Pacific FC spoiled the Natal Day celebrations at a sold-out and boisterous Wanderers Grounds on Monday with a 2-1 victory against Halifax Wanderers, courtesy of a comprehensive road performance.
The Tridents go back to the top of the table with the victory, two points ahead of Cavalry FC. It was their first win against the Wanderers this season, and ended a club-record run of five straight wins for the Halifax side at home.
Thomas Meilleur-Giguère opened the scoring just before halftime, while Pacific captain Josh Heard added a second in the 54th minute. Daniel Nimick headed home the host’s lone goal of the match.
Within minutes of the start of the match, Halifax were on the front foot. Massimo Ferrin had a shot blocked in the box from a good area in the 3rd minute after a dangerous cross by Zachary Fernandez deflected off of João Morelli — who was making his first start of the season.
The match became a little bit cagey thereafter, however, as both sides settled into their shape and execution let the teams down at times in the rare occasion that a player did find a bit of space.
As the half wore on, the hosts started to feed off the incredible energy within the Wanderers Grounds and dictate proceedings. They had a couple of half chances, especially when Fernandez was able to get isolated out wide, but his cross was well cleared by Amer Didić.
Easton Ongaro then had a great chance in the 30th minute as Pacific won the ball back high up the pitch after a heavy touch from Nimick. However, despite having some space in the Halifax box, the striker put his shot wide. Ongaro turned provider a few minutes later, but this time it was Adonijah Reid who sent his shot high and wide.
The Wanderers Grounds was sent into a bit of an uproar just before the half, as Ferrin found himself one-v-one out wide with Kunle Dada-Luke after a brilliant diagonal ball from Nimick. The Halifax attacker was brought down in the box after a tackle by Dada-Luke, but was ultimately given a yellow card for simulation.
To make matters worse for the hosts, Pacific took advantage of the chaos in added time. A lovely ball was clipped into the box by Sean Young into the path of Ongaro, who squared it for Meilleur-Giguère. The defender, who was crashing into the box poked the ball out of the air and into the back of the net to give the visitors a stunning 1-0 lead heading into the half.
Young nearly played provider again on the other side of halftime, as his low cross on a second-phase opportunity in the Halifax box found Josh Heard. The Pacific captain, however, sent his effort just over the net.
Heard made no mistake a few minutes later, however. This time it was Manny Aparicio who played provider, sending a perfect cross from out wide straight into the path of Heard, who slid home his fourth goal of the season.
Looking for a boost, Halifax made a trio of substitutions, headlined by new signing Jordan Perruzza, on loan from Toronto FC. They also brought on Riley Ferrazzo and Armaan Wilson. Pacific, meanwhile, countered by bringing on super sub Ayman Sellouf.
Perruzza nearly made an instant impact, with a number of dangerous shot attempts after his introduction. With Halifax pushing late, they finally found a breakthrough on a corner in the 79th minute after an outstanding ball from Wes Timoteo, who was excellent on Monday afternoon, found the head of Nimick. The Halifax defender emphatically headed home his first open-play goal of the season.
The Wanderers desperately pressed for an equalizer with the final whistle looming. Having scored his goal, Nimick even found himself playing as a striker in the closing minutes. But some strong defending from Pacific saw out a huge three for them on the road.
With the loss, Halifax finish the weekend in sixth place in the table, tied on 25 points with York United and Atlético Ottawa. The two clubs will meet for the final time this season on Friday, September 8 at Starlight Stadium.
BOX SCORE
Goals
45+2′ — Thomas Meilleur-Giguère (Pacific FC)
54′ — Josh Heard (Pacific FC)
79′ — Daniel Nimick (Halifax Wanderers)
Discipline
22′ — Cale Loughrey (Halifax Wanderers)
25′ — Josh Heard (Pacific FC)
44′ — Massimo Ferrin (Halifax Wanderers)
46′ — João Morelli (Halifax Wanderers)
83′ — Cédric Toussaint (Pacific FC)
90+8′ — Steffen Yeates (Pacific FC)