Good News, Everyone!
YES!! Sakka Densetsu and Sasuke return 
YESSSSS!!
Episode 21: Saved From Early Cancellation!
Our next match against Grulla Morioka is very important, if we win we're up 8 with 6 matches left, if we lose we're only up 2.
July 5, 2015
Sasuke FC 0 - 1 Grulla
The first loss of the season, very disappointing, especially since Grulla had a man sent off when he picked up his 2nd yellow for diving. We weren't able to do enough in attack.
Player of the Match: Kazuma Umebachi (Grulla)
It was a tough loss to take, but we can't dwell on it. Our next match is against Japan SC, but SC stands for Soccer College, not Soccer Club.
July 10, 2015 - East Japan Senior Soccer Tournament Quarterfinal (Neutral Field)
Sasuke FC - Japan SC
Another disappointing game, we gave away a penalty and two other goals, and couldn't score on the other end.
Player of the Match: Toru Iso (Japan SC)
July 11, 2015 - East Japan Senior Soccer Tournament 5th Place Playoff (Neutral Field)
Sasuke FC 2 - 1 Norbritz
Thankfully we were able to field a team that could play a day after the last match, and we were improved here, with 60% of our shots on target.
Player of the Match: Ryosuke Nagatomo
And with that, here's the standings after Round 12 of 18:
We're still ahead, but only by 2 points now, and our margin of error has decreased.
Woooooo! Great to have this back, you had me worried for a while 
Shame to come back to a pretty disappointing month, but still top and you're almost there.
Shame to come back to a pretty disappointing month, but still top and you're almost there.
Episode 22: The Third Emperor's Cup
July 19, 2015
Primeiro 0 - 3 Sasuke FC
The scoreline was cut in half, but the same result stands. Sasuke limited Primeiro to 0 shots on goal thanks to their excellent tackling and intercepting, and Oda had a great game, setting up the first goal by drawing a penalty when he got brought down from behind while having a one on one with the goalkeeper. He also scored a goal of his own.
Player of the Match: Yoshito Kawai (Sasuke FC)
July 26, 2015
Sasuke FC 1 - 0 TDK Shinkawai
It was a close-run affair, with both teams not having much success up front, but Mitsugu Oda's late strike scraped a poor match for both teams.
Player of the Match: Mitsugu Oda (Sasuke FC)
We've hit a break in the season for the Emperor's Cup. We'll probably struggle to get past the first round proper but we'll still try our best. We've been drawn against local rivals Sendai Nakata for the second qualifying round.
August 23, 2015 - Emperor's Cup Second Qualifying Round
Sendai Nakata 1 - 3 Sasuke FC
Mitsugu Oda was a force in front of goal as usual, but Kojiro Hatanaka is the man of the match, not only for his excellent goal, but also his excellent defending and dominance in the air.
Player of the Match: Kojiro Hatanaka (Sasuke FC)
We've been drawn against recently-promoted-to-the-JFL Ganju IWate, we're the home team, it should be a good match.
August 29, 2015 - Emperor's Cup First Round
Sasuke FC 4 - 2 Ganju
Once again, Mitsugu Oda scores a brace. Ganju fought hard, but ran out of juice and saw the 2-2 deadlock evaporate into a 4-2 victory for Sasuke.
Player of the Match: Mitsugu Oda (Sasuke FC)
The next match is likely to see dreams die, as we play against J-League 1 team S-Pulse. Of course, we'll do our best and try for an upset, though! First, though, we must play another league game.
September 13, 2015
Cobaltore 0 - 1 Sasuke FC
Once again we escaped by the skin of our teeth, as Kato's goal on 9 minutes thanks to Oda's wonderful ball was the only goal scored in the game.
Player of the Match: Fumihiro Kato (Sasuke FC)
And with that, here's the standings after Round 15 of 18:
We've kept up our end of the bargin, but we're still only 2 points up on Grulla because they won all their matches during this period, too. It'll come down to the wire!
Episode 23: Fight For the Championship, Sasuke!
September 16, 2015 - Emperor's Cup Second Round
S-Pulse 3 - 1 Sasuke FC
Taro Kubo's goal on 12 minutes gave Sasuke an early lead and their fans hope, but S-Pulse dashed them with 3 first half goals. Sasuke had some nice defensive play at times, but S-Pulse had way too much class and Sasuke couldn't make their attacking runs count. Still, it was a fun experience to play a J1 team at their stadium. I hope to be playing more games against S-Pulse as the manager of a full-fledged J1 team.
