S-Pulse 2-1 Yamagata

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 2-1 Yamagata
Takahara 68 ----\\\------ Okubo 88 (pen)
Brosque 94 (pen)

Att. 10745

Line Up

GK Usui

DF Tsujio
DF Iwashita (Yellow 26)
DF Bosnar
DF Ota

MF Ono
MF Hiraoka
MF Brosque

FW Omae
FW Takahara
FW Takagi

Subs Used

Kobayashi on for Omae (58)
Edamura on for Ono (68)
Nagai on for Hiraoka (89)

Report

Blimey O'Reilly. Not good for the nerves in any way, and not something that can sugarcoat an otherwise below par performance, but an ending to the game to blow away some of the cobwebs that may have recently gathered around the stands of Nihondaira. When Alex calmly stroked his 94th minute penalty home the place simply exploded.

We've all seen endings to games like this before. Or rather we've seen them up to the late, late equaliser and then the frantic attacking of the conceding team. More often than not it leads to nought by frustration, but last night, deep in injury time, a needless grasping of Takahara's shirt while he jumped for a header meant penalty number three - this time for the home team. It was a soft penalty, but then I'm struggling to remember the last time I saw one that wasn't. You just don't don't see clattering "professional" fouls anymore, which is something of a shame, if I'm honest. :)

A first half stoppage time penalty which had to be retaken (and then Usui saved it)

Yamagata should stay up this year. I hope they do. If they can avoid major injuries and play with the fight they showed in this game then they will. Until we scored, and especially in the opening 15 minutes of the second half, we were struggling to deal with them. Their first penalty, in first half stoppage time, was finely saved after it was made to be retaken by Usui, and this no doubt changed the game.

Edamura was brought on in the 68th minute to create different options in the centre and to allow Alex to move further forward. The effects were immediate. A fine passing move from defence to attack ended in a brilliant run by Ota into the danger zone. He played it across the six yard box to Takahara who knocked in the easiest goal of his career. He's on four for the season and since he's been playing centre forward looks like scoring most games. Great to see him proving some of the doubters wrong. The best is still yet to come I don't doubt.

The moment our penalty was awarded

So yep, job done after a fashion, but three points is what counts. Saturday is off to Saitama for Takahara's old (if short lived) stomping ground. I know he'll be wanting to exorcise some of the memories of his time at the SaiSuta. A period when Urawa should have been building off of national and continental titles but were instead imploding spectacularly on and off the pitch. Not a surprise he couldn't perform under those circumstances. The poor fella as good as ran from Saitama at the first opportunity, and now playing in his old back yard in a stable environment he's showing what he can still do. Another couple on Saturday please mate!

Ghotbi and friend
:)

Ghotbi Says

Translated from the Japanese back to English by me. Any mistakes are my own.

"It was a really interesting game. Yamagata fought from start to finish. Especially up to the hour mark we were finding it hard to play our own game against their strong physical style. However, after the hour we were able to start playing our own high paced passing game using space well and scored a great goal.

After our goal we were able to control the game. But we couldn't convert our chances and Yamagata got a penalty, but after the equalising goal we showed great spirit to bounce back. Putting Nagai on mean we had two up front, and if you include the wingers, four. In that formation we could put pressure on Yamagata, create chances and ultimately forced a penalty.

It was a really exciting last half hour for the fans. I was delighted to see the supporters' happy faces at the end. Nihondaira is a special place."

Videos

Yet to find full highlights, so here's a few personal videos which tell the story. First, Yamagata's spot kick at the end of the first half. The first attempt was called back for encroachment. Call me a big softy, but seeing how happy the Yamagata fans are when the first kick goes in, I can't help feeling like a dick given the manner in which we beat them.



Taking the lead by way of Bosnar -> Ota -> Edamura -> Ota -> Takahara -> GOAL. Takahara at .40 makes me go :))))



Yamgata get a penalty in the 88th minute and Okubo makes no mistake.



