The 1050 fans who traveled to Ashikaga (about 2 and a half hours from Mito) in the rain were treated to a rare win against Ehime.
Mito controlled most of the match, but both teams had exactly 3 serious chances. Both teams also made 2 very good saves. While Ehime's other shot hit the crossbar, though, Mito's midfielder Kanazawa dribbled around the keeper in the penalty area and tapped it in for the only score of the game mere minutes before the otherwise likely scoreless draw would have occured.
This game set two notable milestones. First, it cemented Mito's record of defence against Ehime, preventing that team from scoring in each game against Mito this season. Also, it marks the first league appearance of third string keeper Harada, who also started in the recent Emperor's Cup games and who the team seems to be trying to give some experience before the start of next season.
2 comments:
How's the injury situation for Mito now? The likes of Nakamura and Kuramoto, are they still injured? I thought they were gonna be out for the rest of the season, but they are not in Toto's list anymore...
Mito should do their best to avoid the last place, and field their best lineup in my opinion. Therefore, i don't understand why they dont use Honma in the remaining matches as well...Harada (?) needs match practice, but not at any cost :) There are prize money to play for i think, so a 12th or a 13th place would mean extra revenue,right?
Now, the only starter injury is defender Owada although he's working out at every practice. Nakamura and Kuramoto are playing but not doing as well as the others, unfortunately. Still, they are improving as each game goes on.
I'm actually very impressed with Harada and would put him above Takeda, but Honma is indeed easily one of the best defenders in the division and very similar in style to Oliver Kahn. Like Ollie, though, he's getting up in years and you can see in practices how he takes it easier. I'm sure he's involved in the decision on who plays in the net.
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