2010 Final Standings

1 Kashiwa Reysol 80
2 Ventforet Kofu 70
3 Avispa Fukuoka 69
4 JEF United Chiba 61
5 Tokyo Verdy 58
6 Yokohama FC 54
7 Roasso Kumamoto 54
8 Tokushima Vortis 51
9 Sagan Tosu 51
10 Tochigi SC 50
11 Ehime FC 48
12 Thespa Kusatsu 48
13 Consadole Sapporo 46
14 FC Gifu 45
15 Oita Trinita 41
16 Mito Hollyhock 38
17 Fagiano Okayama 32
18 Kataller Toyama 28
19 Gillavantz Kitakyushuu 15

Record: 36 games: 13 won, 6 drawn, 17 lost
Points for 32, against 45

Gifu had were sitting in the top 10 with six rounds remaining but managed to crumble against the likes of Yokohama FC and Sagan Tosu, and had they won those two games they could have come out with a top 10 finish.
Overall, another disappointing end to the season for Gifu, however with just 13 points in between 6th place and 14th place, it was a close season for most teams.

Next year will see the inclusion of Gainare Tottori as the J2 moves up to 20 teams.
While Fukuoka, Kofu and Kashiwa leave the J2 this year, Kyoto, Shonan and FC Tokyo come down to experience some grass roots football.

Should be another goody!

November and December Results

R32 FC Gifu 0-1 Yokohama FC

Yokohama came into this game in hot form. Both teams had there chances and just when it looked like the game would finish a draw, Yokohama scored.

R33 Kashiwa Reysol 3-0 FC Gifu

Gifu held Kashiwa to 0-0 at half time and defensively were playing great. Halfway through the second half Kashiwa scored but still didn't look comfortable. Then Arai got sent off and Kashiwa scored two in the last 10 minutes. The final a lucky PK on fulltime.

R34 FC Gifu 0-1 Sagan Tosu

Gifu needed to win this to have any chance of a top 10 finish. They went down a goal in under 10 minutes and then although they dominated the second half, they couldn't find that magic goal.

R35 BYE

R36 FC Gifu 0-2 Avispa Fukuoka

Fukuoka were the hungrier team as they needed a win to secure J1 promotion. Gifu were brave but were no match.

R37 FC Gifu 4-2 Tochigi SC (Goals: Satou 2, Shimada 1, Tanaka 1)

Gifu finally got their skates back on when they scored an impressive 4-2 victory over Tochigi. If only they had played like this a few rounds ago....

R38 Venforet Kofu 0-0 FC Gifu

Both teams battled hard and attacked well, however neither team got the scoreboard moving at the end of the day. Gifu will have to wait until at least 2012 until they get a crack at breaking their duck against Kofu again.

October.. and the inevitable slip??

R30 Ehime FC 0-0 FC Gifu

With both teams on form, a draw here wasn't a bad result. The game was absolutely pies though.

R31 Fagiano Okayama 2-2 FC Gifu (Goals: Oshitani, Park GD)

Gifu were down 0-2 to Okayama but managed to claw their way back to 0-1 with a great individual goal to Oshitani, followed by a last minute goal to Park Gi Dong who made a great return back to the starting lineup. Better than a loss but...

R32 FC Gifu 0-1 Yokohama FC

This was the worst. Both teams hadn't lost in 5 games, Gifu hadn't lost at home for about 7 games... both teams had their moments but when Oshitani was subbed off with still 10 minutes to go they looked flat, and Yokohama managed to squeek in a lucky goal in the 91st minute.

Gifu are still sitting in 10th but have to play 1st placed Kashiwa (away) this weekend, have a BYE, and also games against 3rd placed Fukuoka (home) and 2nd placed Kofu (away) to look forward to.

It's going to be tough for the team to remain in the top 10 at the end of the year... this will show how good this team really are.

September and beyond!

R25 FC Gifu 1-0 Gilavantz Kitakyushu (Goal: Nogaito)

R26 Thespa Kusatsu 2-1 FC Gifu (Goal: Shimada)

R27 FC Gifu 2-0 Oita Trinita (Goal: Oshitani 2)

R28 Consadole Sapporo 0-0 FC Gifu

R29 FC Gifu 2-1 Tokushima Vortis (Goal: Shimada, Oshitani)

Gifu started off september with Nogaito scoring a late goal to finish off a spirited Kitakyushu who were unlucky to leave the game with no points. In the following away trip Gifu held a comfortable 1-0 lead going into halftime, however 2 goals in 2 minutes and a harsh sending off of DF Yoshimoto were enough to give Kusatsu a somewhat undeserving win.
Gifu returned home where they were to play Oita without key players GK Noda and DF Yoshimoto. A sublime performance by Japan U21 FW Oshitani though gave Gifu their first win over Oita.
What followed was a dull 0-0 draw with Sapporo, followed by a good attacking win over Tokushima. Gifu coming from a goal down to beat Tokushima and overtake them on the table.

