I spent 7 hours writing this across the last couple of days. It's not my best piece, and the order is a little questionable at times, but I figured a few people in here might enjoy it for what it is.
https://medium.com/@BigBoSS\_Riot/ranking-harley-reids-first-49-afl-games-3ef0188bbaee
To celebrate the great man's upcoming achievement, I thought I'd have a go at this. This took about 7 hours to put together, and I was kind of unsure on the rankings, but it was honestly a lot of fun. Not at the depth level of my last piece here, but I digress.
https://medium.com/@BigBoSS_Riot/ranking-harley-reids-first-49-afl-games-3ef0188bbaee
(Sorry if this is the wrong post flair, I wasn't quite sure what to go with.)
A couple of big swings late this weekend. Kashima Antlers guaranteed first place and a chance at the one-off trophy with a solid win over JEF United Chiba, while FC Tokyo were held at bay, but won on penalites to effectively wrap up second place (given the goal difference advantage over Machida Zelvia).
Mayhem in the West took place on Sunday, with three fantastic saves in the shootout by Goto to give V-Varen Nagasaki a massive win over Kobe, before two maulings took place to send the fight for first to the final day. And even now, with only one match to play, the biggest gap in the West is three points. It's been a frankly staggering season, given the competitiveness and the rarity of consistent results. The biggest win streak of any side in the West was Vissel Kobe's four across late March and early April.
In the lower leagues, while they've likely left it too late, Consadole Sapporo have now won seven straight matches (with a cumulative score of 18-6). They'd need to win against Jubilo Iwata next week while Ventforet Kofu lose to last place Nagano Parceiro (who have the lowest points total of any side in the second/third division) to snag first place in East-B - very unlikely, but still technically possible. An extra note on East-B, neither of those two have the best goal difference in their subset - that'd be seventh placed Matsumoto Yamaga.
Another hectic matchday comes to a close. Reysol snapped a six game losing streak, and all of the top three combatants in the east stretched their advantage over the rest. In the west, Kobe's advantage has now been completely eroded.
In the second/third tier, Vegalta Sendai have guaranteed themselves a place in the top four finals, winning on penalties against Vanraure Hachinohe while Shonan Bellmare lost to Yokohama FC. Ditto for Kataller Toyama, who have a 7 point lead over Kochi United. Tegevajaro Miyazaki locked their spot in a while ago at this point, such is the enormity of their lead. East-B is the only undecided group, with Ventforet Kofu needing 3 points in the last two matches to secure their place in the overall top four.
As always, keen to hear from those of you who watched any matches.
Pics 1 and 2: V-Varen Nagasaki 2022 special shirt
Pics 3 and 4: Gamba Osaka 2014 home
Pics 5 and 6: Gamba Osaka 2015 ACL home
A messy midweek matchday saw the bottom two sides in the west notch up wins (Avispa Fukuoka are really putting together some good results now), and JEF United Chiba picking up a fantastic win against a very high calibre FC Tokyo side. Of note, Cerezo Osaka lost their first penalty shootout in three months to Shimizu S-Pulse after conceding a very late penalty in regular time.
In the second/third tier, Ventforet Kofu and Iwaki FC both lost. It keeps East-B incredibly tight, with only 2 points splitting the top three, and 7 points splitting the top eight. And Sagan Tosu registered their biggest win in over two years and scored four goals in a match for the first time in 23 matches, which is a fantastic achievement for them.
An exceptional matchday really, with plenty of stumbles from table toppers all over Japan - Kobe being unceremoniously stomped 5-0 by Gamba, Kashima winning on penalties (for the first time this season) but now leaving the door firmly ajar for FC Tokyo, Iwaki FC winning on penalties but ceding the lead of EastB to Ventforet Kofu, Tegevajaro Miyazaki losing on penalties to former top flight side Sagan Tosu after a five game run in which they'd scored 13 goals without conceding one, and Vegalta Sendai's invincible run ending after a 1-3 defeat to Akita Blaublitz (I feel like I jinxed them by bringing this up in midweek... sorry). On a similar note, Tokushima Vortis, who had been leading their group until very recently, were steamrolled 6-0 by an Ehime FC side who were relegated from J2 last year.
Elsewhere, the only drawless side in the top flight in Marinos came up against the (equal) most draw-happy side in Hollyhock, and were at long last sent to a penalty shootout - Hollyhock won it comfortably, and you'd have to think it was due to all the practice they'd had. This actually ended a 26 game streak for Marinos, as their last draw was at the end of August against Zelvia.
As an aside, I'm certainly looking forward to seeing the highlights of Cerezo vs Avsipa, given Avispa's opener was apparently scored from about 40 metres out.