FC Gifu finished off the 2019 with a defeat at Tokyo Verdy, by Stuart Smith.

FC Gifu starting XI: (back, from left) Kentaro Kai, Kou Yanagisawa, Takumi Fujitani, Frederic, Masanori Abe, Victor; (front, from left): Kenji Baba, Tohma Murata, Shohei Mishima, Takefumi Toma, Shota Kawanishi

Early on, the two teams were evenly matched, but once Verdy went in front Gifu struggled, and found themselves 5-0 down before Kouki Tsukagawa’s late consolation header gave the 400 or so traveling supporters a little to cheer.

Makoto Kitano said: “I think this result summed up our season. I thought we were doing fine but we lost a simple ball, misplaced a pass and then we were 1-0 down. We’ve seen it many times before. I have to take responsibility. I picked the players and I couldn’t install the mental strength needed for us to think we could still get something from games, even when we went behind or it was tight. That was very disappointing for me.“

Shota Kawanishi told reporters: “There were times when I wasn’t able to contribute to the team (due to injury). I feel that I could have given more to the side. For today’s game, I just feel sorry that we produced a performance like that. I thought the way we set up was good, but how we responded when we went wasn’t good enough.”

So, FC Gifu’s 2019 season comes to an end, with the team finishing at the bottom of the league and will therefore be playing in J3 next year. Roll on 2020 and the return of some positive times in Gifu.