Ground 103: Ajinomoto Stadium

It was lucky I'd had a few drinks beforehand because this was a dire, dire game. At kick-off Omiya were second bottom, behind Verdy only on goal difference. A few thousand aimless hoofs and one bit of soft defending later they were waist deep in sticky stuff and, after six defeats in a row, looking dead certs for the drop to J2. In England the atmosphere would have turned nasty long before Diego's late winner, but the Omiya fans carried on singing regardless, the final score incidental to the enjoyment of a sunny day out. At full-time the players stood in a line and bowed to the away end. We tidied up our beer cans, dropped them into rubbish bags at the exit, and headed home.