Shimizu S-Pulse 2 - 1 Jubilo Iwata (SDT Cup)

The result was a pleasant one for Shimizu S-Pulse fans, but Kenta Hasegawa's men didn't exactly impress in their pre-season friendly with local rivals Jubilo Iwata.

The team from the orange half of Shizuoka came from behind after Jubilo striker Gilsinho opened the scoring with a clinical finish, only for an equaliser a minute from time from substitute Kazuki Hara to snatch the "SDT Cup" from Jubilo's grasp.

If Jubilo fans were annoyed by the last-minute goal, things got even worse three minutes into stoppage time when the impressive Shinji Okazaki blasted home to increase the gloom for the visiting supporters.

In front of an impressive crowd of 11,284 the hosts bossed the game for the opening twenty-five minutes but then appeared to fall asleep for the rest of the match.

New signing Frode Johnsen had some decent touches but it will clearly take time for the lanky Norwegian to strike up a combination with strike partner Okazaki - while fellow new arrival Yuichiro Nagai was missing due to concerns over his fitness. 

Off the pitch, the new naming rights deal struck with "Outsourcing" kicks in at Shimizu's J. League home opener against Yokohama F. Marinos on March 14, so it was into the more familiar "Nihondaira Stadium" that fans filed - with most arriving early to see Shimizu's reserves beat Jubilo's reserves 2-1 thanks to goals from Genki Omae and Shun Nagasawa, after Jubilo striker Hiroki Bandai had opened the scoring for the visitors.

Jubilo's reserve team shirts were probably the most useless pieces of apparal I've ever seen - it took me twenty-five minutes to recognise that their shirts were numbered, so well done to whomever thought that plain white against a pale blue background would work - while it was nice to see the Jubilo team bus inglamorously parked out the front of the stadium, with S-Pulse not bothering to open the parking bay for their local rivals. 

All in all it was a decent day out for S-Pulse fans, who were no doubt compelled to turn out in such numbers by the fact that Shizuoka Dai-ichi TV ironically didn't bother to broadcast the own friendly they helped sponsor.

But with the J. League season just around the corner, there is plenty for S-Pulse coach Hasegawa to consider given what was a rusty-looking display from his team.