Player of the Match: Mike Havenaar (S-Pulse)
It was disappointing to see the dream of the Emperor's Cup end, but we still have a league title to win!
September 20, 2015
FC Gifu SECOND 2 - 3 Sasuke FC
It was a tale of two halves. In the first half, goals kept getting served up for Shohei Nagata as he scored a brace on the way to a 3-1 halftime lead. However, Gifu SECOND had the better of the second half, scoring a goal and threatening a draw, but Sasuke held on.
Player of the Match: Shohei Nagata (Sasuke FC)
Here are the youth candidates: They're not as helpful as the past two years, but not totally useless:
September 27, 2015
Sasuke FC 3 - 2 NTFC Wiese
Another game where we started off strong, but let off in the second half and let the opponent put the result in question. Thankfully, once again we held on for the 3!
Player of the Match: Hiroshi Yamashita (NTFC Wiese)
By nature of Grulla's 2-2 draw with FC Gifu SECOND, Grulla are 4 behind us with 1 match to go, and that means Sasuke have won the league! Of course, promotion isn't assured yet. We have to finish 2nd or better in the Regional Finals to get automatic promotion to the JFL; or finish 3rd and win a playoff against the 16th placed JFL team.
With a second league title, I knew that I was untouchable. Therefore, I asked the board for a youth facility upgrade and got it. Unfortunately, the stadium issue was unable to be resolved.
October 4, 2015
Cambiare 0 - 4 Sasuke FC
With the pressure of winning the league title behind them, Sasuke were able to play Cambiare off the pitch and showcase the class that made them champions.
Player of the Match: Mitsugu Oda (Sasuke FC)
And with that, here's the final standings:
We set a record, scoring 47 points in the league this year, and made some bettors very happy as their 5:1 odds for Sasuke to win the championship paid off. It's not over, though, stay tuned for the Regional Leagues Final Series Group Stage!
Episode 24: The Regional Finals Group Stage
Awards
Mitsugu Oda led the league with 15 goals, and came in second in assists with 9. Here's the team of the year:
Also, here is the draw for the regional finals:
Sagawa Printing won the Kansai League with a 10-3-1 record, 33 points, and 27 goals scored to 8 allowed.
Tonan won the Kanto League with a 10-5-3 record, 35 points, and 18 goals scored to 9 allowed.
Saitama SC finished 6th in the Kanto LEague with a 5-6-7 record, 21 points, and 16 goals scored to 18 allowed. I have no idea how they got in, but I have no idea how the other 3 teams are decided, so...
The winner of each group makes the Final, plus the top 2nd placed team. They play a round-robin, top 2 teams get automatic promotion, and the 3rd placed team has to play the 16th placed JFL team, and the winner plays in JFL next season.
November 6, 2015 (Neutral Field)
Sasuke FC 0 - 0 (3 - 5 penalties) Sagawa Printing
This match was very combative as it saw many cards, three of them red. Bizarrely, instead of taking the 0-0 draw as it is and giving each team a point, the teams play a shootout to determine who gets the third point. You know how my teams are with shootouts, you know we lost them, but thankfully this one isn't so painful, but we still have to work hard to advance.
Player of the Match: Yusuke Nakatani (Sagawa Printing)
November 7, 2015 (Neutral Field)
Sasuke FC 1 - 2 Saitama SC
We didn't do enough to keep our chances of making the final four, I think. We let them get ahead 2-0 and didn't do anything about it.
Player of the Match: Manabu Watanabe (Saitama SC)
November 8, 2015 (Neutral Field)
Sasuke FC 1 - 2 Tonan
Even if we won, we still would have needed results to go strongly in our favor for a shot at advancing to the next round. Sadly to say, we didn't even win.
Player of the Match: Yoshinori Otsu (Tonan)
And with that, here's the final standings:
A whole season's worth of good work down the drain because we didn't show up for the regional finals. Words can't describe how disappointed I am. There's always next year, but I was really looking forward to managing in the JFL.
Thats unlucky mate, winning the league and then not getting promoted is a bit s**t, hopefully your team can learn from this and come back stronger next season!
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