizuguchi has resigned as coach of Gainare Tottori after having failed this season to make the J-League associate members into a more competitive club at JFL level. Gainare's Thai ex-head coach Witthaya Laohakul takes over...

Mitsubishi Mizushima roared in to the top ten of the JFL in the solitary midweek fixture, as they saw off bottom side Arte Takasaki The 4-0 win constitutes Mitsubishi's biggest-ever victory in the third tier of Japanese club football and included two early goals from midfielder Kosuke Kan.

Thu 16 Aug: Mitsubishi Mizushima 4-0 Arte Takasaki

1. Sagawa Kyubin SC 58 (+38)
2. Rosso Kumamoto 53 (+24)
3. FC Gifu 42 (+9)
4. YKK AP 41 (+9)
5. Alo's Hokuriku 41 (+4)
6. Yokogawa Musashino 38 (+9)
7. Honda FC 37 (+9)
8. JEF Reserves 36 (-)
9. Mitsubishi Mizushima 34 (-2)
10. Sagawa Printing 33 (-2)
11. Tochigi SC 32 (+7)
12. Ryutsu Keizai University 32 (-3)
13. TDK SC 29 (+3)
14. Gainare Tottori 27 (-6)
15. Sony Sendai 25 (-17)
16. FC Kariya 20 (-17)
17. FC Ryukyu 20 (-31)
18. Arte Takasaki 6 (-34)

V Varen Nagasaki's hopes of winning the Kyushu League title for the second year running - and indeed of going on to fight for a place in the JFL next year - were dealt a hammer blow on Sunday, as a fifteenth-minute goal from experienced former J-Leaguer Shinji Fujiyoshi gave New Wave Kitakyushu a potentially crucial win. More than 2500 fans attended the game in the provincial town of Shimabara, but V Varen now lie four points behind leaders Honda Lock and have only two more games to play, one fewer than either of their rivals.

Lock themselves claimed their sixteenth win of the season at home to Volca Kagoshima, a match that the championship favourites led 2-0 after barely ten minutes. And there were only two other games staged on Sunday, as Osumi NIFS United's fixture with Kaiho Bank SC was postponed due to the threat of a typhoon. Elsewhere, however, Okinawa Kariyushi crushed Kumamoto Teachers, while Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki moved closer to the top five as they came from behind to see off bottom side Nanakuma Tombies.



New Wave Kitakyushu go for goal against V Varen Nagasaki

Sun 12 Aug: Honda Lock 3-2 Volca Kagoshima
Sun 12 Aug: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki 3-1 Nanakuma Tombies
Sun 12 Aug: Okinawa Kariyushi 6-0 Kumamoto Teachers
Sun 12 Aug: V Varen Nagasaki 0-1 New Wave Kitakyushu

1. Honda Lock 48 (+56)
2. New Wave Kitakyushu 46 (+43)
3. V Varen Nagasaki 44 (+59)
4. Nippon Steel Oita 34 (+17)
5. Volca Kagoshima 24 (-6)
6. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki 22 (-22)
7. Okinawa Kariyushi 21 (-3)
8. Osumi NIFS United 16 (-19)
9. Kaiho Bank SC 12 (-50)
10. Kumamoto Teachers 6 (-33)
11. Nanakuma Tombies 3 (-58)

... most unusually, Honda FC have recently been using in JFL fixtures a new forward from their U18 team, Daisuke Fukaya... FC Ryukyu have signed former Mitsubishi Mizushima player Yuki Watanabe from Alo's Hokuriku...

Atsushi Katagiri was the hero for JFL promotion hopefuls FC Gifu on Sunday, his 57th-minute goal proving the matchwinner at FC Ryukyu. And as a consequence of their victory in Okinawa, Gifu return to the top three ahead of rivals YKK AP and Alo's Hokuriku and are therefore right back in contention for a place in J2 next season. In mid-table, the recent stuttering form of JEF Reserves continued with a goalless draw against Ryutsu Keizai University, while Mitsubishi Mizushima and TDK SC moved further away from the bottom with wins at Gainare Tottori and Arte Takasaki respectively.



