Thursday brought with it two very different games. The B squad were up first against Kuri Noki (a club side affiliated to Toko Gakuen). After going 1-0 down early, the boys rallied on the difficult grit-clay surface and replied with 3 good goals. A revival by the Japanese brought the scores level to 3-3 with twenty minutes remaining but it was Eton's character and will to win that shone through as Josh Nieboer bagged the match ball with his hat-trick securing a 4-3 win for Eton. The A squad match was a different matter. Up against the full Toko Gakuen side who regularly feature in the top few schoolboy teams in the country and boasting a Japan U19 centre-forward, their work was most definitely cut out! In what was a lesson in passing, moving, control and technical excellence on an unforgiving surface this was a mismatch that was hard to stomach. Nevertheless the boys stuck together really well and refused to lie down. They will have learnt a great deal from the encounter. The score? Not sure I can bring myself to type it right now!
