How about that Keiji Tamada? You go and criticise the bloke for his useless performances for the national team, and then he goes and scores one of the free-kicks of the season to add to his first half equaliser in Nagoya's pulsating 3-2 win over Shimizu S-Pulse last night.

Speaking of that equaliser, time is surely up for Shimizu's error-prone keeper Yohei Nishibe. The former Urawa shot-stopper was outstanding last season, but he could have done better than to deflect Yoshizumi Ogawa's cross in the first half straight into the path of Tamada.

Nagoya's second equaliser was even worse, with Nishibe flapping at a cross that allowed the diminutive Magnum to head home and make the score 2-2. Then came Tamada's stupendous left-foot free-kick, as Nagoya twice fought back from a goal down to claim a sensational 3-2 win.

The win moves the Toyota-backed outfit back into top spot in the standings, with Dragan Stojkovic's team well placed to break up the usual duopoly of Urawa Reds and Kashima Antlers as the J. League braces itself for an epic finale.  

"Which one of you bitches wants to dance?

Hey, you know when you're doing the usual sort of threesome thing you do of a weekend and, you know, the moonlight's bouncing of your heads and your arses and everything... does that not get a bit confusing?

Right, look, this is you, okay... tra la la la la la la la la la la la laaaaa la la!

Millwall, that's the one. Do you know this chant? Er, Millwall, Millwall you're really dreadful and all your girlfriends are unfulfilled and alienated."

*Whack*

So goes cantankerous bookshop owner Bernard Black's encounter with a trio of Millwall-supporting skinheads in the TV-comedy "Black Books," when Bernard is attempting to get out of doing his taxes by somehow injuring himself.

I have no idea if Millwall's reputation for thuggery is still deserved. Quite frankly I don't even know which division they're in. The last I heard of Millwall their fans were seemingly running amok in Budapest in a UEFA Cup tie against Ferencváros, but as that was a few seasons ago I have no idea whether things have calmed down since then.

One thing I know is that there is not that much to like about Kashiwa Reysol. Their hardcore supporters are a bunch of wannabe hooligans and their football team is not much better. So I was delighted when Shimizu S-Pulse beat Kashiwa Reysol 3-2 at a balmy Nihondaira Stadium last night.

It was a most un-Japanese of fixtures. It got off to an inauspicious start for your's truly, when I stumbled into the ground five minutes after kick-off. I'd like to think there was a more noble cause for my tardiness, but the truth is that I was scoffing down a ham-and-cheese sandwich on the lounge at home, warily eyeing the clock in the knowledge that as every minute passed there was an increasing likelihood that I was about to miss something important. It didn't help that I dropped into the convenience store to buy a couple of beers that I polished off en route.

By the time I arrived, S-Pulse were leading 1-0 thanks to Shinji Okazaki's goal. They made it two when Takuma Edamura stooped to head home at the far post just ten minutes in. Reysol pulled a goal back through Minoru Suganuma - who seemed to react by booting a water bottle into the stand behind the goal... didn't Eddy Bosnar get suspended for that just the other day? - before Kashiwa drew level before half-time from the spot. Now, I might not have had the best of views being about 90 metres away from the action, and it probably doesn't help that I hate Kashiwa Reysol, but from where I was standing it looked as though Reysol striker Franca simply slipped over in the steamy conditions, rather than being pulled down by Keisuke Iwashita. Whatever, the ex-Bayer Leverkusen striker coolly converted the spot-kick as the two teams were locked at 2-2 at the break.

For some reason that I didn't quite catch there was a fireworks display at half-time, and with the wind blowing down from the hills and across the ground, Nihondaira took on an eerie feel as smoke billowed across the pitch. It may or may not have contributed to Shinji Okazaki's second goal - he stuck out a foot to deflect a thunderous cross-come-shot passed Takanori Sugeno, and thereafter the match descended into a kick-fest, with the worst culprit Reysol substitute Alex. He was booting things left, right and centre... and none of them seemed to be the ball. It was hardly surprising when he earned himself a second yellow card for almost snapping off Keisuke Iwashita's leg, and despite the fact that Iwashita appeared to be suffering a near-death experience on the pitch, it didn't stop the mouthy Franca from accusing Iwashita of play-acting, as he tried to lift the prone S-Pulse defender back to his feet.