Gainare Tottori on the way to a home defeat from Mitsubishi

Sun 12 Aug: Arte Takasaki 1-2 TDK SC
Sun 12 Aug: FC Ryukyu 0-1 FC Gifu
Sun 12 Aug: JEF Reserves 0-0 Ryutsu Keizai University
Sun 12 Aug: Gainare Tottori 0-1 Mitsubishi Mizushima

1. Sagawa Kyubin SC 58 (+38)
2. Rosso Kumamoto 53 (+24)
3. FC Gifu 42 (+9)
4. YKK AP 41 (+9)
5. Alo's Hokuriku 41 (+4)
6. Yokogawa Musashino 38 (+9)
7. Honda FC 37 (+9)
8. JEF Reserves 36 (-)
9. Sagawa Printing 33 (-2)
10. Tochigi SC 32 (+7)
11. Ryutsu Keizai University 32 (-3)
12. Mitsubishi Mizushima 31 (-6)
13. TDK SC 29 (+3)
14. Gainare Tottori 27 (-6)
15. Sony Sendai 25 (-17)
16. FC Kariya 20 (-17)
17. FC Ryukyu 20 (-31)
18. Arte Takasaki 6 (-30)



Pre-match line-up for Arte Takasaki and TDK

Sat 28 Jul: Estrela Tsuda 0-3 Hannan University
Sat 28 Jul: FC Kyoto BAMB 1-0 FC Osaka

Sun 29 Jul: Ain Food 5-1 FC Bacchus 2002
Sun 29 Jul: Banditonce Kobe 4-2 Kumiyama FC
Sun 29 Jul: FC Mi-o Biwako Kusatsu 7-0 Matsushita Electrics
Sun 29 Jul: BSC ROSAGE 1-0 Suita Giocatore Senri
Sun 29 Jul: Nissha Printing 0-1 Central SC
Sun 29 Jul: Hainan FC 3-0 FC Kakogawa
Sun 29 Jul: AS Laranja Kyoto 4-1 Tonan Club
Sun 29 Jul: Tatsuno FC 1-1 Takada FC (PK 4-5)

Sat 04 Aug: Ain Food 2-0 Hainan FC

Sun 05 Aug: Banditonce Kobe 5-1 BSC Rosage
Sun 05 Aug: FC Mi-o Biwako Kusatsu 3-1 Central SC
Sun 05 Aug: FC Kyoto BAMB 1-3 Takada FC
Sun 05 Aug: AS Laranja Kyoto 1-0 Hannan University

Ain Food, Banditonce Kobe, FC Mi-o Biwako Kusatsu, FC Kyoto BAMB and AS Laranja Kyoto therefore qualify for the national finals in Oita in October.

FC Central Chugoku made almost sure that they will finish the regular Chugoku League season in second place behind Fagiano Okayama with a 5-2 win over Renofa Yamaguchi in one of their games in hand on Saturday. The league's format this year features a series of play-offs between the top four and bottom four teams to decide the identities of the all-important sides who will go through to the Regional League Championship Winners' Play-offs for a spot in the JFL next year.

Sat 11 Aug: FC Central Chugoku 5-2 Renofa Yamaguchi

1. Fagiano Okayama 39 (+72)
2. FC Central Chugoku 27 (+17)
3. Sagawa Kyubin Chugoku 21 (+2)
4. Renofa Yamaguchi 18 (-3)
5. Hiroshima Fujita SC 14 (-8)
6. Mazda SC 12 (-14)
7. JFE Steel Western Japan 11 (-22)
8. Hitachi Manufacturing Kasado 6 (-44)

It was a day of last-minute goals for top strikers in the JFL on Saturday. Leaders Sagawa Kyubin SC were able to keep going their unbeaten run - which now stands at nine matches - thanks to Sho Gokyu's equaliser at Alo's Hokuriku, where the home side took the lead twice only to be pegged back on both occasions. In Tokyo, the league's leading scorer Yutaka Takahashi was inevitably on target for Rosso Kumamoto at Yokogawa Musashino, where the Kyushu side grabbed a vital 3-2 victory that enabled them to close the gap on Sagawa to five points.

