Match Report
On paper the standings were lopsided — Mito Hollyhock 1st with 70 points, Imabari 11th with 53, 17 apart. Mito Hollyhock had been under-performing their position — 7th on five-round form against 1st in the table. Scoring rates set the scale: Imabari 1.21 scored and 1.21 conceded per game, Mito Hollyhock 1.45 and 0.89, with the league averaging 1.23.
Imabari were winless in 6. Mito Hollyhock had won three straight. From the last five rounds, Imabari held 2 points of 15 and Mito Hollyhock 9.
Yume Stadium, capacity 5,000, hosted the game. Half-time and full-time told different stories: it was 0-0 at the break, before 3 more goals closed it at 1-2.
Goal scorers
Imabari: Tetsuya Kato (52') · Mito Hollyhock: Shunsuke Saito (49'), Seiichiro Kubo (86')
Key stats
Possession: Imabari 51% · Mito Hollyhock 49% · Total shots: 9-11 · On target: 5-3 · Corners: 3-5