Jets 2nds 2 - 1 BEFC (21/03/2010) - CUP MATCH - Turners Infiltrate Embassy - A gale-force wind at Fukuda Denshi threatened to make this plate quarter final a comical affair, but both the Jets 2nds and Embassy were able to play some decent football despite the conditions. Winning the toss the Jets decided to attack with the typhoon, but rarely pinned the Embassy back and in fact BEFC looked more dangerous by playing some nice low passing moves across the pitch.

There were few chances or shots until midway into the half though, when the Embassy pressure gave them a couple of long rangers which didn't trouble big Sean in goal. The last 10 minutes of the half belonged to the Jets, with Isaac hitting the bar direct from a corner and then Nate hitting a stinging shot which the keeper could only parry. Then on the stroke of half time, Isaac whipped in another vicious swirling corner which was headed home from close range by John Rayner. Relief for the Jets to have taken advantage of the wind and giving them something to defend in the 2nd period.

However, within 30 seconds of the restart, a run and cross from the right wing found the feet of an unmarked Embassy forward who finished with ease to bring the score back to 1-1. Remarkably, though the Jets refused to panic against the team from the league above and the rest of the half was a lot of huffing and puffing from both teams without any clear cut chances. That is until the last 2 minutes when another Isaac corner was bundled over the line by Matt Turner. 2-1 to the Jets 2nds and game over - and surely the only time both Jets centre-backs have scored in the same game.

The big talking points of the game were Kiwi Sean's "Tiger Scar" and Daniel Turner's dominating performance. Sean got his scar when the blond Embassy forward followed through extremely late and dangerously to kick and slide his studs down Sean's chest. His top ripped and ragged, Sean's chest was covered with red streaks leaving him looking like he'd been in the Colosseum battling some sabre toothed tigers. Another gladiator for the Jets was Daniel Turner, who played like a refined version of his older brother Matt, and brought a solid and composed look to the Jet's defence. Also big thanks to Marco who came along for a cameo appearance up front and helped with linesmen duties all game.

JR

Jets 2nds 1 vs 0 Stoneds (20/02/2010) - Stoneds Blown Up by 180kg TNT Compound - A highly charged encounter between Jets 2nds and Stoneds, saw the Jets triumph 1-0 thanks to a deadly blast of Tomo ‘n’ Turner mid-way through the 2nd half . On a cold night in Hanno, the Jets took a giant stride in their promotion push to TML2 by doing the double over Stoneds and making it 3 wins in a row.

The Stoneds are well-renowned throughout TML 3 as a potent goal threat, averaging 3.8 goals per game going into the fixture, and the league’s second and third top scorers (slightly behind the Jets’ league-leading Gildart). However a superb all round performance by the Jets ensured that this tally was not added to, and in fact Keeper Kosuke was only seriously threatened once in the whole game - making an outstanding save with his feet from a snap shot just inside the area about 30 minutes into the action.

The first half was quite cat and mouse, with neither team taking too many risks, and both trying to get a strangle hold on midfield. The Jets 3-5-2 formation started to pay off as the half wore on though, with Denis, Hide and John starting to win the 50-50s, but unable to offer decent service to the strikers. The trusty ball over the top was causing problems, but the Stoned’s fleet-footed sweeper was always on hand to, well, sweep up.

The second half saw the Jets demonstrate their credentials as potential league winners, with everyone getting stuck in and a nice balance was struck between keeping the opposition out and searching for the winner. In fact early on in the half it could have been game over but for some dodgy decisions. First Nate was played through and after the keeper parried his shot Calvin followed up with what should have been the opening goal, but instead the linesmen put up a flag despite Calvin coming from a good 5 yards behind the ball when it was shot.

Several more controversial offside flags denied further one-on-one chances for Nate, and when he finally did get away unflagged, he was professionally fouled only for the defender to escape with a yellow. Still the Jets kept up the pressure and a series of 4 corners whipped in by old man Tomo Kobayashi caused havoc in the Stoneds defence. Captain Rayner had the clever idea that Turner, Rayner and Gildart should use their weight advantage to pile in chaotically at the back post, and sure enough Turner headed home a clinical header to put the Jets ahead. He celebrated by whipping off his glove and whooping a Canadian whoop.