After the shock of managing only a draw last week at home to bottom side Arte Takasaki, the wheels of Honda FC's mid-season revival well and truly came off as they lost to a solitary Junpei Murata goal midway through the first half at Sony Sendai - Sony's own first win in seven fixtures. But Sagawa Printing's recent good form has seen them move well up the table and they continued the upward trajectory by beating FC Kariya 3-0, experienced former Ehime FC midfielder Kazuhisa Hamaoka getting two of the goals.



FC Kariya defend against Sagawa Printing

Sat 11 Aug: Alo's Hokuriku 2-2 Sagawa Kyubin SC
Sat 11 Aug: FC Kariya 0-3 Sagawa Printing
Sat 11 Aug: Sony Sendai 1-0 Honda FC
Sat 11 Aug: Yokogawa Musashino 2-3 Rosso Kumamoto

1. Sagawa Kyubin SC 58 (+38)
2. Rosso Kumamoto 53 (+24)
3. YKK AP 41 (+9)
4. Alo's Hokuriku 41 (+4)
5. FC Gifu 39 (+8)
6. Yokogawa Musashino 38 (+9)
7. Honda FC 37 (+9)
8. JEF Reserves 35 (-)
9. Sagawa Printing 33 (-2)
10. Tochigi SC 32 (+7)
11. Ryutsu Keizai University 31 (-3)
12. Mitsubishi Mizushima 28 (-7)
13. Gainare Tottori 27 (-5)
14. TDK SC 26 (+2)
15. Sony Sendai 25 (-17)
16. FC Kariya 20 (-17)
17. FC Ryukyu 20 (-30)
18. Arte Takasaki 6 (-29)



Sony Sendai scorer Junpei Murata

Norbritz Hokkaido kept going their domination of the Hokkaido League on Sunday with a 4-0 at Tokachifairsky Genesis that puts them eight points clear of Sapporo Winds, whose match with Blackpecker Hakodate was postponed. At the bottom, Hokushukai gained a potentially valuable point at Toyota Motors Hokkaido, while Sapporo FC also drew with Barefoot Hokkaido.

Sun 05 Aug: Sapporo FC 2-2 Barefoot Hokkaido
Sun 05 Aug: Tokachifairsky Genesis 0-4 Norbritz Hokkaido
Sun 05 Aug: Toyota Motors Hokkaido 0-0 Hokushukai

1. Norbritz Hokkaido 30 (+41)
2. Sapporo Winds 22 (+17)
3. Barefoot Hokkaido 16 (-5)
4. Toyota Motors Hokkaido 14 (-4)
5. Blackpecker Hakodate 8 (-1)
6. Tokachifairsky Genesis 7 (-15)
7. Sapporo FC 8 (-12)
8. Hokushukai 6 (-23)

Viancone Fukushima emphasised their claims to win promotion from Division 2 (South) of the Tohoku League with a crushing 9-0 win over bottom side Kureha in the only match of the weekend on Sunday.



Shigeru Konno, Viancone goalscorer

Sun 05 Aug: Viancone Fukushima 9-0 Kureha

1. FC Perada Fukushima 22 (+40)
2. Viancone Fukushima 22 (+35)
3. Soma SC 16 (+10)
4. Marysol Matsushima 11 (+4)
5. Nakaniida SC 7 (-11)
6. Shichigahama SC 6 (-3)
7. Kanai Club 6 (-38)
8. Kureha 0 (-37)

The Kyushu League continues to wind up to a thrilling climax, as all three title contenders continued their run of good form with wins on Sunday. Current leaders and probable favourites Honda Lock conceded three at Okinawa Kariyushi but nevertheless knocked in six at the other end, while V Varen Nagasaki remain hot on their heels thanks to a 4-1 defeat of Volca Kagoshima. And not yet out of it in third are still New Wave Kitakyushu, 3-2 winners over Nippon Steel Oita. In the weekend's other two fixtures, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki moved up one place in mid-table by beating Kaiho Bank SC, but Kumamoto Teachers are still in trouble near the bottom of the standings following their loss at home to Osumi NIFS United.



