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Misato, Sunday 7th October,
The Saitama Jets and Kanto Celts fought out a keenly contested 2-2 draw on a hot and sunny Sunday afternoon at Misato. The pitch, back in service after more than a month recovering from a spot of flooding, was in good grassy condition down the flanks, but through the middle was such that Armstrong and Aldrin would have felt at home.
The Celts started the better of the two sides, pressuring the Jets’ goal from the start and would have felt aggrieved to go behind after only five minutes when Sasaki’s cross from the left resulted in a Celts defender ignoring his ‘keeper’s call and heading into the top corner of the net, 1 – 0 Jets. The Celts didn’t let this setback affect them and continued to press, repeatedly working promising situations down the Jets’ left flank and soon found themselves in the lead. A corner was won on the left and despite having a number of chances to clear their lines Saitama relinquished the lead as the ball found its way into the bottom corner. Just minutes later a free kick on the left of the area, six yards from the goal line, was headed in for 2 – 1 to the Celts. The Jets complained amongst themselves about slack marking, but the Celts will have been pleased with a decent delivery and a good downward header at the back post which went back across goal and nestled in at the left hand corner of the net, giving Harada in the Saitama goal little chance.
The rest of the half was all Jets as the team tried to make amends for a poor start. Gildart was put through on the left of the area and, although sent slightly wide, still managed to get off a low shot which had the Celts’ ‘keeper fully extended as he got a hand to it and then smothered the ball at the second attempt. Next Shimizu got free on the right after some good approach play and his cross found Gildart unmarked 10 yards out at the far post, but as the Canadian controlled the ball on his thigh it agonizingly bounced away from goal and the chance was gone. Just before half time Shimizu had the ball in the net but it was rightly chalked off for a handball in the build up. Halftime, then, saw Saitama trailing 2-1.
The Jets switched formation at halftime to three at the back and three in the centre of midfield to take advantage of what had been, in spite of the goals, a tepid attack, and to try to counter a much more effective Celts midfield. The switch paid immediate dividends as the Jets began the half like a whirlwind subjecting the Celts to sustained pressure, with Ozawa, once again outstanding, screening the defence and making light of the aging legs around him in midfield by winning lots of ball and distributing it intelligently. It wasn’t long before yet another rampaging run down the right by Hayashi, another of Saitama’s star performers on the day, resulted in a good cross which found Shimizu with his back to goal, the Japanese striker laid the ball back to Keating who took time to steady himself and drive home left footed from 10 yards for 2-2. The momentum was with the Jets and the smart money would have been on a Saitama victory at this point, but the Celts refused to buckle and soon the game swung back their way.
The Jets continued to have problems down the left hand side and Turner, playing in the left centre back position, did well to keep things locked down with little support from those around him. Into the final 15 minutes and a Celts breakaway should have been cleared up on the halfway line but horrendous defending, possibly involving an attempted back-heel, resulted in two hooped shirts streaking away, the ball went right and a goal looked odds on, but Harada came storming out and brilliantly blocked the striker’s on-target effort. Chances came and went for both teams in the last ten minutes, but in truth it was the Celts who dominated the closing stages and could have snatched the points with good headers from a couple of corners that, fortunately for the Jets, failed to find their target.
So, 2-2 at the final whistle and overall a fair result for two sides who battled hard but failed to produce anything that suggested either team will be able to break into the upper half of the table come the end of the season.
Report by Rob Keating
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