The Stoneds tried to get back in the game, but Kosuke was not called upon to repeat any heroics and the Jets held on for a thoroughly deserved win. Cue more whooping in the stands after the game, and probably on the bus and over beers at the izakaya after that too. It’s hard to single out any players for special praise as the whole team was superb - probably the most solid performance EVER from the Jets 2nds. Woo hoo!!

JR

Jets 2nds 5 vs 2 SUN United (13/02/2010) - This game by the numbers:

Goals: 7

Goals in last 5 minutes: 3

Red and yellow Cards: 0

Sensible decisions by Rouven: many

Hospital visits with head injuries: 2 (Piper seems to be OK with his, hope the Sun player has recovered as well)

Candidates for goal of the season: 2 (?)

Controversial offside/onside goals: 1

Times Konuma skinned the Jets defence: er...lost count...

It certainly was a funny old game. Jets 2nds dominated the first half, with Gildart and Shikama buzzing, only for a sharp counter from Sun to put them 1 up. Chances were made and missed, until Piper's block-tackle fell to Garner just outside the box. He promptly thumped it into the top corner off the underside of the bar, to draw the Jets level at half-time. The Jets then went ahead when Nate Gildart cleverly timed his run (?) and broke free from half-way. He kept his nerve and slotted past the keeper to make it 2-1.

Piper and the Sun defender then banged heads, both emerging with blood pouring out of holes in their crowns. The Sun fella went straight to the nearest hospital in the back of a cab. Piper, emerged, all Terry Butcher circa 1989, with a dirty towel or something holding his scalp together. Sun were reduced to 10 players, which led to immediate collapse from the Jets. Konuma and the other guy up front were reduced to dribbling past as many players as they could. Unfortunately for the Jets, they were rather good at it, and Sun started looking the most likely to score next. From a corner, Konuma then outjumped 2 Jets defenders to nod past big Sean. 2-2, and only 8 minutes or so left.

The game then swung back in the Jets's favour, as Sun started to tire. A succession of free-kicks and corners were wasted, until a clearance from one of them fell to full-back Justin Lancaster. Justin has only ever scored one goal for the Saitama men, and that was a cross that looped up off his shin a couple of years ago. There was no doubt about this shot, though, as he belted a screaming drive past the hapless Sun keeper from outside the area. 3-2 Jets, with just a few minutes remaining.

Gildart added another after good work from Piper, as Nate nipped in to steal from an unaware defender before finishing crisply. With virtually the last kick of the game, the Jets scored again, a nice finish from Glen after good build-up work from Nate and Isaac. So, an odd game, but another victory from the Jets 2nds, against skilful opponents. Glen had a great game, as did Isaac, and Setters, Kingsbeer, Bentz and Takahashi were also solid in defence. A similar challenge awaits next week in the shape of Yoshioka and friends of Stoneds.

GG

Jets 2 vs 4 WS Geckoes BFC (06/02/2010) - No report.

Jets 0 vs 4 JETRO (15/11/2009) - Saitama Jetroed A remnants of what is Jets Firsts and a few others scraped together enough for a bare 11 to start for a FJ cup match against a 2nd division Jetro FC. Before kick-off, 16 Jetros warmed up, huddled for a team talk, and looked fired up to play despite the gloomy Saturday night weather.

The Jets, quietly shuffled onto the pitch with little banter, team talk, or fervour. Is this a lame attempt at foreshadowing……….hell no! Jetro just won 4-0 easily. There are quite a few factors/excuses that went into the scoreline: Jetro having a full squad (historically unusual); key Jet members missing, arguably Jets’ best player and captain Hide’s injury; Gary’ s more than somewhat undeserved red; no subs to start; AGE………….Oh and a make-shift D, few shots on goal, and a bickering , defensively Swiss-cheese central midfield (sans Garner)doesn’t help either. The bottom line however, is that the Jets 1sts are a team that is struggling right now and played with a whole lot less trademark Jets spirit, heart, grit, togetherness, passion, etc, etc, etc than they have in years past……and quite a contrast to how things are playing out with the 2nds.

