S-Pulse 1-1 Kyoto

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 1-1 Kyoto
Hara 4 -----------------------Diego 89

Att. 14221

Line Up

GK Nishibe

DF Ichikawa
DF Hiraoka
DF Iwashita
DF Ota

MF Hyodo
MF Ito T.
MF Ono

FW Hara
FW Johnsen
FW Edamura

Subs Used

Nagai on for Hara (81)
Omae on for Edamura (91)
Ito S. on for Hyodo (92)

Report

Shit. Horrendous defending on the equaliser. Sluggish play for the majority of the game against a team who will be average in J2 next year.

Kick off

Another kick off on Sunday

I was free, so I went here

Video

Highlights. At least Hara's goal was good.

S-Pulse 1-2 Yokohama F. Marinos

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 1-2 Yokohama F. Marinos
Okazaki 30---------------- Hyodo 2
---------------------------------Nakamura 53

Att. 20019

Report

Bollocks.

There's no report for this because I have to get to bed and I'm off to Niigata in the morning. Because of that, I may or may not be able to update this page after Tuesday's game. Worst case scenario it'll be done Sunday evening after the derby.

Antlers 2- 1 S-Pa (Fuz)

Fuz writes:

Not got a lot to say. Yet again wondered at team selection, substitutions were made far too late and for the wrong players. Hyodo missed a ball near the goal because he found it preferable to fiddle with his shorts than pay attention to the game. Johnsen is still too slow and clumsy. Nishibe apparently chooses to go to clown training instead of football practice.

And judging by the reactions around me down Dream House, I'm not the only one who thinks so.

Basically, Mr Hasegawa should get himself down to Hello Work, because I don't see him having a job after this season, if he survives that long.

S-Pulse vs Kashiwa - at least we didn't lose....

I didn't get to the game today as there is a potential future S-Pulse player growing inside me and I didn't want to get sick from the weather and therefore endanger any possibility of having a UK Ultra in the team one day, but I did manage to watch it on T.V.

Despite saying only a win would be acceptable I find myself relieved with the draw - yet again we went down a goal early on in the second half - yet again more or less due to Nishibe. Why that man seems to be unable to catch the ball instead of batting it away all the time I will never know. We were very lucky it wasn't two when he did exactly the same thing just a little later on, to my sheer disbelief.

Still not entirely convinced with what Kenta is up to... was surprised to see Nishibe in the starting line up after last week, although happy that Johnsen was dropped. When he did come on he looked a bit more ready to fight than before so perhaps that was the kick up the backside he needed - and he was integral to Oka-Chan's goal. The goal was a massive relief and was a nice piece of work between Okazaki, Johnsen and even Hara getting in on the action.

I really want to see Paulo on the park - he's not getting on even as a sub and I really believe given the chance he could be a fantastic addition to the team.

Let's see how Wednesday goes for now, but there is still a long way to go before Kenta and the boys redeem themselves for Black Sunday.

On a side note - WHAT THE HELL were the mid-game adverts all about? I've never been more pissed off by a commercial in my life - football should not be interrupted by anything, least of all people trying to sell me their junk. That's what half time is for, along with running to the loo and for those able to drink, stocking up on 2nd half booze.

Gutted.

I don't know about Shizza, but that one word explains exactly how I am feeling tonight, and I suspect I am not the only one.

I really don't get it this season. There have been so many games where I've watched safe in the knowledge that we were playing better football or were the better team and then later have headed home disappointed. Games that should have been victories turning into draws, and when we should get a point we often end up with nothing. Frustrating to say the least.

Oka-chan, my personal hero, got us off to a good start a brisk 6 minutes in and although it was one -all at half time I felt we were evenly matched and we had a good shot at winning the game, but I would have settled for a draw given that Grampus have been one of the better sides this year and that we were away from home. Yajima came on and blasted a beautiful little number into the top right-hand corner of the net and confirmed my belief - for yes, we STILL believe - that we could win.

And then what happens? Nishibe decides that he hasn't done his clown routine for a while and true to form, royally buggers it up and gifts Nagoya an equalizer. My fellow UK Ultras and I had a hard time believing it really happened, especially after a great save in the first half. (Speaking of saves, the Nagoya goalie had to go to some length to keep us out in the first, just catching a great little shot with the tips of his fingers, lucky git.) Unfortunately Grampus rapidly followed their equalizer with a free kick by Tamada and put themselves into the lead.

But still, we believers declared that all was not lost and there were a solid 30 minutes for us to equalize, possibly even take the lead again. And certainly we dominated the last half hour with Grampus only breaking away a few times, giving us one very hairy moment towards the end when it looked like being an extremely unjust result of 4-2. Honestly, I think I would have cried. Despite pounding the pressure and the addition of Hara, we just couldn't get the ball to hit the back of the net. Too many silly shots squandered, too many occasions when the ball was passed to the invisible man, and too many mistakes.

I guess that's football, and its just the way the cookie crumbles... but I would really like to see us playing the way I know we can. So much young talent in the team willing to score, so lets see them do it!

That said, good to see Okazaki in the starting line up again, he's clearly hungry for first team football and is getting the ball in the net regularly, hopefully a few more games will see him increase his goal tally, and Hara too if he gets on the park sooner in future.

Oh, and it has to be said - both Shizza and I were impressed with the way Nagoya didn't waste time messing around in the last ten minutes - so many other teams do, especially when there is real danger of your opponents getting that equalizer. Then again, maybe they didn't perceive any danger...