That was the signal for the home team to put paid to Gamba's hopes and it was Thai star Theerathon who received the ball in the middle of the park, about 22 yards out, and his shot beat the un-sighted Masaaki Higashiguchi, rooted to the spot as the ball flew past him.
The unfortunate Higashiguchi then conceded a second eight minutes into the 2nd half, after he had darted off his line to smother an attempt well from Teruhito Nakagawa, but the ball fell kindly for the diminutive F.Marinos winger, who slipped the ball into the path of Marcos Junior, who in turn sailed the ball into the empty net from the edge of the area. Gamba were 2-0 down and not an hour gone
On 58 minutes Yasuhito Endo and Patric entered the fray and this move soon paid dividends as Endo and Kosuke Onose exchanged quick passes on the edge of the home area before Onose skipped through three defenders to blast home a goal at the 'keeper's near post. Moments later it was Ademilson's turn to hit the woodwork after an Endo crossfield pass had split the home defence. The ball was just not running for the away team today!
With Gamba looking for an equaliser there were now gaps at the back for F.Marinos to exploit and Nakagawa almost did that, himself hitting a post before the ball bounced out and Keita Endo was found. The youthful F.Marinos substitute was not afraid to run at his defender and shoot, and the ball found its way in at the low near post to give the game to the home team, 3-1.
Once again, not the right result but some promising football played by Tsuneyasu Miyamoto's fledgling team. bring on F.C. Tokyo in the Levain Cup, and let's reach a semi-final!
Team - Higashiguchi, Takao, Miura, Kim, Onose, Ideguchi, Fukuda, Yajima (Endo, 58), Kurata (Patric, 58), Ademilson, Usami (Watanabe, 84)
Goal: Kosuke ONOSE 67'