Finally, our last gasp penalty:

S-Pulse 1-1 Yamagata (AET) S-Pa win 5-4 on Pens (Emp Cup 1/4 Final)

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 1-1 Yamagata (AET)
Bosnar 109 -----------------Tashiro 107

(S-Pa win 5-4 on Pens)

Att. 11719

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Ichikawa
DF Iwashita (yellow 118)
DF Bosnar
DF Ota

MF Hyodo
MF Honda
MF Ono (yellow 41)

FW Okazaki
FW Johnsen
FW Fujimoto

Subs Used

Omae on for Ono (70)
M. Yamamoto on for Fujimoto (88)
Kijima on for Omae (111)

Report

Well, that was a novel way to spend a Christmas afternoon. :) Due to the way the calender fell this year, it was all down to Daira on the 25th for the quarter final of the cup. 90 minutes in the bitterly cold wind, followed by 30 more of extra time, more than once I considered the warmth of my kotatsu and a nicely chilled Asahi. But we're lucky in Japan in that there are very few games held in the winter months, so if I couldn't rouse myself to shout us on to the semi finals, I wouldn't be much of a fan, eh?

It was a long old haul, but we saw it through. The tension going into the second half of extra time exploded when Yamagata took the lead through Tashiro. It left us stood staring in silence at the blue and white masses cavorting around the terraces. It was a scene of euphoric bedlam that would have been pretty impressive were it not so sickeningly annoying.

HO HO HO

But we were soon jumping around hugging total strangers thanks to the big fella Bosar. He rose to flick a corner into the top right which sailed majestically past the despairing keeper. After a couple of close calls for both teams, to penalties it went. All five of our heroes hit the net, and with Yamagata's second kicker's effort being stopped by Kaito, our season is extended another four days.

Wednesday we're all off to Ecopa to face defending champions Gamba Osaka in what is our fifth cup semi final appearance in three years. Only once out of the other four did we get through to the final, so the law of averages is surely on our side! :-D See you there!

Penalty shoot outs - not fun for anyone concerned

Videos

Highlights:



Full video of the shoot out:

Cup Quarter Final Venue Confirmed

Barry writes:

Emperor's Cup 1/4 Final, Nihondaira Stadium
Christmas Day 2010

S-Pulse v Yamagata

Kick off 1pm.

HO HO HO.

So much for Sendai! :) If we make it through, the semi final will be played at 1pm, Ecopa on December 29th.

Yamagata 0-3 S-Pulse

Barry writes:

Yamagata 0-3 S-Pulse
---------------------------------------Edamura 32
---------------------------------------Fujimoto 61
---------------------------------------M. Yamamoto 78

Att. 12543

Line Up

GK Nishibe

DF Ichikawa
DF Iwashita
DF Hiraoka (yellow 66, red 66)
DF Ota

MF Hyodo
MF Honda
MF Ono

FW Edamura
FW Johnsen
FW Fujimoto

Subs Used

Hiroi (yellow 71) on for Ono (68)
M. Yamamoto on for Fujimoto (76)
Hara on for Edamura (79)

Report

Hardly vintage S-Pulse, but a win is a win, and after last week, it'll do. It'll have to. The league title is a virtual impossibility, and the remaining two spots worth having are also other team's to lose, but all we can do is win. FC Tokyo at home next week who haven't won away in the league since July.

Jungo - who is attracting offers from Nagoya and F. Marinos

I thought we looked poor for the first twenty minutes, and I had a sinking feeling that we were going to struggle. But fair play to the boys, they turned it around and took the three points, even after Hiraoka was harshly send off. His second yellow was fair, but the first 30 seconds earlier was not a yellow. Speaking of cards, Iwashita was very lucky not to go in the book when he tumbled over with Yamagata's number 10, Tashiro. As the pair went down, Iwashita seemed to drive his foot up into his opponent's ribcage. Tashiro was, as you'd imagine, raging after, as neither the linesman or ref spotted it.

Job done. Win our next, and if things go our way, we may be back in with a shot at an ACL spot. But we'll see.

Videos

Yet to find decent highlights, but here's a personal video from behind the home goal. Our first and third are captured.

Yamagata 0-0 S-Pulse (Nabisco Cup)

Barry writes:

モンテディオ山形　０対０　清水エスパルス

Yamagata 0-0 S-Pulse

Att. 4102

Line Up

GK Takeda

DF Ichikawa
DF Hiroi
DF Arata
DF Ota

MF Ito
MF Yamamoto
MF Sugiyama

FW Omae
FW Nagai
FW Fujimoto

Subs Used

Hiraoka on for Arata (25)
Hara on for Fujimoto (57)
Nagasawa on for Nagai (70)

Report

With just two starting members remaining from Sunday's defeat of Sendai, it's clear Kenta's mind is more on Gamba Osaka this Saturday than midweek Nabisco Cup group games. Only Arata and Fujimoto were in the first eleven both Sunday and today, and with rare starts given to Hiroi and Sugiyama, it was almost like watching a different team entirely. Well, it would have been if I'd watched it. I didn't. So I'll leave the match report there.

