Kashima routed as J-League football reopens

TOKYO (AFP)– Japan's disrupted J-League resumed on Saturday after it was forced to halt matches by last month's quake and tsunami, with disaster-hit Vegalta Sendai claiming a narrow victory over Kawasaki Frontale.

But fellow quake victims and seven-time champions Kashima Antlers suffered a humiliating 3-0 defeat to Yokohama Marinos, with Shohei Ogura scoring as early as the third minute and the final blow an own goal by Japan international defender Daiki Iwamasa.

Sendai beat Kawasaki Frontale 2-1 in a tense match with defender Jiro Kamata hitting home the decider with just three minutes left on the clock.

"My team got the momentum with the support of the spectators," said Sendai coach Makoto Teguramori.

"I think the feelings of the whole country for our team in the northern coastal area, in the disaster area, got into that winning goal and gave us a win. We really got off to a good start. We want to keep the momentum."

Kashima have had to shift their home games to Tokyo's National Stadium because of damage to their own stadium caused by the 9.0-magnitude quake on March 11.

Their Brazilian coach Oswaldo Oliveira was suspended for one game after the the opener on March 6, and assistant coach Ryosuke Okuno worked in his place Saturday.

"I was very disappointed that we couldn't give a win to our supporters who had expected us to win today. Our players are a bit nervous recently and rush too much," said Okuno.

"We couldn't play our normal game. It's really disappointing. We must do our best day by day looking forward to our next game."

Kashiwa Reysol took top spot in the table with two straight wins after beating Omiya Ardija 1-0 thanks to a lone goal by Brazilian Reandro Domingues, who struck home a rebound off goalkeeper Takashi Kitano in the 55th minute.

In other games, Shimizu S-Pulse secured their first win of the season, beating Avispa Fukuoka 1-0 with forward Genki Omae scoring a direct free kick from 17 metres in the 80th minute.

Vissel Kobe failed to keep the lead set by Yoshito Okubo as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Ventforet Kofu.

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