There were a few positives. Kosuke made saves, Gary played well when on the pitch, Tomo made some nice simple passes, Young John P played his Yank bag off, and Mark looked dangerous at the end when he moved forward to salvage something for the team. Also a Big team thank you to Captain Hide is needed for selflessly coming out despite injury and lining the side for the whole game. All Jets in Div 1 and 3 should support him and appreciate what he has been doing for both teams……and suck it up on the pitch so that we win Div 3 and stay in Div 1.

SB

It was always going to be a high-scoring game. Two teams with great attacks, one with a weak defence and one with a dodgy defence. Is there a difference you ask? Yes. Sun have a weak defence - it always looks vulnerable and gives the opposition too much space. The Jets have a dodgy defence - like Titus Bramble and Richard Dunne, the defenders look generally solid for most of the game, but are prone to catastrophe at the most inopportune moments.  Like right after one of our strikers has missed an open goal.

The game was a case in point.  Sun Utd gave up chances and space all game and conceded 4, The Jets restricted Sun to maybe one chance of their own creation, and gifted them 3 goals.  Testify!!

Play by play: The first 30 minutes was totally dominated by the Jets, with Gary Garner laying on some peaches-and-cream-laden passes to Gildart , Piper et al, with no-one able to gobble them up.  Sometimes the keeper made a good save, sometimes the angle was acute, and sometimes the shooting was just plain hopeless. Still, at least the Jets’ defence was looking solid…

…cue commentators curse and one of those dodgy mistakes. An innocuous looking through ball turned into a defensive howler as Masato and Sean left it to each other to deal with.  Masato’s eventual “clearance” (across his own box) appeared to hit a Sun player on the arm, but he dispatched the ball into the empty net without being pulled up by the ref.  1-0 to Sun Utd.

Sun’s second followed swiftly. The Jets gave away possession on the right hand side, and another innocuous looking through ball was dispatched into the net, with vain calls for offside being ignored by the Sun linesman. Two nil at half time and the question on everyone’s lips was how Sun, who started with no linesman, had come to line the Jets defense. And of course, how we were contriving to lose again in a game we should have scored 5 in the first 30 minutes.

The Jets switched from 4-5-1 to 3-5-2 in the 2nd period and the shift in formation worked perfectly, as Chris and Nate were able to keep Sun hemmed in at the back, while John, Eisuke, Gary and Denis dominated the central midfield duels. Still, the Jets were firing blanks, as two more good chances were scuffed wide at the start of the half.
10 minutes in, though and John Rayner picked up the ball in midfield before slotting it through for Nate Gildart. One-on-one with the keeper, he could miss, as demonstrated in the first half, but this time slotted home with his usual aplomb - a low shot under the keeper and into the far corner.  The Jets now had a lock-on their target.

Goal 2 arrived shortly after, John winning a header in midfield, and Chris Piper playing in Nate Gildart to score his second with a sweet left-foot shot, back across the keeper and into the roof of the net. Boom! The blue-men had their tails up and were firing on all cylinders. Surely now the Jets would get the next goal and finish the game off.

No. No, no, no.  That’s not the way football works, especially at this level, and especially when a team has an inherent weakness - opposition corners. The Jets only have one or two players who can actually head the ball. Yasu is one of many who can’t, and apparently aware of his own weakness, decided not to bother and miss it completely. One of the few who can, Gary Garner, was left red-faced as the ball struck him blind on the top of his head and flew into the back of the net.  3-2 to Sun Utd.