What a draw does mean is that we've still in a qualification spot in Group B and a win against Marinos next month will put us in a great position to mount our campaign to progress. Today's second clean sheet in as many starts for rookie keeper Takeda also means we've gone eight games unbeaten at the start of this season. Now someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's a record unequalled in our history.

Blimey.

Videos

Huge respect to each and every one of you!

S-Pulse 3-0 Yamagata

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 3-0 Yamagata
Fujimoto 13
Okazaki 88
Teruyoshi 94

Att. 18517

Line Up

GK Nishibe

DF Ichikawa
DF Iwashita
DF Bosnar (Yellow 15)
DF Arata

MF Ono
MF Honda
MF Hyodo (Yellow 87)

FW Okazaki
FW Johnsen
FW Fujimoto

Subs Used

M. Yamamoto on for Ono (72)
Omae on for Fujimoto (78)
Teruyoshi on for Okazaki (90)

Report

Having nervously checked the weather forecast everyday leading up to Saturday I couldn't help worry we might be in for a wet opening home weekend. As it was Shizuoka was actually bathed in a gloriously warm sunshine as we filed through the turnstiles.

Getting there early is what it's all about

The performance was a solid one against a determined opponent. We had a good first half and took the lead though a Johnsen shot deflected wickedly off Jungo. It wrong footed the keeper and hit the back of the right in front of us. 1-0.

We should have made more of our superior first half possession, but it was still one zero at half time. The second half Yamagata were a much improved team, and it was a nervous 44 minutes before we put the game beyond doubt.

The match ball was dropped in by helicopter for some reason I missed

Our second came from Okazaki's pinpoint head. After a free kick was played out wide to Ichikawa, the cross was swung over to Shinji who was waiting at the far post. He managed to nod it back across goal right in front of the keeper. It ending up in the far corner. Unfortunately, Okazaki went off injured within moments after getting a knock in the mouth.

That wasn't where the story ended, as Shinji's replacement Ito Teruyoshi managed to grab his first goal for three years with the last action of the game. 3-0 may flatter us a little, but a win was fair.

Making friends

Videos

All from YouTube user ssnnddttyy's personal cam, here are the goals. Our first:



Our second:



Our third:

2010 Opening Two Weeks Fixtures Confirmed

Barry writes:

It was confirmed today that S-Pulse will start the 2010 campaign away at Sanfrecce Hiroshima on Saturday March 6th.

Week two, Saturday March 13th, will be our first home game of the season as we host Montedio Yamagata. Kick off times are yet to be confirmed.

Click here for the first two week's fixtures in full (in Japanese).

Whether or not I decide to make it two years in row down Big Arch way remains to be seen, but the home opener is a given. See you there!

1) 3/6 (Sat) Hiroshima v S-Pulse
2) 3/13 (Sat) S-Pulse v Yamagata

Yamagata 0-1 S-Pulse

Barry writes:

Yamagata 0-1 S-Pulse
---------------------------------------Johnsen 37

Att. 12270

Report

Our rich vein of form continued against Yamagata with a 1-0 victory up in the mountains. Now unbeaten in eleven, winning seven and drawing four, we climbed up to 2nd, just four points behind the severely faltering Antlers. There are eight games remaining, and as the title race starts to hot up, for the first time in years, we're right up there with a shot.

Our goal came from Johnsen after a pinpoint cross from Hyodo was met by The Big Norwegian. He was able to beat the defender and powered an excellent header into the back of the net which left the keeper no chance. This made up for an achingly close miss by Edamura twenty minutes earlier after an excellently penetrating run down the wing by a resurgent Ichikawa. That itself came not long after Iwashita very nearly added to his four goal tally this season, and it needed an excellent save from the Montedio keeper to deny him.

