Mito 3 - 0 Ehime

Mito now has its longest winning streak of games of the season: 2!

New club president, before the match, laid out his vision of the team's future, and it is quite bold. Under coach Maeda's recent development of "action soccer", Mito will grow from a city club to a national powerhouse. With a new high quality stadium finished by 2009 and the club planning to invest heavily in development of the team, a goal of Mito becoming a yearly fixture in J1 by 2011 was laid out. Obviously that goal seems incredibly lofty at the moment but even just that kind of thinking and effort would only help the team.

The game itself proved to be a fairly convincing demonstration of the new style. As if a switch had been flipped, the caliber of play by Mito players changed considerably. It seemed almost European in style... Bicycle kicks, no look passes, smart and focused traps, and even more aggressiveness. Yet on defense, the same stinginess that brought the club what success it had before. Action soccer will, should these kind of results continue, make Mito a must-watch team.

Goals were taken by defenders Yoshimoto and Kim and defensive midfielder Suzuki Yoshikazu.

I can't say that this pre-game announcement will be honored or if this kind of play will continue. But during the game and for almost an hour afterward, I looked at the faces of the people who have supported this team since it was all-amateur... And the smile and pride being shown in everybody was truly a long time coming. All of the fans truly love and need this club, and at least tonight, it seems that the club will be returning that in kind from this day forward.