Mean and moody, New Wave striker Daisuke Miyakawa

Sun 05 Aug: Kaiho Bank SC 1-2 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki
Sun 05 Aug: Kumamoto Teachers 1-2 Osumi NIFS United
Sun 05 Aug: New Wave Kitakyushu 3-2 Nippon Steel Oita
Sun 05 Aug: Okinawa Kariyushi 3-6 Honda Lock
Sun 05 Aug: Volca Kagoshima 1-4 V Varen Nagasaki

1. Honda Lock 45 (+55)
2. V Varen Nagasaki 44 (+60)
3. New Wave Kitakyushu 43 (+42)
4. Nippon Steel Oita 34 (+17)
5. Volca Kagoshima 24 (-5)
6. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki 19 (-24)
7. Okinawa Kariyushi 18 (-9)
8. Osumi NIFS United 16 (-19)
9. Kaiho Bank SC 12 (-50)
10. Kumamoto Teachers 6 (-27)
11. Nanakuma Tombies 3 (-56)

Club Dragons are almost sure of winning Division 2 of the Kanto League at the first attempt, as with only one match still to play they are three points ahead of MSDF Atsugi Marcus with a far superior goal difference. The weekend's games saw the Dragons extend their lead, beating Ome FC 3-2 while Atsugi could only draw at home to Furukawa Electrics Chiba. Yonoshukonkai and Kanagawa Teachers are both safe in mid-table following their 2-2 draw, while dropping down to the Prefectural Leagues will be Ome and Nirasaki Astros, 4-0 losers at Hanno Bruder.

Sat 04 Aug: Ome FC 2-3 Club Dragons

Sun 05 Aug: Hanno Bruder 4-0 Nirasaki Astros
Sun 05 Aug: Kanagawa Teachers 2-2 Yonoshukonkai
Sun 05 Aug: MSDF Atsugi Marcus 1-1 Furukawa Electrics Chiba

1. Club Dragons 29 (+29)
2. MSDF Atsugi Marcus 26 (+14)
3. Hanno Bruder 20 (+10)
4. Furukawa Electrics Chiba 20 (-2)
5. Yonoshukonkai 16 (-4)
6. Kanagawa Teachers 14 (-4)
7. Ome FC 10 (-12)
8. Nirasaki Astros 7 (-31)

Hitachi Tochigi Uva made sure of an impressive second place finish in Division 1 of the Kanto League this season, as they crushed Toho Titanium 4-0 in the penultimate round of the season's fixtures on Sunday. This places last year's Division 2 runners-up four points ahead of Luminozo Sayama, who have had an inconsistent year but beat Saitama SC 3-2. Champions FC Machida Zelvia remain on course to go through the whole year unbeaten after their win at Toshiba Fuchu - and the only key issue remaining to be decided is whether Fuchu or Saitama SC will fill the second relegation spot. 2006 champions YSCC climbed out of danger with a 4-1 defeat of bottom place Yaita SC.



Stripey Toshiba Fuchu act all coy with Machida Zelvia

Sun 05 Aug: Hitachi Tochigi Uva 4-0 Toho Titanium
Sun 05 Aug: Luminozo Sayama 3-2 Saitama SC
Sun 05 Aug: Toshiba Fuchu 2-3 FC Machida Zelvia
Sun 05 Aug: YSCC 4-1 Yaita SC

1. FC Machida Zelvia 37 (+27)
2. Hitachi Tochigi Uva 24 (+15)
3. Luminozo Sayama 20 (-3)
4. Toho Titanium 18 (-6)
5. YSCC 16 (-1)
6. Saitama SC 14 (-6)
7. Toshiba Fuchu 11 (-4)
8. Yaita SC 9 (-22)

Sagawa Kyubin Chugoku pulled off a potentially vital win in the only Chugoku League fixture on Sunday, 4-3 at FC Central Chugoku to close the gap between the two teams to just three points.