Gifu are now sitting pretty at 9th in the table, amazingling just 10 points out of the top 3. The team also hasn't lost in 8 games at home.
This months games are:
Ehime (a)
Okayama (a)
Yokohama (h)

While Gifu would have to probably win all of their last eight games to have finish in the top 3 (and be denied entry into the J1 due to their debt) a more realistic goal will be to stay in the top 10 and Gifu will want to win at least two of their next three games to ensure this.

Table (As October 5)

1 Kashiwa Reysol 65 (+36)
2 Ventforet Kofu 57 (+24)
3 Avispa Fukuoka 49 (+22)

4 JEF United Chiba 48 (+22)
5 Tokyo Verdy 43 (+10)
6 Roasso Kumamoto 42 (-5)
7 Yokohama FC 40 (+7)
8 Sagan Tosu 39 (+2)
9 FC Gifu 39 (-8)
10 Tokushima Vortis 38 (+3)

11 Tochigi SC 38 (+3)
12 Ehime FC 36 (-3)
13 Mito Hollyhock 32 (-8)
14 Thespa Kusatsu 32 (-13)
15 Consadole Sapporo 31 (-7)
16 Oita Trinita 28 (-11)
17 Fagiano Okayama 24 (-21)
18 Kataller Toyama 20 (-27)
19 Gilavantz Kitakyushu 15 (-26)

August and a bit round up!

R21 FC Gifu 1-1 Roasso Kumamoto (Goal: Shimada)

R22 Mito Hollyhock 1-2 FC Gifu (Goal: Oshitani 2)

R23 FC Gifu 1-0 JEF Chiba (Goal: Nishikawa)

R24 Tokyo Verdy 2-0 FC Gifu

So Gifu after some impressive results are now sitting in 11th, with a game against bottom placed Gilavantz Kitakyushu at home next week. Still, we don't look super strong, but challenging at least.

Emperor's Cup Round 1:
FC Gifu 2-3 Tochigi SC (Goal: Nishikawa, Yoshimoto)

After 38mins, Gifu were down by three and Tochigi were tearing Gifu apart. But the tide changed when Gifu scored not one, but two, yes TWO goals from set play. One from a corner and one from a free kick. Tochigi then had a defender red-carded and Gifu looked like scoring the goal that would take them into extra time. Someya was tripped in the final minute in the box, but the ref decided to penalise Someya instead and Tochigi won the game. Was a game of two halfs, that we should have won in the end but alas... the fairy tale of last years Emperor's Cup heroics was not to continue in 2010...

July round up

3 rounds after the WC break and Gifu is sliding down the table.
Attack is ok, but defence has been pies.

Round 16 BYE

Round 17 Gifu 1 Ehime 1

Round 18 Toyama 3 Gifu 2

So Gifu has slipped down to 13th.

Next week is a big game against Kumamoto, but at this stage... we're not looking like top 10 contenders. Still, anyones got a chance in the J2 this year!

World Cup Break

Gifu go into the break surprisingly in 9th place but still with their BYE to go.
They have won seven and lost ten. Still 9th place is deceiving for the team.. they should be lower, and their form of late has been very average.
Kurata's "zone defence" has seen the defenders struggling to adjust, whereas the forwards are seeing less and less ball. As a spectator the games are often boring as a result.
Still there is hope after a 5 week break!

J2 Table

42 Kashiwa Reysol (24)
34 Ventforet Kofu (14)
31 JEF United Chiba (15)
29 Avispa Fukuoka (14)
28 Sagan Tosu (3)
26 Tochigi SC (8)
26 Roasso Kumamoto (-3)
23 Tokushima Vortis (-2)
21 FC Gifu (-10)
20 Tokyo Verdy (2)
20 Ehime FC (-1)
20 Consadole Sapporo (-4)
20 Mito Hollyhock (-4)
19 Oita Trinita (-1)
19 Yokohama FC (-2)
13 Kataller Toyama (-14)
12 Fagiano Okayama (-12)
10 Gilabantz Kitakyushu (-13)
10 Thespa Kusatsu (-14)

It's still early days but you could probably pencil in Kashiwa for promotion already. Kofu too, are picking up after a slow start and look a clear second place.
The third place looks likely to be fought between Chiba and Fukuoka going on current form.
Sagan, Tochigi, Kumamoto, Tokushima and Yokohama, if they get their feet out of their arses, could all challenge for the third spot but on current form look just out of touch.
All of the teams from Gifu down already look like they will be fighting for a top 10 finish and not much more.
Still, just over half a season to go and anything can happen..