Yamagata caught us out on more than one occasion and it was far from a walk in the park. The home team have now lost their last four, and are in severe danger of the drop back to J2. Personally I hope they stay up, but they will have to be more decisive in front of goal if they're to manage it. At least twice they should have made more of their chances, and I couldn't help but think against a better team we'd have been punished.

In terms of statistics it was a pretty one-sided match, with 14-3 and 8-3 reflecting shots and corners both heavily in our favour. We face Kobe at home next week, and we'll have to be rather more deadly in front of goal if we want to close the gap on the defending champions further. After that we host Hiroshima, which is shaping up to be a huge game. Our final three games are against pretty tough opposition, so I'm hoping we can take some serious pointage over the next five weeks.

In the big picture this weekend, it was two big surprise results which let us gain ground on the top spot, with both Kashima and Frontale losing in games you would have put money on them winning. Gamba Osaka and Niigata both drew, and on Sunday Hiroshima could only draw with relegation threatened Kashiwa, so we end the weekend two points clear of 3rd with a better goal difference.

In all this chat, let's not forget that Kawasaki have the remaining 16 minutes of their rained off game with Kashima still to play. If they can hold onto their 3-1 lead, Kashima's goal difference will be cut by two, and join S-Pulse on plus 13. The title race is well and truly on!

--------------------

Having just read my own post back, I can't help but notice how measured and calm it all seems. Nothing could be further from the truth - I think the prospect of having a pop at the title is just playing havoc with my nerves! COME ON BOYS - NOW FOR THE FINAL PUSH TOWARDS GLORY!

WE BELIEVE!!!

Line up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Ichikawa
DF Iwashita
DF Arata
DF Ota

MF Edamura
MF Honda
MF Ito
MF Hyodo

FW Johnsen
FW Okazaki

Subs used

Fujimoto on for Edamura (68)
Paulo on for Okazaki (74)

Videos etc

Full highlights. The yak ends and the action starts at 0:48.



For official club photos, click here (top row). The Rising Sun's review of this, and all other J. League games this weekend, can be found here.

S-Pulse 4-1 Montedio Yamagata

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 4-1 Yamagata

Hara (5) -----------Hirose (46)
Own Goal (9)
Okazaki (51)
Johnsen (60)

Att. 17865

Report

What a glorious day to be an S-Pulse fan!

The sun was out down at Daira

Within ten minutes of the start, Yamagata's hardy travelling contingent must have been wondering why they bothered. 2-0 down to two admittedly slightly fortunate goals, they must have realised by then that it wasn't going to be their day.

Not that there were many, but most the empty seats were in the away area

Our first came from Hara who made no mistake in dispatching the ball into the net after a poor defensive error from the Montedio number three, Leonard. The lead was doubled just four minutes later when a half cleared ball fell to the recalled Ichikawa. He slammed it back in to the area. Was it a cross? Was it a shot? Who knows! All history will recall is that it took not one, but two deflections on it's was goalward, and ended up in the back of the net. Not surprisingly, it went down as an own goal.

For the rest of the first half we looked the more threatening team, but didn't really look like extending our lead. The next goal came within a minute of the restart, when Montedio burst down the left wing, floated a perfect ball to the far post, and due to the lack of defensive positioning, was slammed home by the blue and white attacker.

A banner urging us to sing up. "Silence is Prohibited"

At 2-1 with half the game to go, it could have swung either way. Lucky for us, we have a striker in some of the best form in the country. Fresh off the back of firing Japan to next year's World Cup, Okazaki was back in Shimizu and he didn't let us down. Five minutes after the Montedio goal, he took down a long ball from Iwashita on his chest, and it was with a classic Okachan finish that he smashed it home to make it 3-1 and push the game beyond the visitor's reach.

We kept surging forward and looked increasingly dangerous and growing in confidence as the game went on. Ten minutes later, an unstoppable Hara run down the wing and an inch perfect cross into the danger area was met by Johnsen for another priceless goal from the big man. They're rarely pretty, but they all count, and we love him for it!

Moments after the big Norwegian made it 4-1

Even after our fourth we weren't done, and were unlucky on a couple of occasions not to have grabbed a fifth. However, when we replaced Okazaki with Jungo and Johnsen with gangly youngster Nagasawa (why not Genki, Kenta?) our threat up from was gone at a stroke, and we just ran the clock down. But let's not be greedy; it was our third league win on the spin and was a great confidence building exercise in front of excellent home crowd. We're up to fifth and a whisker away from the ACL positions.

