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)