The Halifax Wanderers have clinched a 2023 CPL Playoff spot after a 2-1 victory over Forge FC in front of a sold-out Wanderers Grounds on Saturday afternoon.
Massimo Ferrin opened the scoring in the 12th minute, while Daniel Nimick stepped up to score his fourth penalty of the season. Woobens Pacius tallied his tenth of the season for the lone goal for Forge, as he remains very much in the Golden Boot race.
The victory also means that Halifax are just a point away, or any dropped points by Atlético Ottawa, from securing a first-ever home playoff match at the Wanderers Ground. Forge, meanwhile, will have to wait to see if Pacific knock them out of second place with a victory over rivals Vancouver FC later on Saturday.
Saturday’s match got off to a lively start, as Forge got on the front foot and put Halifax under pressure in the early part of the match, finding particular joy through the wide areas in their new 3-4-1-2 system.
Halifax, however, stunned the visitors on their first real chance of the match in the 12th minute. Jake Ruby played a brilliant lofted ball into the box that Ferrin was most determined to get on the end of, beating Aboubacar Sissoko to the header to redirect the ball past Henry and give the Wanderers a 1-0 lead. Ferrin has now scored three goals against Forge this season — with Halifax scoring first in all four meetings between the two sides this season.
The visitors pressed to get back into the match as the first half wore on, switching Halifax from side to side and trying to find holes in their defensive shape. They came close in the 30th minute, but nobody was in the box to tap home a lovely low cross from Sissoko.
In the 34th minute, however, Forge finally found their breakthrough. Béni Badibanga played a lovely clipped ball over the top into the path of Rama, who headed into the path of Manjrekar James. The Forge defender scuffed his shot, but Pacius was on hand to tap home his tenth of the season as he remains well in the Golden Boot race.
Halifax looked like they had gone back ahead just before halftime, but Nimick’s goal on a set piece was ruled offside. The Wanderers, however, kept pressing, in the 44th minute, a lovely ball played through from Ferrin went into the path of Tiago Coimbra, who beat Henry with his shot, but it was somehow blindly cleared off the line by Rama. On the rebound, however, Ferrin was brought down in the box by Forge’s Alessandro Hojabrpour, winning a penalty. Nimick stepped up to the spot and scored his penalty to give the Wanderers a 2-1 lead heading into the halftime break.
The sides traded chances during an exciting start to the second half that saw the match get quite stretched as both clubs attacked with plenty of tempo. The sides combined for seven shot attempts through the first ten minutes of the half alone.
Forge came closest in the first part of the half, as centre-back James took an advanced position with the match winding down. His strike across goal, however, was well saved by Halifax keeper Yann Fillion in the 70th minute. Substitute Doneil Henry came incredibly close next for Halifax, but his powerful header from a set piece in the 75th minute was over the net in the end.
Bringing on veterans like Henry and Andre Rampersad late in the match was critical to a professional second-half performance from the young Wanderers, who made several smart decisions both on and off the ball to see out a decisive three points. Pacius looked to have tied it at the death for Forge, but Fillion somehow made another fantastic stop to deny the Forge striker.
The Halifax Wanderers set a club record for most points at home with 28, denying Forge what could have been a club record for away points should the Hamilton side have picked up three points this afternoon. The Wanderers, however, will still need close to 200 U-21 Canadian minutes in their final match of the season, on the road against Valour next Friday, in order to officially be eligible for the postseason.
BOX SCORE
Goals
12′ — Massimo Ferrin (HFX Wanderers)
34′ — Woobens Pacius (Forge FC)
45 +2′ — Daniel Nimick (HFX Wanderers) (pen.)
Discipline
37′ — Yellow: Aboubacar Sissoko (Forge FC)
41′ — Yellow: Alessandro Hojabrpour (Forge FC)
58′ — Yellow: Tiago Coimbra (Halifax Wanderers)
68′ — Yellow: Wesley Timoteo (Halifax Wanderers)
85′ — Yellow: Kyle Bekker (Forge FC)
87′ — Yellow: Rezart Rama (Forge FC)
90+3′ — Yellow: Cale Loughrey (Halifax Wanderers)