Sarina Bolden finally made her first appearance for Saitama in the 2021-22 WE.League season but in very difficult circumstances.
Bolden and the rest of Chifure AS Elfen had a torrid Saturday afternoon as they were walloped 1-4 at the hands of the Nippon TV Tokyo, Saturday in front of 1,405 spectators at the Ajinomoto Field Nishigaoka in Tokyo, Japan.
The outcome leaves Elfen Saitama dead last in the standings with 1 point after five losses and one draw. On the other hand, Tokyo Verdy are 3rd in the table with 10 points after three wins, one draw and two losses.
“In the previous game, I lost a goal early in the start, so in this fixture, I was aiming to get one point while being careful about the start. It was good that the players did their best as intended and scored the first goal,” stated coach Etsuko Handa’s translated comments.
The 25-year-old Bolden was brought in at the 62nd minute in place of Yushika Nakamura, who scored their team’s only goal in the game at the 25th minute, with her team already down by 3-1 as Handa sought to freshen up her attack and try to get something from the game.
Unfortunately for Elfen Saitama, it was NTV Tokyo Verde that got another goal before the game ended. Aemu Oyama struck NTV Tokyo Verde’s fourth goal of the match at stoppage time while Nanami Kitamura (35’ and 53’) and Momoka Kinoshita (37’) scored before her.
“It is a future task (to improve on because) we could not do it for 90 minutes to strengthen the defense as a team and aim for the chance of the counter,” furthered Handa.
Bolden and the rest of Elsen Saitama hope to bounce back when it hosts league leaders INAC Kobe Leonessa at the Kumagaya Athletic Stadium on October 30.
