Tiago Coimbra’s late winner following an awful York United defensive mix-up gave Halifax Wanderers all three points on Saturday, enabling them to finish their season on a high.
Of the four games taking place simultaneously on Saturday as part of The Outcome! Presented by TonyBet, this was the only game that would have little outcome on the playoff positions and final standings: small wonder, then, that both teams began slowly, especially with two heavily rotated sides on the pitch.
York had the first chance of the game in the seventh minute, when Juan Cordova thundered a header over the bar after Kembo Kibato’s excellent left-wing pass was headed into his path. The side from the Greater Toronto Area came even closer just seconds later, when Jorge Guzman’s side footed effort was parried by stand-in goalkeeper Aiden Rushenas.
The visitors had begun dangerously, and their early attacking threat paid dividends in the ninth minute, when Mo Babouli’s drilled cross into the box was bundled home by Brian Wright, with the help of a wicked deflection off Halifax defender Dan Nimick.
They were as solid defensively as they were dangerous going forward, choosing to defend in packs when Halifax had the ball near their box: Clément Bayiha in particular was privy to the attention of three York defenders when he tried to find some wiggle room down the right.
Bayiha did manage to burst through into the box in the 19th minute following great work by Sean Rea, and took a tumble under pressure from two York defenders, hoping for a penalty. The referee, however, was unmoved, and waved play on.
Wright did have a chance to double his team’s lead around the halfway mark of the first half, only for Rushenas to smother the ball before any more damage could be done. He was lucky his profligacy was not punished: a 25th minute Halifax counter attack saw Tiago Coimbra poke the ball into the net following an excellent initial save by Thomas Vincensini, only for the celebrations to be cut short by the offside flag.
While York United had successfully clamped down on the majority of Halifax’s attackers, Sean Rea was a thorn in their side: after robbing Babouli of possession, he floated an excellent ball into the feet of Vitor Dias, whose shot exploded into the back of the net, only for the lineswoman to once again chalk off a brilliant move.
Another quality Halifax move was ended by Vincensini, who could’ve paid the price of much more than a goal, had he not been successful: the goalkeeper was in no man’s land when he wrested possession off the hosts, and even the slightest mistake might have resulted in a straight sending off.
York United began the second half with two fresh players: Shola Jimoh and Elijah Adekugbe coming on for Leon and Babouli, with head coach Benjamin Mora keeping one eye on Wednesday’s home playoff fixture.
As they did in the first half, Halifax continued to create quality scoring chances at regular intervals, only for a York United player to stymie their efforts time and time again with a last-man standing effort. The hosts’ efforts did finally pay off, however, when Clément Bayiha latched on to a superb through ball, cutting it back to Massimo Ferrin whose first time shot beat Vincensini to make it 1-1 in the 63rd minute.
Immediately afterwards, Mora brought on two more substitutes: Frank Sturing and Dennis Salanovic replacing Jorge Guzman and Nyal Higgins.
In response, Halifax head coach Patrice Gheisar made wholesale changes, keen on ending the season on a high: Lorenzo Callegari, Camilo Vasconcelos, Jefferson Alphonse, and Ryan Telfer all came on, as Vitor Dias, Wesley Timoteo, Sean Rea, and Giorgio Probo all ended their seasons as they came off the pitch.
York United nearly grabbed a second late in the game, when a superb delivery from the left found Adekugbe, who thudded the crossbar from point-blank range. Rushenas made a superb one-handed save from the follow-up to keep the game deadlocked with about 10 minutes of regulation time remaining.
That save gave his team the impetus to snatch the winner: an almighty mix-up between Vincensini and his defenders allowed Tiago Coimbra to ghost through and plant the ball in the net with just eight minutes of play left.
Buoyed by taking the lead, the side from Atlantic Canada continued to test Vincensini: Coimbra had the chance to double his tally just a minute later, before Ferrin stung the palms of the keeper from distance. The Brazilian was subsequently withdrawn with seconds remaining on the clock, for Tavio Ciccarelli, to a standing ovation from the home support, his race run and his job done.
The referee blew the whistle a few moments later, Halifax ending their season on a high, as York United dust themselves off and prepare for their all-important playoff game against Pacific FC on Wednesday.
BOX SCORE
Lineups
Halifax Wanderers FC: Rushenas; Bayiha, Nimick, Mekideche, Timoteo (Alphonse 71’); Rampersad, Dias (Telfer 71’), Rea (Vasconcelos 71’), Probo (Callegari 71’), Ferrin; Coimbra (Ciccarelli 90’)
York United FC: Vincensini; Kibato, Leon (Jimoh 46’), Higgins (Sturing 64’), Cordova (Botello 83’); Babouli (Adekugbe 46’), Marquez, Baldisimo; Voytsekhovskyy, Guzman (Salanovic 64’); Wright
Goals
10’ – Daniel Nimick OG (York United)
63’ – Massimo Ferrin (Halifax Wanderers)
82’ – Tiago Coimbra (Halifax Wanderers)
Discipline
8’ – Yellow: Wesley Timoteo (Halifax Wanderers FC)
40’ – Yellow: Markiyan Voytsekhovskyy (York United FC)
44’ – Yellow: Oswaldo Leon (York United FC)
54’ – Yellow: Juan Cordova (York United FC)
84’ – Tiago Coimbra (Halifax Wanderers FC)