Time for another comeback - afterall Jets came back from 5-2 down last season against Sun. The Jets continued to dominate the proceedings, and the pressure soon told. John took a throw-in, which Gary inadvertently dummied, allowing Chris to get to the byline. He looked up and, pleasantly surprised to see a squadron of Jets midfielders arriving, pulled the ball back to Isaac who hit a nice shot into the bottom left corner, with one of the Sun defenders getting his feet in a twist and hopping over the ball as it went in. 3-3!

Sun tried to get back in the game, bringing on star man Konuma, but at the back, Tomo and Justin continuously broke up the Sun attacks before they got too dangerous, and from one of these, John stormed upfield unopposed. Looking up to see Piper in space, he tried a long range through pass. The pass wasn’t the best, but bizarrely the defender let it go through, and Chris pounced to nick in front of the keeper and slot the ball home. 4-3! Cue crazy celebrations and general relief.  

Once the Jets had gone 4-3 up the game calmed down as Jets shut up shop. That was until the shopkeeper decided to unlock the front door and leave the store unmanned. Justin, playing centre back in the 3-5-2, mistakenly believed the game was 4-3 to Sun and took it upon himself to “win” the game solo, moving himself to centre forward for the last 5 minutes, and looking mystified as to why everyone was screaming at him! Fortunately the two remaining defenders held out and no harm was done, although he didn’t actually come close to getting his “equalizer” either!

Overall, a great game of football, and another spirited comeback from the Jets.  Ref Rouven did pretty well, keeping the game flowing and getting all but a couple of unsighted decisions correct.  Two more goals puts Nate back on top of the scoring charts, while Chris Piper deserved to be the winning goal-scorer as his determined running in the second half really impacted the game.  And the Jets remain unbeaten so far, one-third of the way through the season!

JR

In this match of old Jets versus old Celts, the Jets did seem to be the fitter, quicker and ,dare I say, the more skilful of the 2 squads. They took control from the outset and eyed the Celts’ goal with intent.The Jets forwards were outrunning the Celtic backs, the Jets midfield were outplaying their counterparts, and the Jets defenders quickly snuffed out most of the Celts runs forward. Gildart capped off a spell of decent pressure in the Celtic half by taking a nice pass from Cal, turning left, cutting back, and then driving a low, hard bullet off the right post and into the back of the onion bag. The boys in blue were looking good and on their way to an easy victory, right? Oh so Wrong!

As the half rolled on, the Jets were often found guilty of neglecting the simple pass in favour of trying to thread the needle or just plain launching the ball. A few near misses and wasted chances followed, though in all fairness the barrel-shaped, surprisingly spritely Celtic keeper was as solid as his build, stopping most of what the Jets threw at him. The culminating example of the Jets failure to capitalize was a great sliding effort by Fraser from 2 yards just shanking wide of the open net. Unlucky to say the least.

Meanwhile, the Celts had some wily old big “bhoys” who were beginning to use their size to outhustle and outmuscle, as well as clearly win the aerial battle with which they mounted a few counterattacks. Celt industry and Jet sloppiness led to a decent pass into space, the Jet stopped amid calls for an offside which wasn't and the bhoys had a breakaway goal with their first strike on target. Incredulous, the Jets continued play as before with nothing show for it. The second Hoops goal came from more Celtic pressure, a sloppy cough up from the Jets left back,(yeah, that was me) followed by scrambling defense, the Celts winning the 50/50 in the air , and scoring again on what might have been their second ball on target. The Jets were getting hooped. Jets 1, Kanto Celts 2, at the half.

During the break, the Jets quietly conducted polite discourse on the quality of their performance and the score line. The Celts were no doubt happy with the goal tally and talking about how soft the Jets MF and how suspect the Jets DF were respectively.