The defeat for the visitors, their heaviest since joining J1, leaves them without a win in six and drops them down to 15th. After their early season heroics, the reality of a long hard season seems to have arrived, and unless they can string a couple of results together, they'll be staring down the barrel of a relegation battle.

As for us, top work everyone, now bring on Tokyo next week! Before I sign off, I was wondering if it's even worth mentioning that Jubilo lost again today? Is it necessary to point out that when they played Yamagata at home they lost 6-2 and there were nearly 6000 less people in attendance? Not really, but I may as well. :)

Line Up

GK K. Yamamoto

DF Ichikawa
DF Iwashita
DF Kodama
DF Ota

MF Okazaki
MF Edamura
MF Ito
MF Hyodo

FW Johnsen
FW Hara

Subs used:

Fujimoto on for Okazaki (75)
Paulo on for Hyodo (78)
Nagasawa on for Johnsen (82)

Videos

Full highlights. Check out Okazaki's control on our third:



Loco Loco celebrations! First, the players:



Next, us lot:



Links

Official Pictures here. Read The Rising Sun's report on this, and all the other J1 matches this weekend, here. Includes full league table.

Shizuoka is Orange T-Shirt - now on sale!

Barry writes:

Yeah, yeah, I know the derby isn't until August, but why wait till then to get yourself in the mood? I recently knocked up a new t-shirt to accompany the original UK Ultras shirt which can now be seen donned by various people at any given game.

So to add to the above, I'm proud to unveil the new SHIZUOKA IS ORANGE shirt. With an original Shizuoka Derby logo on the front, and the all orange map of Shizuoka Prefecture on the back, you can at once display your pride in all things S-Pulse and demonstrate your stone-willed refusal to accept the legitimacy of J****o's existence.

This is available in regular and women's sizes. Click the image, or click here, to be whisked off to our online shop, where with just a few clicks (and your credit card number) you can purchase this year's hottest item.

Shirts are by Printfection and are produced in, and shipped from, the USA. This means all prices are in dollars. Click here for a handy currency converter. Happy shopping!

S-Pa v Yamagata Tickets Going Fast!

While I'm here, I should mention that tickets are selling well for next Saturday's clash with Yamagata. Only around 4000 are left with nearly two weeks to go, so don't leave it late - grab yours today. With five wins from six, and four victories on the bounce (three on the road) we're showing some good form, so don't miss out on the glory!

Need help getting tickets? Click here.

S-Pulse 0-1 Montedio Yamagata (Nabisco Cup)

Barry writes:

Well at least it wasn't 6-2. :)

8200 S-Pulse, and (maybe) 45 Yamagata supporters turned out

Yamagata were a very hard team to play against. They spent most the second half with eleven men behind the ball and / or five players swarming round our player in possession. They also didn't stop - they challenged for everything, they ran for everything and gave us a lesson in BOTHERING.

This wasn't helped by our endless, and I do mean endless, stream of unforced errors, sloppy errors in judgement and general hopelessness in maintaining anything beyond two or three minutes of threatening football at any one time. I can't be bothered to write much else, and if you'd been there too, you'd not begrudge me that one little bit.

The highlight of my, and quite possibly Fuz's, night was scoffing a Sasebo Burger before kick off. Much like a kebab at 4am, it doesn't look so good in the cold light of day, but trust me when I say is was bloody luverly.

Yum

Back to the league on Saturday, away to Niigata.

S-Pulse v Yamagata (Nabisco Cup - Preview)

Barry writes:

Seeing as I can't ever seem to mention Yamagata without bringing up that game, I may as well get it out the way early: MONTEDIO YAMAGATA SPANKED LITTLE JUBILO 6-2 ON THE OPENING DAY OF THE SEASON RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY EYES, AND I NEARLY SHIT MYSELF WITH MIRTH.

OK, that's that done.

Now onto the game in question: match day three of the 2009 Yamazaki Nabisco Cup. Due to the colourful way the tournament is organised this year, this is our and Yamagata's second game, but Kashiwa who currently sit top of the group have already played two. But they won't play tomorrow, so we can go top with a victory. Click here to let Wikipedia explain it all for you. All we need to worry about at this stage is grabbing three points.