R18 vs Fagiano Okayama

FC Gifu 1-0 Fagiano Okayama (ht 1-0)

A great goal by Nogaito to start the game off in the third minute.
After that the game was Okayama's...
Fortunately for Gifu their strikers are worse than ours!

R17 vs Yokohama FC

Yokohama FC 2-0 FC Gifu (ht 1-0)

Again Gifu were unable to convert their pressure...
Defence was in ruins...

R16 vs Tochigi SC

Tochigi SC 2-0 FC Gifu (ht 0-0)

Gifu again dominated but were unable to convert the pressure. A shocking call by the ref (blowing the whistle to stop a free kick, but allowing Tochigi to play on and score while the Gifu players were waiting for the ball to be reset) ultimately cost Gifu any chance of getting points from the game.

R15 vs Mito Hollyhock

FC Gifu 1-0 Mito Hollyhock (ht 0-0)

Gifu finally get back on board with a great loop shoot goal to Shimada. Gifu dominated for the first time in a while...

R14 vs Sagan Tosu

Sagan Tosu 3 - 0 FC Gifu (ht 2-0)

Gifu finished off their killer schedule of five trips in two months to Kyuushuu with two wins and three losses. Not too bad considering..
The game against Tosu though showed the tiredness that the team was feeling, and also Manager Kuratas reluctance to change the starting members in positions that need changing, for example defence...

Back to Meadow next week and a big game against Mito. Mito is looking average, but so are we. A must win to get out of the rutt that we're in...

R13 vs Kashiwa Reysol

FC Gifu 0 - 2 Kashiwa Reysol (ht 0-1)

Kashiwa were way to good for Gifu who only offered two shots at goal.
As for the Kashiwa fans... well they did turn up in numbers which was good to see but... there were punches thrown, shirts ripped, rubbish all over the place, and they even made their own drum out of a broken flagpole and a suitcase - even though drums are banned at Meadow.
Half of em look like they come out of a yakuza movie...
ah... Kashiwa, gotta love em.
(still, their team is awesome, and levels above the other teams in the league...)

R12 vs Tokushima Vortis

Tokushima Vortis 4 - 0 FC Gifu (ht 0-0)

This was always going to happen. Gifu held out in the first half and actually slightly dominated but in the end the tiredness of the rough travel schedule that they faced finally caught up with them and they were pasted.

Hopefully the team will be a bit more rested for the game against Kashiwa who are unbeaten this week, or else a similar scoreline could be on the cards...

R11 vs Thespa Kusatsu

FC Gifu 2 - 1 Thespa Kusatsu (ht 0-0)

Gifu won their first game at Meadow with goals to Oshitani and Tanaka just after half time.
A good all round effort.

R10 vs Gilabantz Kitakyushu

Gilabantz Kitakyushu 0 - 1 FC Gifu (ht 0-1)

Nishikawa steals a goal just before half time. Both teams looked average but we did just enough.

R9 vs JEF Chiba

JEF Chiba 2 - 0 FC Gifu 0 (ht 1-0)

Chiba were too strong here, we were anything but...

R8 vs Tokyo Verdy

FC Gifu 0 - 1 Tokyo Verdy (ht 0-0)

I don't know what it is about Tokyo Verdy. They sit at the bottom of the table playing unispiring football until they hit us and then they play us...
It happened last year, and now this year too.
We played like rubbish, and although a draw wouldn't have been too unfair, Tokyo definitely deserved the win more than us.

The atmosphere at Meadow (the new ground for the rest of the year) was pretty uninspiring. Although we are literally about three metres away from the players, without the drums and flags (banned because the grounds in a residential area), the fans couldn't get into the game as much as hoped and the game brought back memories of the Tokai league era...

Anyway, enough about that.
Time to get me tickets and head up to Chiba this weekend for the game against JEF!

R7 vs Avispa Fukuoka

Avispa Fukuoka 0 - 2 FC Gifu

Gifu picked up where they left off last week with a good 2-0 win over Fukuoka to win away for the first time this year.
Gifu dominated in the first half and Nagayoshi was awarded with his first J2 goal.
In the second half Satou knocked in a corner and then withheld Fukuoka to record the win.

This week, those evil green bastards from Tokyo...
Can Gifu win three in a row??
Or will Verdy cause more heartache for the team???

All will be revealed at Nagaragawa Meadow this weekend!

R5 vs Consadole Sapporo

FC Gifu 3 - 0 Consadole Sapporo (ht 0-0)

Gifu finally awoke from their slumber and after withstanding the Sapporo storm in the first half, they came back to register two goals through Nishikawa, and a cracker from Shimada.

Next week... yet another trip down south, this time against Avispa Fukuoka who were held to a 0-0 draw with Tokyo Verdy last week.

Will be interesting to see how we go in this game.