The second half was a blur of the same, but the Jets did play with a bit more desperation and the Celts were a bit more dangerous going forward and clamped down a bit more on D, too. There were missed Jet chances and key stops from the Celts keeper, balls being held on to for too long, and nothing to show for a few set plays out and around the Celts 18 yard box. On the other end, there were a few more corners given, and a handful of defensive miscues and scary moments near the Jets goal. Gary finally slotted the equalizer off a cross from the right that fell to his feet at the far post after sailing through several Jet and Celt players. As the Celts tired in the closing minutes, the Jets pushed for the go ahead goal, but just didn’t carry out the finishing touches to do so. Final score: Jets 2 Kanto Celts 2

A tad disappointing for the Jets 2nds, but there were some positives that came out of the match. We were frustrated with the result and know we can play better….. but we came from behind nonetheless and are still undefeated. Also, cheers to the Celts for coming out to the Hanno hinterland and giving the Jets a good run. Both squads watched a while as the firsts played at “slightly” faster pace, before seeing enough and heading to the Izakaya and then home.

SB

Jets 2nds 5 vs 0 Guarana Republic FC (18/10/2009) - A beautiful October day saw the Misato marshlands hold up surprisingly well in a Div 3 fixture between the Saitama Jets and the friendly cellar-dwelling Guarana Republic. Going in, the Jets were missing some of their biggest (in weight and girth) performers so far the season. As a matter of fact, nobody on the Jets squad list had actually scored a goal for the 2nds in the TML this season.

Despite deciding to get to the ground earlier than usual, most of us were just arriving as fully kitted Guarana were looking pretty useful going through their pre-game passing/shooting drills( * albeit on the guy who looked like he lost a game of janken to get the keeper’s jersey)) Would Dez through caution to the wind and start two or three aspiring strikers? Nah, Jets formation: 4-5-1.

The game started with neither team really taking control. The Jets found good passing hard to come by in midfield, as the center of the pitch was about as patchy as a Shimbashi salaryman’s head before his Reve 21 appointment. Anything constructive for the Jets came down the flanks, where grass still grew. Guarana, at first, were getting stuck in defensively, undoubtedly more familiar this season on how to play Div 3 gaijin, and they had a few rather quick and skilful players who looked dangerous at times. Luckily for the Jets, it seems they were sometimes more interested in practising their silky Wednesday night futsal moves than creating effective play. The Jets started to take control in the latter part of the half with old man Tomo spraying some nice passes into space, a few breakaways and scrambles resulting in near misses, and Chris hitting the post once or twice. Guarana did have one decent shot from distance and a few dangerous crosses into the box, but big Sean was calm and very solid between the sticks. Just before the break, there was some nice Jets movement on the right, followed by a cross, and a well-placed header into the back of the Guarana net. Captain Hide had scored his first ever TML goal. Jets 1, Guarana 0, at the half.

The Jets continued the pressure in the second half and soon scored several in succession. A chip from the left over the Guarana defence sent Chris in on a break with time and only the keeper to beat. The keeper jumped a bit early and gave the open net for Chris to score. Shortly before or thereafter, off a Jets corner, a Guarana defender pinged a clearance off his teammate for an OG. Also Glen, partially back from injury, used his 15 minutes on the pitch to sent Chris through for another breakaway goal with a nifty little flick. The Guaranis only had a sub or two and looked knackered and, well, out of Guarana, so they started losing their defensive shape. From that point, with the W not in jeopardy, many Jets tried to get in on the score sheet. It wasn’t pretty. A lot of shots, and not a lot of passing……but Chris did scored one more off a fumble from the keeper for the hat trick. The traffic was not all one way, however. While the Jets abandoned their positions to push up, Guarana still played with three strikers and created a few chances to break the clean sheet. Thanks to Masato, Hide,and Sean for keeping it clean in the end. Final Score: Jets 5, Guarana Republic 0.

Well done Jets! Good effort all around for the win and cheers to Guarana for playing the game in good spirits. Next up, a double-header against the Kanto Celts. Looking forward to it.