This will be our eighth game in a month, so perhaps even above and beyond the fact it's the Nabisco group stage, expect to see some unfamiliar faces in the starting eleven tomorrow. I'm hoping to see Kaito in goal again after last Saturday. Having just come back from a long spell on the bench it'll help him regain his match sharpness. I also want to see Tsujio at the back, and Nagai start up front. Genki on the bench would also be nice. I've not seen him since he smashed the bar against JEF in the Emperor's Cup last year.

And, hey, why not put a couple of kids on the bench? Dong-Sub has been called up to the South Korean national team at under 15, 18 and, this year, under 20 levels, so I'd love to see him get a run out if things are going well. Perhaps that's a big if given recent weeks, but you never know.

This is our first ever meeting with Montedio "6-2" Yamagata, although they'll be back in a month for their league fixture. As for conditions, I'm pleased, no, I'm happy, no, I'm ABSOLUTELY BLOODY ECSTATIC to report that after Reysol, Chiba and Oita, the forecast is CLEAR for tomorrow. In hindsight, we got off lightly against Oita where the drizzle held off for the majority of the night. The following day torrential rain lashed Shizuoka all day long. If nothing else tomorrow, it'll just be nice novelty not to have to wring out my socks at full time.

We've not seen a plus 10000 evening crowd in the Nabisco for nearly a decade, and the last time wasn't even at Nihondaira. We drew in over 12000 to the wonderfully grassy Kusanagi Athletics Ground, in the centre of town and a short walk from Higashi Shizuoka Station, against Nagoya back in 2000. Will we see a five figure crowd tomorrow? I hope so, but I doubt it. Therein lies 'Daira's problem, but that's a whole other "special feature" to come when I get round to finishing it. In the meantime, just consider if the Kusanagi and surrounding sports grounds were redeveloped into a spanking new 40000 seater ground - with roof - and how many we would then get through the gates each week, even on rainy days! Hey, I can dream. :)

So yeah, three points tomorrow please, lads.

Jubilo Iwata 2-6 Montedio Yamagata

All football fans occasionally have times where they wonder why they bother. You can only put up with a certain number of dreary goal-less draws before you feel your commitment start to waver. The effort a fan puts in over years of trudging off to stadiums far and wide is rarely repaid by games of pulsating, edge-of-your-seat excitement. But every now and again, there comes a match. A match which reminds you why you love the game. Today was just such an occasion.

Yamagata Fans Revel in a Famous Victory

New boys Montedio Yamagata made their first ever top flight appearance down Shizuoka way against Jubilo Iwata - three times J1 champions. A game almost universally predicted as a home win, as I left my flat into the bitterly cold winds whipping in from Suruga Bay, I almost had second thoughts. Almost, but not quite. And I'm so glad I didn't.

By no means a work of art, the game had guts. The game had fight. And the game had goals. Eight, yep, that's right, eight of 'em. From Gilsinho's theatrical dive which gave Jubilo an undeserved penalty on 17 minutes, to the two goals for Yamagata right at the end which capped their dream start to J1 life, the game was a raw demonstration of the spirit of the underdog.

Yamagata took the game to Jubilo, even after they had suffered the early injustice of that penalty. They turned it round towards the end of the first half with two goals to go in at the break with the lead. Early in the second half, Yamagata should have gone 3-1 up when Hasegawa was through on the keeper, but he blew it when he tried a cheeky lob. Not long after that, Gilsinho made it all square after a period of sustained Jubilo pressure, but from the 75th minute in, the visitors ran absolute riot through the hapless home team.

The ball is played in to the the advancing Hasegawa (15) who made it 3-2

The complete inability to deal with the height of Hasegawa and Leonard gave Montedio an open invitation to practice their finishing, and more often than not they took it. Witness for yourself the fifth goal here.

The travelling support (who, by the time they made it home, had covered a cool 700 miles) were in wonderland, and I, as an S-Pulse fan behind enemy lines, just sat back and let it all wash over me. The J. League's been gone too long, and in the opening week I was lucky enough to witness something truly memorable - Jubilo getting hammered, annihilated, destroyed at home by a team many tip to head straight back to J2. Going by today, there's only one team likely to end the season relegated. Last year's play off survival may yet prove to have been a mere stay of execution for the blue half of Shizuoka!

