FC Gifu made the long trip west to Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi prefecture to face Renofa Yamaguchi FC on a very hot Sunday afternoon, and came away on the wrong end of 4-1 scoreline.

The first half was difficult for Gifu, although midfielder Kota Miyamoto almost gave Gifu an early lead, but he couldn’t direct Paulo Tanaka’s cross-shot into the net. Renofa went into half time 2-0 up thanks to an own goal and a Daisuke Takagi finish.

FC Gifu were much better in the second half and had several good chances to score before Yuya Yamagishi headed in substitute Yoichi Naganuma’s cross to give Gifu some hope. However, Renofa hit back almost immediately with two quick goals by Ado Onaiwu and Kazuhito Kishida and the home side sealed the win.

After the game, FC Gifu coach Takeshi Oki said: “I’d like to apologise to the supporters that made the trip to Shimonoseki. We didn’t play at our pace in the first half. In the first part of the second half I thought we played well and we got a goal back. After that, we didn’t continue our good play and that’s why we let the game fall away from us. We will all work hard to prepare for the next game.”