SB

Jets 2 vs 1 Zion FC (19/09/2009) - Jets climb over Mt. Zion Saitama Jets engaged in a well fought, well mannered game versus Division I newcomers, Zion FC. The game started with both teams struggling to fill their starting 11, with Zion starting with only 10 men. The Jets quickly turned to the attack (although most of them probably didn’t realize they were playing against an under-strength team) and had a few chances in the opening 10 minutes. Veteran Sasaki coolly converted a flick-on by newbie Andrew via the Delap like long throw of John “Wildebeest” Rayner. The positive start brought smiles to those who managed to turn up.

However, the confidence from our early goal quickly disappeared with the arrival of their 11th man, #11 Nixon Da Silva. No stranger to match reports and score lines, he ghosted past the scrambling defenders and slotted a goal home for Zion. The remainder of the first half saw both teams with numerous chances. Zion missed out on a glorious chance to go on top when 1st half keeper Randy Harada bravely cleared a loose ball after a corner. Jets also had a strong penalty claim waved away by the referee after Shimizu was fouled in the area. Other than this no-call, the referee had a strong game, keeping order and making the right calls while being in the right place. A promising start to the season, two games in, and two quality officials.

The second half saw the Jets improve upon their organization. Players stopped wandering out of position, and for the most part everyone played it smart. The increased concentration didn’t prevent Da Silva from creating a great opportunity to put his team ahead. He broke swiftly after being sprung, one on one versus the keeper, but his shot was wide of the far post. This miss was to prove costly. Today’s Jets team showcased the strength of the club, as it was almost a 50/50 split of regular 1st and 2nd team players. The Jets are lucky to have so many players to call upon, many who answered the call at the last minute. Zion demonstrated the opposite, as they suffered from fatigue playing with no subs. Giving up several corners in succession as time wound down, call-up Tomo “Ojisan” Kobayashi whipped in a corner and placed it in the near corner at the foot of the post. A tricky goal to score, but no problem for this crafty veteran as he put JETs ahead 2-1 with 10 minutes left.

The Jets finished strong and prevented Zion from equalizing. Overall, it was a strong game for the Jets. Forward/keeper Fraser made some key grabs on high balls while keeping in the 2nd half, and Yasu put in some good blocks in defense. Big center back Rayner had a solid game, as did goal scorer Kobayashi. Randy was impressive in the outfield, hustling back and forth after starting in goal. New captain/vice-captain Hayashi and Osawa respectively, linked up effectively on the right side, with both creating numerous chances. It was a good team effort to erase the sour taste of the last game’s loss. Zion FC have had a rude welcome to Division I, enduring two consecutive defeats. A good group of guys who played fairly and without the usual whinging associated with numerous TML teams. Perhaps with a few more quality players turning up, they will enjoy more success in their inaugural Division I season.

El Toro

Jets 2nds 3 vs 1 WS Clash (13/09/2009) - The Jets 2nds ended last season 2nd from bottom of the 3rd division, ranking them a lowly 29th out of the TML's 30 teams. The men from Saitama seem intent on improving that standing, and a 3-1 victory over a combative Clash side sees them with the maximum 6 points from 2 games so far. Nate Gildart can be particularly happy with himself, as he improved on last week's brace to score his first league hat-trick since his big-money move from Aomori 5 years ago.

The game was a decent battle, with the Clash showing all the guile you would expect from a team recently playing in the second division. In the first half, the Jets had the better of the chances, and managed to rattle the Clash woodwork 3 or 4 times. Garner was first, connecting with his head to a good Hayashi corner, only to see the header flick off the the bar. Rayner then repeated the trick, this time with a long, languid, loopy header from Garner's cross, which again bounced off the bar. Randy Harada then picked up the pieces from a corner, only to see his volley beat the keeper, but once more not the crossbar. It wasn't all Jets in the first half, but the Clash game plan seemed to be to win throw-ins on the left side and launch missiles, Delap-like, towards the Jets goal. Sean Kingsbeer, back from his loan period with King George, was big enough and loud enough to regularly clear most of the debris in his box.

