By Chris Wright
Having washed up in sixth spot in the J2 League (Japan’s second tier) Montedio Yamagata after the full 42-game schedule, Montedio Yamagata booked themselves a game against Jubilo Iwata in the play-off semi-finals this Sunday just gone.
With honours pretty much even and both teams going in at the break level, the score stood locked at 1-1 for the entire second half with things becoming increasingly fraught as time wicked away.
(As Jubilo finished higher in the league (fourth) than Montedio, they would’ve gone through automatically had the game finished 1-1)
However, cometh the 92nd minute, cometh the man – with Montedio ‘keeper Norihiro Yamagishi rising like a Japanese Masu salmon to deftly glance home the winning goal past his opposite number to secure his side’s passage to the play-off finals.
Cue: Pandemonium…
Super slo-mo…
What a finish – and thanks to it, Montedio Yamagata will now face JEF United in the play-off final on December 7th.
As for Carlisle ‘keeper Jimmy Glass and his proud legacy, there’s more on that one here.
(Via 101GG)