In the end the victory was wildly celebrated by S-Pulse fans, as it lifts Shimizu above local rivals Jubilo Iwata and into fourteenth place in the standings. It shut Reysol's travelling support up as well, and all the juvenile jibes about Shimizu's family-friendly atmosphere will have meant nothing for the Reysol fans on their long trip back to Chiba. A great night out for S-Pulse fans, then, although I must apologise to Millwall, who surely don't play the kind of anti-football on display from Kashiwa in this one.

The O-bon holidays have prompted an eerie atmosphere around the port city of Shimizu, with the streets deserted as people return to their places of birth to pay homage to the dead.

Outside the footpaths sizzle, with the occasional breeze doing little to cool the simmering summer temperatures, while those that have remained in the town no doubt spending their time in the comfort of air-conditioned indoors.

Ironic, then, that Shimizu S-Pulse will find themselves in a pressure-cooker of an atmosphere come Sunday evening, as they welcome Yokohama F. Marinos down the Pacific coastline to what will be a sold-out Nihondaira Stadium. Only a handful of tickets remain for this clash between 15th placed S-Pulse and their 16th placed port city rivals, in what is a make-or-break game for both teams.

Yokohama F. Marinos recently disposed of coach Takashi Kuwahara - who won championships with Jubilo Iwata, replacing him with novice Kokichi Kimura. To suggest that Kimura's tactics so far have been puzzling would be an understatement to say the least, with Kimura's first order of business to throw Brazilians Lopes and Roni out of his starting eleven (Roni has since joined Gamba Osaka), while pushing dynamic playmaker Koji Yamase into a striking role.

It seems that "positions" are an abstract concept for Kimura, who has happily played midfielders as defenders, defenders as midfielders and, just for good measure, both defenders and midfielders as attackers. The jury is still out on the new man in charge, who only managed to record his first win in the league last weekend. That came in a 2-1 win over Gamba Osaka, who Marinos had coincidentally beaten 2-1 in the second leg of their League Cup quarter-final just days beforehand, although Gamba managed to progress on the away goals rule.    

The Tricolore are in the embarrassing position of occupying the relegation/promotion playoff place, and while many will suggest that the Kanagawa giants are far too good a team to go down - many said the same thing about Sanfrecce Hiroshima last season. A win at Nihondaira, however, would see Marinos leapfrog none other than Shimizu S-Pulse in the standings.

All to play for, then, in what will be a ferocious clash watched by more than 20,000 fans in one of Japan's most pictureseque venues. Fans will no doubt hope for a cool ocean breeze to stir up from the Pacific come kick-off, but there's no doubt that the atmosphere inside Nihondaira will be red-hot, as teams from two of Japan's most important ports clash in this critical fixture. 

After his venomous left-foot free-kick against Kawasaki Frontale helped propel JEF United to the League Cup quarter-finals, Australian defender Eddy Bosnar scored an even more important goal for the Chiba outfit this weekend... particularly as JEF United were knocked out of the League Cup at the quarter-final stage last week.

Despite propping up the J. League table bottom club JEF United out-fought and out-enthused league leaders Kashima Antlers in a 3-1 victory at a packed Fukuda Denshi Arena, with the much-travelled Bosnar - once on the books at Everton - opening the scoring with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, as he smashed home an unerring left-foot free-kick just minutes before half-time. His goal was the lanky defender's first in the league, although in a game of high drama it was barely even the pick of the bunch, as United's talismanic front-man Seiichiro Maki chimed in with two superbly taken headers to give fans in Chiba renewed hope that their team can launch an improbable escape from the drop.

Ex-Liverpool first team coach Alex Miller will no doubt forgive Bosnar his former Everton connections, with Bosnar's Glaswegian tactician praising his side's efforts for the victory against the defending league champions, before pointing out that "it's only one win." Indeed the three points weren't even enough to lift United above second-from-bottom Consadole Sapporo in the standings, and with Yokohama F. Marinos also winning this weekend, things are looking increasingly bleak at the bottom for both JEF United and Consadole Sapporo.

Losing in the League Cup quarter-finals to Nagoya Grampus last week was an added blow for a team that won back-to-back League Cup titles in 2005 and 2006. To add insult to injury United were drawn away at fellow J1 club Shimizu S-Pulse in the Emperor's Cup this year, with a Fourth Round trip to Nihondaira Stadium hardly the easy draw fans were craving this November. By then United may have already said goodbye to top-flight football, as one of only six J. League teams to feature in every season in the Japanese first division looks set for life in J2 next year. They'll need a few more goals from Eddy Bosnar to avoid that fate, but for now the Chiba Dogs are no doubt basking in the glory of one of the most unexpected wins of the season.