The first goal, when it came, was a touch controversial. Garner again wandered out of position to the left wing, from where he launched a cross towards Gildart at the back post. Nate attempted to jump, but the presence of a large defender on his back made it somewhat tricky to do so. We appealed, Paul the ref dutifully awarded the penalty, and Nate expertly dispatched it. It was definitely a foul, it was just one of those that don't often get given in the box, hence the confusion from the Clash. The Clash made a few changes, including the addition of Rafa, who is clearly WAY too fast to be allowed to play in Division 3. This should be raised at the AGM next year. Andy Gill also joined the game, and these two additions helped the Clash attack with a bit more venom. Just as the Clash started getting back into the game, though, Gildart struck again. A ball was played down the Jets left wing, Clash defender and keeper got in a bit of a muddle, and the Jets striker was left to pick up the pieces and place the ball into an empty net. The Jets looked to go into the half with a comfortable 2-0 lead, but then pressed their own self-destruct button. Comedy defending on the left-hand side let the spritely Clash forward advance unchallenged, and he finished coolly from around the edge of the box. Kingsbeer was left momentarily crying into his beer.

Much of the same in the second half. The Clash looked dangerous with their reinforcements, but Rayner and co mostly won the midfield battle for the Jets. Rafa's mazy run along the goal-line seemed to have resulted in an own-goal, until the ref pointed out that the ball was 6 feet or so out of play at one point. Clash felt hard done by, the Jets thanked Paul's Mum for feeding him carrots when he was a nipper. The third and decisive goal came after good work on the right from the pied Piper, whose cross (shot?) evaded the hardworking Fraser Gould and landed at the feet of Gildart. He didn't waste the chance to complete his hat-trick. Piper went close himself with a good volley after being set up by Dez Bliss and Hayashi also fizzed an effort just wide. Right at the last, a good Clash effort forced a decent save from the Jets' Kingsbeer, but that was the last piece of meaningful action.

3-1 to the Jets, who next week test themselves against a handy-looking Shane side.

GG

Alternate Report - On a sunny Sunday morning the Jets managed to chalk up a second successive 3-1 win, this time over Robert Walters Clash, a team who played hard and fair, have some fast guys up front and some big solid defenders who position themselves well at the back.

The Jets started with a sort of staggered 3-5-2 formation comprised of players who actually managed to arrive on time. The Jets came quickly out the blocks with surprising energy and really dominated the midfield early on. It wasn’t long before chances started to come. The Jets started with a sort of staggered 3-5-2 formation comprised of players who actually managed to arrive on time. The Jets came quickly out the blocks with surprising energy and really dominated the midfield early on. It wasn’t long before chances started to come. Garner, for one, saw his decent headed effort clip the bar from a corner from Hide. Harada hit the bar with a decent long range shot and Rayner also managed to hit the bar in the first half. 

The goal came about ten minutes when in a chipped ball was played dangerously into the box and Gildart went to ground. All on the sidelines were a bit bemused to see that the ref had given a penalty, apparently for a shove in the back. Instant replays projected across the inside of the Jets eyelids showed that the eagle-eyed ref (who had a very neat game) had in fact made a very sharp decision. (The ref had noticed a lot of shoving beforehand and had given a warning). Anyway, Gildart wasn’t about to argue and coolly stroked home the penalty for 1-0. Another goal came soon after with Hide sending a nice ball through for Gildart who, as usual, used his strength to hold off the last defender and bang home a second. With Oli, Bentz and especially Setterfield having a good game at the back, Clash were limited for most of the half to long range efforts which rarely bothered Sean, the man we are all so happy to see back between the sticks. However, just before the break Sean was beaten when a mix up at the back let a Clash striker drift through and put away it away for 2-1. Game on.

Just like last week, with a lead at the half the Jets relaxed a bit and lost some of their early energy. The Clash were clearly up for it and the second half became a bit more open as play went more often out wide down the flanks. The third goal came at a great time for the Jets. With legs tiring and the Clash starting to catch the Jets on the break and feel they deserved at least a draw it was time for Gildart to step up and claim his hat-trick - his fifth goal in two games. Piper turned on the edge of the box and weaved between a couple of defenders to get himself through on goal, then sent the ball across the six yard box taking the keeper out of the equation. The ball somehow popped out off a defender to Gildart, unmarked six yards out, and he had the easiest of finishes to put the game to bed.

