Wednesday, April 29, 2009

R11 vs Kataller Toyama

Kataller Toyama 3 - 0 FC Gifu (ht 1-0)

Toyama. A beautiful town surrounded by mountains and sea. Also has a team that can give us a good ass-whipping even though they were only promoted to the J2 this year.
It was the first time that the two teams had faced each other, and this was when Gifu was supposed to show that they were their seniors in the J2.
Shots at goal were pretty evenly split but where Gifu lacked ideas in front of the box and a finishing touch, Toyama didn't.
So Gifu has the worst defense in the J2. Youth and inexperience is costing the team dearly. The same can also be said about up front.
Next game is the "Green Derby" in Nagaragawa. Can Gifu give their fans something to smile about??

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

R10 vs Sagan Tosu

FC Gifu 0 - 1 Sagan Tosu (ht 0-0)

Another game at Nagaragawa, another loss. With a sea full of water on the field this made for an interesting game for the 1500 spectators to appreciate, laugh at, and cringe at.
Sagan played the better wet weather game, whereas Gifu defended like demons for the whole game bar the one-goal scene when GK Noda went to puch away a goal shot but it deflected into the goal. A pity really.
In saying that Gifu deserved to lose. 4 shots at goal ain't gonna get you a win.. unless youre Sapporo at Yokohama...
Of to Toyama tomorrow... predicting a draw...

Sunday, April 19, 2009

R9 vs Shonan Bellmare

Shonan Bellmare 2 - 2 FC Gifu (ht 1-1)

After wednesday nights lacklustre display against Sendai, Gifu bounced back and fought out a tough draw at Shonan. Gifu struck first when Katagiri floated a beautiful goal in after 19 minutes. But the writing was on the wall when first Shonan struck back before halftime when Gifu failed to clear a free kick miss, and then in the 55th minute when a Sakamoto strike unluckily rebounded of a Gifu players leg and into the goal.
10 minutes later though, Gifu levelled the score when FW Sato latched on to a beautiful through pass from Nagayoshi.
This set the scene for a tense final 25 minutes but both teams failed to capitalise on some great chances to win the game.
A great game all-in-all. For Gifu to come out with a point from enemy territory and play level with 2nd place Shonan was a great effort. Still, this was probably their best chance to beat Shonan and unfortunately they just fell short.

R8 vs Vegalta Sendai

FC Gifu 0 - 2 Vegalta Sendai (0-1)

Being a supporter of both teams I'm always wondering who I should support when it comes to this game. So instead of sitting on the fence I decided to get out there and support FC Gifu for this one. I was rewarded with a uninspirational, at times boring, loss for the boys in green.
The paltry crowd of under 2000 would have gone home why they even bothered to turn up.
Vegalta certainly didn't play too well, but well enough to take advantage of another Gifu defensive miss, and a PK situation... Zzzz
Wake me up on sunday!

Friday, April 10, 2009

R7 vs Mito Hollyhock

Mito Hollyhock 3 - 3 FC Gifu (ht 3-1)

The bogey men came back to visit their beloved Mito today.
The first half started off well when after 3 minutes a Mito defensive miss allowed FW Park to score his first goal for FC Gifu. The lead was short-lived though as this time a Gifu defensive miss allowed Mito into the game. 20 odd minutes later, loose marking on Mito star FW Arata meant Gifu found themselves 2-1 behind, and then a futher defensive error and some slick Mito counter saw Gifu go 3-1 down at the half.
In the first half Gifu put in 8 shots to Mito's 6 but had a fierce wind and some contentious refereeing decisions to deal with. There was still hope for the second half though.
In the second half, despite a few close shots at goal Mito seemed to be sit back and protect their lead whereas Gifu came out attacking. Just when it looked like the game would end 1-3 despite all of gifu's pressure, Park was awarded a PK which he converted in the 85th minute. The foul definitely didn't look deliberate but a foul nonetheless. The referee then stepped in again, yellow-carding Gifu DF Akita for ??? and thus taking him off the field. But despite this, Gifu stayed strong and in the fourth minute of injury-time Someya headed in the game-drawing goal after a Mito defensive lapse.
So Gifu, still undefeated at Kasamatsu. To come out after being down 3-1 after half an hour and draw the game was a great result, though given another five minutes, Gifu would probably have come out with 3 points from this game.
Still, good improvement from the last couple of weeks and a much needed confidence booster ahead of wednesdays game with Sendai.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

R6 vs Avispa Fukuoka

FC Gifu 0 - 2 Avispa Fukuoka (ht 0-0)

Wasn't here for this one either, but it looked like Gifu and Fukuoka played a pretty even game. Gifu created quite a few chances in the middle of the field but couldn't convert whereas Fukuoka found the net early in the first half and then late in the half when Kikuchi Kan gifted Fukuoka with an own goal.
It looks like a bit of spirit was shown here by Gifu but they're still struggling.
This weekend they face the high-flying Mito Hollyhock. Mito are looking really dangerous and if Gifu don't watch out they could easily concede a few in this one.

R5 vs Tokushima Vortis

Tokushima Vortis 3 - 1 FC Gifu (ht 2-0)

Wasn't here for this but from what I hear it was a comedy of errors by the goalkeepers that gave away this one. First Noda gave away a PK by tripping up a Tokushima player and then a few minutes later was given another yellow, and subsequently a red for handling the ball outside the box. Mizutani pops in as replacement for Noda, fumbles an easy high ball, and Tokushima are 2-0 up in the first half thanks to the two Gifu GKs.
Kazumasa did knock one in in the dying minutes, but it wasn't enough to keep Gifu's unbeaten record against Tokushima in the J2.