Defending champions Kashima Antlers held their nerve to clinch the 2008 J. League title with a 1-0 win over Consadole Sapporo on Saturday.

Antlers began the final day of the season needing just a draw to secure the championship, but Takuya Nozawa's first-half strike at Sapporo Dome made sure the trophy would head back to Kashima for a record sixth time.

"I will remember this moment as one of the best of my life," Antlers manager Oswaldo Oliveira said after the match. "It is a very hard thing to win a championship twice in a row, but we have done it and it gives me a sense of real achievement.