A pleasant Sunday morning’s footie and some nicely sunburned noses to show for it. On the plus side, two wins out of two for the Jets; on the critical side, the Jets need to work on putting corners and free kicks that they’ve worked hard to earn into the danger area. Thanks to Clash for a good game – a good-natured team and a welcome addition to Div 3.

CP

Jets 0 vs 4 BFC (05/09/2009) - ９月５日(土)飯能　vs BFC ９月５日 - JETSの新しいシーズンが始まった。 相手はシーズンの１試合目としては十分すぎるBFC。 前半からBFCにボールを支配され、自分たちのサッカーを思うように させてもらえず、サイドから何度と無くクロスを上げられ、 耐える時間が続く。

JETSもボールをつなぐことを試みてパスを出すが、 高い位置でカットされ、ピンチを招く場面があった。 20分を過ぎた頃、左サイドからピンポイントのクロスが 上げられ、それをBFCがきっちりとヘディングで決めて0-1。 その後、2点目を決められ、前半を折り返す。

ハーフタイム中の話し合いが効果を上げ、後半２０分頃まで JETSもいい形を作ることができたが、決定的な場面で ゴールを決めることができなかった。 交代メンバーが少なかったのもあり、徐々に疲れが見え始める。 前線とバックラインが間延びし、中盤が機能しなくなった。 一方BFCは息を吹き返し、2ゴールの追加点をあげ、 0-4で試合を終了した。

HH

Jets 2nds 3 vs 1 Y-Abe (05/09/2009) - JETS 2nds Off to a Good Start. A good game of football between JETS 2nds and Y-Abe on a humid evening on the beautiful Hanno ground was won 3-1 by the JETS to get their season off to a nice start.

Y-Abe is a decent team and seemed to have bolstered their side over the summer break. The Jets on the other hand have lost a couple of key players over the summer. Nevertheless, the Jets, playing a 4-5-1 formation today, got off to a good start in this match, pressing and harrying to give Y-Abe little time to think in midfield. Hide and Denis did a good job in there and the defensive line-up of Masato, Oli, Simon and Justin were solid but for a couple of dodgy back passes and kept Y-Abe chances to hopeful potshots in the first half. Yasu did well in his stint on the left and Deryk and Calvin put in a couple of battling appearances in the midfield.

The two first half goals came from Nate Gildart, of course, who looks to be on good form. The first goal came via Isaac who sent an accurate ball in from the right wing. The second came with Hiro neatly linking up with Piper who slid the ball in to Gildart to fire home. The first half saw a few chances go begging also. Piper got wide on a couple of occasions to set up Gould, who replaced Gildart up front and was unlucky not to get on the score sheet in the first half. The ball was also laid back to Hiro on the edge of the box who fired in a belting shot, but straight at the keeper. At the other end Y-Abe came closest with a long-range effort that looped oddly over Kosuke in goal. The veteran managed to recover excellently to tip the ball over the bar.

2-0 at the half and all looked good. The start of the second half however saw Y-Abe getting on top and they were eventually rewarded with a goal – a shot coming back off the bar to get knocked in. There were a couple of other scares for the Jets due to a couple of mix ups between keeper and defense, on of which saw the ball drift alarmingly across an open goal, somehow managing to get all the way out for a throw on the other side. The game was finally killed off with Gildart sending a nice pass through to Gould, who bustled his way through on to goal and finished with the alacrity he lacked a little in the first half. The whole match was played in great spirits with tackles flying in firmly but fairly. Y-Abe is an excellent bunch and play the game with good skill and speed, probably creating more chances than I gave them credit for in this report due to the failings of my aged mind. Thanks should go to the referee, who let the game flow by playing some good advantages and taking no nonsense.

CP