Oita Trinita's fairy tale season continued with a 2-0 Nabisco Cup final win over Shimizu S-Pulse on Saturday to give the modest Kyushu club its first-ever silverware.
Second-half goals from Daiki Takamatsu and Ueslei were enough to give Trinita a well-deserved victory at National Stadium, passing the first milestone in what could turn out to be an unbelievably rewarding year for a side that finished 14th in the J. League in 2007.
Oita's fortunes since then are almost unrecognizable — currently two points off the top of the league table with just four games left to play, and now a trophy in the cabinet as concrete proof of the strides the team has made under manager Pericles Chamusca.