Chirpy for the time being, FC Central Chugoku

Sun 05 Aug: FC Central Chugoku 3-4 Sagawa Kyubin Chugoku

1. Fagiano Okayama 39 (+72)
2. FC Central Chugoku 24 (+14)
3. Sagawa Kyubin Chugoku 21 (+2)
4. Renofa Yamaguchi 18 (-)
5. Hiroshima Fujita SC 14 (-8)
6. Mazda SC 12 (-14)
7. JFE Steel Western Japan 11 (-22)
8. Hitachi Manufacturing Kasado 6 (-44)

Alo's Hokuriku roared into fourth place in the JFL, thanks to a 3-1 win over their local rivals YKK AP in Toyama on Sunday afternoon. Star striker Yuuya Nagatomi was twice on target for Alo's, who push promotion hopefuls FC Gifu out of the vital top four places as a result; YKK remain third, but are fully nine points behind Rosso Kumamoto. The rest of Sunday's action was all mid-table and lower, with midfielder Yuta Mikado's goal enough to seal all three points for Ryutsu Keizai University against struggling FC Kariya, Mitsubishi Mizushima bringing to an end a run of five consecutive defeats with a 2-1 win over JEF Reserves and Gainare Tottori picking up a rare away victory at TDK SC.



TDK before their defeat by Gainare Tottori

Sun 05 Aug: Mitsubishi Mizushima 2-1 JEF Reserves
Sun 05 Aug: Ryutsu Keizai University 1-0 FC Kariya
Sun 05 Aug: TDK SC 1-2 Gainare Tottori
Sun 05 Aug: YKK AP 1-3 Alo's Hokuriku

1. Sagawa Kyubin SC 57 (+38)
2. Rosso Kumamoto 50 (+23)
3. YKK AP 41 (+9)
4. Alo's Hokuriku 40 (+4)
5. FC Gifu 39 (+8)
6. Yokogawa Musashino 38 (+10)
7. Honda FC 37 (+10)
8. JEF Reserves 35 (-)
9. Tochigi SC 32 (+7)
10. Ryutsu Keizai University 31 (-3)
11. Sagawa Printing 30 (-5)
12. Mitsubishi Mizushima 28 (-7)
13. Gainare Tottori 27 (-5)
14. TDK SC 26 (+2)
15. Sony Sendai 22 (-18)
16. FC Kariya 20 (-14)
17. FC Ryukyu 20 (-30)
18. Arte Takasaki 6 (-29)

第43回全国社会人サッカー選手権大会　四国大会

Sat 28 Jul: Kochi Toyopet Showa FC 1-2 Sanyo Electric Tokushima
Sat 28 Jul: Minami Club 1-1 Ventana AC (PK 2-3)
Sat 28 Jul: Nangoku Kochi 3-0 Byakkotai
Sat 28 Jul: Yawatahama 0-5 Kamatamare Sanuki

Sun 29 Jul: Nangoku Kochi 4-0 Ventana AC
Sun 29 Jul: Sanyo Electric Tokushima 0-2 Kamatamare Sanuki

Kamatamare Sanuki and Nangoku Kochi therefore qualify for the national finals in Oita in October.

Sagawa Kyubin SC continued what is looking like a relentless march to the JFL title on Saturday, a comfortable 3-0 win over Sony Sendai making it maximum points from the team's last six matches. The result was barely in doubt after Sho Gokyu netted his twentieth goal of the season as early as the second minute, and it keeps Sagawa seven points in front of their nearest challengers, Rosso Kumamoto. Nevertheless, Rosso managed what was their first victory in three games - and so doing brought to an end Tochigi SC's recent mini-revival, 21-year-old former Shonan Bellmare midfielder Kosuke Yoshii scoring the only goal of the game in the 83rd minute. The other game to be staged on Saturday without doubt provided the shock of the round so far, as bottom side Arte Takasaki recovered from conceding an early goal to come away from Honda FC with a 2-2 draw - the Gunma side's first point in seven games.



