Japanese Non-league Football News

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