It was a game which, for very different reasons, will go down in history for both teams. All I want to say is thank you and well done to Yamagata - I went along merely to get a football fix prior to next week's game with Marinos, but way more than that, you gave me a hell of a spectacle to enjoy. It was one of those games you come away from still buzzing and remembering just why you love the game so much. The long-faced Jubilo fans who streamed home long before the final whistle probably have a different opinion, though... :-D

Montedio's Travelling Hordes

There was no shortage of goals in the other Saturday games, either. Fellow promotees Hiroshima also battered their opponents, and Niigata put in four away from home to contribute to the 31 goal bonanza.

FC Tokyo 1-4 Niigata
Marinos 2-4 Hiroshima
Nagoya 3-2 Oita
Chiba 0-3 G. Osaka
Kashima 2-0 Urawa
Kawasaki 1-1 Kashiwa

S-Pulse play tomorrow - six away goals would be just fine, please!

Full Jubilo - Montedio highlights here:

J. League is back! 2009 Starts Here!

I’ve had a holiday back in England and I've taken up snowboarding. I’ve watched a three hour film or two. I’ve designed a t-shirt and I’ve had root canal surgery on a troublesome molar. I’ve visited the biggest floral clock on planet earth. I’ve read prodigious amounts of literature. I’ve rediscovered the Civilization game series and I’ve converted to Buddhism. So how’s your closed season been?

It’s not been easy, but hang on in there folks, the 2009 instalment of the most exciting league in the world is only days away. Amazing J welcome back – we’ve missed you!

It was a relatively low key off season all told. There was less transfer activity than in previous years, but for ourselves, not a bad winter break by any stretch. With Johnsen and Nagai coming in to fill the spaces left by the departed Nishizawa and Yajima, we’re equipped this year with a far stronger presence up front, more attacking options, and all-round greater fire power; the lack of which cost us so dearly in 2008.

Our meekness in front of goal last year was the difference between not only a Nabisco Cup title, but also an ACL spot. That’s a fact. But what’s also a fact is that over the course of the season, the development of us as a team, and in particular the progress of Okazaki and Hara in the final third, was tangible. In the second half of the season we were the best team in the country.

Going by pre-season, Kenta is looking to stick with 4-4-2, which is no bad thing. Paulo’s on top of his game, Edamura is instrumental, Hyodo’s leading the troops as captain and Teru is as essential as ever. Let’s also not forget the huge strides made by Yamamoto and Honda last year. The return of Jungo after that injury at the Omiya Monsoon only adds to our options, but he may have a job ahead of him reclaiming a regular starting spot!

We lost Takagi to Gamba, but we’re no pushovers at the back even minus Kazumichi. Aside from defensive regulars Aoyama and Ichikawa, youngster Iwashita has been coming on nicely. He can expect a lot more starts this year, and I’m also looking forward to seeing what new signing Ota is made of.

Being a mere supporter, I’m glad it’s not up to me to work out and select the best starting combination from that lot! That’s down to Kenta. It’s just my job to criticise when it goes wrong. ;-) Seriously, though I have faith in our man at the helm to work our newcomers into the team.

We start our campaign in Saitama with a trip to Omiya. Due to the unfortunate way the fixtures fell (Nagoya away in a fortnight was always high on my list, and as much as I’d like to, I can’t get away with two BDOs in such quick succession!) I’ll be at Dream House watching it on the big screen.

Our first home game is against Marinos, and it won’t be much short of a sell out. Personally, I can’t bloody wait! After that, we squeeze in three more games this month, but it’s at the end of April when it really kicks up a notch. Can we get to five games in two weeks (including a Hiroshima BDO, Urawa at Ecopa and the away derby)? Yes we can!

This Saturday, to tide me over till next week, I’ll be heading deep into the countryside to hit the Yamaha. It’s just a happy coincidence that Jubilo's opponents and J1 new boys Yamagata share a common kit with my first footballing love, Brighton and Hove Albion.

Montedio Yamagata and Brighton and Hove Albion - An Unlikely Partnership

What with the nearest Albion games being 6000 miles away, it doesn’t get too many airings these days, but I’ll be clad in the blue and white stripes this Saturday – go Montedio! :-)