MEIJI YASUDA J2 League leaders Shonan Bellmare pulled even further ahead of the pack in after the weekend’s Round 30 action.

The Kanagawa side easily dispatched last-place Thespa Kusatsu Gunma with a 2-0 road win, following up a first-minute own-goal with Naoki Yamada’s third of the season in the 12th minute.

Bellmare ended the weekend seven points ahead of second-place Avispa Fukuoka after the Kyushu outfit’s match against Mito Hollyhock ended in a scoreless draw on Sunday evening.

A wild encounter at Toyota Stadium saw third-place Nagoya Grampus fall 3-2 to Yokohama FC, who rose to seventh. 

That result allowed Tokushima Vortis to move within a point of the J.League co-founders following their 1-1 draw to Montedio Yamagata.

Just behind them with 50 points are V-Varen Nagasaki who notched a narrow 1-0 win against Kyoto Sanga, while Tokyo Verdy easily won their fourth straight in a 3-0 romp at Ehime FC as Alan Pinheiro scored twice and Carlos Martinez sealed the result in the 86th minute.

At the bottom of the table, both Renofa Yamaguchi in 21st and Roasso Kumamoto in 20th lost home fixtures to Oita Trinita and Fagiano Okayama respectively, while Kamatamare Sanuki won an unprecedented fifth straight match to move into 19th place.

While the J1 League breaks for the international break and the Levain Cup quarter-finals, the J2 will continue next weekend with Round 31 set for September 2 and 3.