R45 Guts and Glory!

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

FC Gifu finished the season in spectacular style with a great 1-0 win over Sagan Tosu. Gifu, spurred on by the departure of many of their fellow players for the 2009 season, played like a team possessed and dominated Tosu for long periods of the game. Their sole goal came through Atsushi Katagiri, who in turn became the season's top-scorer for Gifu.

In the end FC Gifu finished 13th in their first season in the J2, a point behind rivals Roasso Kumamoto, but ahead of both Ehime FC and Tokushima Vortis.

Well done boys!

Season report to follow....

R44 Well Beaten

Shonan Bellmare 3 - 0 FC Gifu (Ht 1-0)

Shonan Bellmare, with a place in the promotion/relegation match to play for easily knocked over Gifu in the weekend.
Although the match was reasonably even until the last 15 minutes Gifu never looked like they were going to trouble Shonan and in the end got stung by two late goals.

Next weekends final game at home will be an important one for a number of reasons.
a) Confirmation of 13th place on the ladder. If they lose there's still a chance that Ehime FC can overtake them.
b) Last game. Many players will be leaving after this season and it will be their last game in the Gifu jersey.
c) 2. The number of times that Gifu has won at home this season. Enough said.
d) Sagan Tosu. Lost 1-0, drew 0-0, yet to defeat the men from down south.
e) Last game of the year. For the fans and players!

Final Game December 6th (home) vs Sagan Tosu

R42 0-1... AGAIN!!!!

FC Gifu 0 - 1 Yokohama FC (ht 0-0)

Not for the first time this season Gifu slumped to a 1-0 loss at home. over 8000 fans turned up to watch the game (and Kazu!) and appropriately Gifu lost the game (as they inevitably do when a big crowd turns up!).

The game itself was pretty even, both teams creating chances, but the only difference between the two teams was the fact that Yokohama were able to convert one goal through DF Yamada in the 66th minute.

After Kumamoto beat Ehime yesterday, todays result sees Gifu slip down to 13th on the table.

Next week - Bye
Next game November 30th (away) vs Shonan Bellmare

The Emperor's Cup Round 4

Nagoya Grampus 1 - 0 FC Gifu (ht 0-0)

Gifu lost this one, but at the same time they gave J1 Grampus a lesson in how to play football by dominating throughout the game, unfortunately just not on the scoreboard.
Nagoya came out firing and for the first 15 or so minutes and set up multiple chances but were let down by poor decision making in the end. After this point Gifu began to take control of the game through Umeda and Kitamura and by the second half were spending the majority of the play camped down in the Grampus half. They had their chances, and one Aikawa header hit the post, but it was grampus who five minutes into three minute injury time got the winner through Yoshida as GK Hino misjudged a cross kick allowing Grampus to advance and play Omiya next week.
Pixy, the Grampus coach summed it all up though when he effectively said afterwards "I'm sorry that we won. Gifu definitely played the better football today".
So I'm very proud of Gifu. Great effort but just fell short. Taught Grampus a lesson in football though, and that means alot to the people of Gifu.

R41 Battle of the newly promoted

Roasso Kumamoto 1 - 1 FC Gifu (ht 0-1)

FC Gifu kept their unbeaten record against Roasso Kumamoto in tact as well as maintaining their place at 12th on the J2 table.

Gifu started off the match well, attacking from all corners, but a defensive lapse in the 34th minute led to Roasso FW Nakayama sneaking one past GK Hino.
In the second half Gifu DF was red-carded after grabbing Kumamoto ace Takahashi's arm in a sprint to the ball. Although he cost his team a player on the field, he probably also saved them from being two points down.
So the game continued at a fast pace but it was Gifu, through back-from-injury MF Kazunori Kan, that struck the killer-blow in the 89th minute. It was a beautiful goal that just pipped past the keeper and into the top corner of the net.
Gifu then held on for a frantic few minutes to seal a well-deserved draw, and bragging rights against rivals Roasso for another year.

Next game: November 2nd (away) vs Nagoya Grampus (Emperor's Cup)

Next J2 game: November 9th (home) vs Yokohama FC

With only three games remaining for Gifu can they maintain there place at 12th on the table?? If they beat Yokohama this week they could even move on up to 11th. With Kumamoto and Ehime hot on their heels though there's still a possibility of finishing 14th so there's no room for complacency!
But first comes Gifu's first win over Nagoya Grampus next week!!

R40 Down, but not without a fight!

FC Gifu 1 - 2 Montedio Yamagata (ht 0-1)

FC Gifu's terrible run at home continued when they lost to Yamagata to leave their record of just two home wins this season in tact. Yamagata on the other hand broke their duck against Gifu and at the same time consolidated second place on the table.
Today both teams came out to play and while Gifu started of with a hiss and a roar it was Yamagata who struck first in the 30th minute, against the run of play, when DF Ishikawa capitalised on a keeper-less goal after Gifu GK Hino had dashed out to meet the ball.
Yamagata then struck again in the 63rd minute when giant FW Toyoda headed a ball in from a corner kick.
It looked like the game was over but then Gifu replied through reserve FW Koichi Sato who beat one defender and shot nicely past the keeper to score in his debut for FC Gifu.
Gifu then kept the pressure on Yamagata but time ran out and Montedio left Gifu relieved to be taking three points with them.

FC Gifu now stand even on points with rivals Roasso Kumamoto on the table. Next weeks game in Kumamoto now has extra meaning to it. Gifu are unbeaten against Kumamoto in the JFL and J2 so far and will be looking to keep their record in tact. A loss against in-form Roasso will mean a drop in places on the on the ladder.
The road is long and hard. Ganbare FC Gifu!

Next game October 26th (away) vs Roasso Kumamoto

The Emperor's Cup Round 3

Zweigen Kanazawa 0 - 1 FC Gifu (ht 0-0)

FC Gifu played Zweigen Kanazawa in the third round of the Emperor's Cup and managed to scrape out a 1-0 win after Kanazawa's tough defense finally gave in in the 83rd minute. The game was played in Toyama which is about three hours drive from Gifu City and only one hours drive from Kanazawa City. About 1500 spectators turned up to the game but they enjoyed a tough fast moving game.
In the first half both teams had only two or three shots at goal each, and while the teams looked pretty even, Kanazawa looked more dangerous in front of the goal.
When the second half came around though, Gifu started to up the pace and looked especially dangerous with the injection of FW Katagiri midway through the half. In the end they were rewarded with a goal to FW Aikawa who knocked in a chip from MF Kitamura in the 83rd minute. That was enough to seal a hard fought win for Gifu. The pressure was on them for this game and they produced the goods.
All this means that in round 4 Gifu will take a trip to Toyota Stadium to play neighbors Nagoya Grampus. With the pressure off Gifu and onto Nagoya this should make for an interesting match!