Rosso and Tochigi battle it out

Sat 04 Aug: Honda FC 2-2 Arte Takasaki
Sat 04 Aug: Rosso Kumamoto 1-0 Tochigi SC
Sat 04 Aug: Sagawa Kyubin SC 3-0 Sony Sendai

1. Sagawa Kyubin SC 57 (+38)
2. Rosso Kumamoto 50 (+23)
3. YKK AP 41 (+11)
4. FC Gifu 39 (+8)
5. Yokogawa Musashino 38 (+10)
6. Honda FC 37 (+10)
7. Alo's Hokuriku 37 (+2)
8. JEF Reserves 35 (+1)
9. Tochigi SC 32 (+7)
10. Sagawa Printing 30 (-5)
11. Ryutsu Keizai University 28 (-4)
12. TDK SC 26 (+3)
13. Mitsubishi Mizushima 25 (-8)
14. Gainare Tottori 24 (-6)
15. Sony Sendai 22 (-18)
16. FC Kariya 20 (-13)
17. FC Ryukyu 20 (-30)
18. Arte Takasaki 6 (-29)

Promotion hopefuls FC Gifu are now without a win in six matches, as they came from behind to claim a 1-1 draw at home to Yokogawa Musashino in one of two JFL fixtures to be played on Saturday. Meanwhile Sagawa Printing extended their unbeaten run to five matches and moved up to tenth place as a result of a 3-1 win over FC Ryukyu and their terminally leaky defence.



Hiromi Kojima, on target for FC Gifu

Fri 03 Aug: FC Gifu 1-1 Yokogawa Musashino
Fri 03 Aug: Sagawa Printing 3-1 FC Ryukyu

1. Sagawa Kyubin SC 54 (+35)
2. Rosso Kumamoto 47 (+22)
3. YKK AP 41 (+11)
4. FC Gifu 39 (+8)
5. Yokogawa Musashino 38 (+10)
6. Alo's Hokuriku 37 (+2)
7. Honda FC 36 (+10)
8. JEF Reserves 35 (+1)
9. Tochigi SC 32 (+8)
10. Sagawa Printing 30 (-5)
11. Ryutsu Keizai University 28 (-4)
12. TDK SC 26 (+3)
13. Mitsubishi Mizushima 25 (-8)
14. Gainare Tottori 24 (-6)
15. Sony Sendai 22 (-15)
16. FC Kariya 20 (-13)
17. FC Ryukyu 20 (-30)
18. Arte Takasaki 5 (-29)

Some late confirmation of last weekend's two fixtures in Division 1 of the Tokai League. The top two teams continued their domination of the standings this season, Shizuoka FC beating Maruyasu Industries 3-1 whilst Yazaki Valente chalked up their biggest win of the year so far as they thrashed Sagawa Kyubin Chukyo.

Sun 29 Jul: Shizuoka FC 3-1 Maruyasu Industries
Sun 29 Jul: Yazaki Valente 6-1 Sagawa Kyubin Chukyo

1. Shizuoka FC 27 (+25)
2. Yazaki Valente 25 (+21)
3. Fujieda City Hall 13 (-)
4. Maruyasu Industries 10 (-5)
5. Honda Suzuka 10 (-8)
6. Chukyo University 9 (-7)
7. Sagawa Kyubin Chukyo 7 (-12)
8. Kasugai Club 1 (-12)

... Gainare Tottori's new young striker Kayne Takagi, who has dual Japanese / New Zealand nationality and is a Kiwi U20 international, has changed his name to Kayne Vincent...

Former Ehime FC star striker Toshiro Tomochika - who played for the club in J2 as well as the JFL - was elected to the Upper House of the Japanese parliament in Sunday's elections. Tomochika, 32 and an ex-student at the prestigious Waseda University, was backed by the Social Democrats, the Democratic Party of Japan and the People's New Party against the ruling Liberal Democrats. The Yomiuri Shimbun reports that, "Although Tomochika did not have a strong political base, he won the election by gaining wide support through campaigning against growing regional disparity."