Aussie Eddy Bosnar gets in on the act

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.