Forge FC continued a strong homestand on Wednesday night, defeating a 10-man Halifax Wanderers side 2-0 at Tim Hortons Field to move into first place in the Canadian Premier League table.
Both sides came into this match with a few surprises in the lineup. Forge opted to give striker Kwasi Poku the night off, slotting Jordan Hamilton in up top, while Jassem Koleilat started in goal with usual starter Chris Kalongo dealing with a minor injury. Halifax, meanwhile, rotated heavily after their loss in Calgary on the weekend; Aiden Rushenas made his professional debut between the sticks with Yann Fillion suspended, while Kareem Sow, Vitor Dias, Jefferson Alphonse, Aidan Daniels and Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé all got the nod for six changes in total.
It was a wide open contest in the first 20 minutes, both sides moving quickly up the pitch in an effort to stretch the game. Forge had the first great opportunity of the match where Jordan Hamilton took a well-driven shot from inside the box, but Rushenas made an outstanding save to keep it level. Moments later, Kyle Bekker played Hamilton through on goal alone, but the striker’s attempt caught the far goalpost and Halifax were again spared what would’ve been the opening goal.
Shortly after, the Wanderers were forced into an early substitution, as Sow went down after a tackle and couldn’t continue, prompting Patrice Gheisar to make a first-half change by bringing on Wesley Timoteo.
The task became even more challenging for Halifax around the half-hour mark; Gagnon-Laparé brought down Daniel Parra with a messy challenge and earned just a yellow card at first, but referee Michael Venne then opted to show Gagnon-Laparé a red card as the Wanderers went down to 10 men in the first half.
Seconds before the halftime whistle, Forge at last found their breakthrough, as the ball came loose at the top of the box for Alessandro Hojabrpour, who volleyed it into the bottom left corner to make it 1-0 — although the Wanderers took umbrage with the goal being allowed to stand, with Parra standing in an offside position near the path of the shot. Nonetheless, Forge took a lead into the dressing rooms.
Forge went on to add to their lead midway through the second half. After buzzing around the Wanderers’ penalty area for a while, Bekker sent a cross through six-yard box, finding Hamilton, who redirected it on goal. Rushenas got a hand to swat the attempt away, but the referee judged the ball to have crossed the line, awarding the goal to make it 2-0.
With the comfortable lead and a man advantage, Forge did well to see out the remainder of the match clinically. The three points earned allowed the Hamilton side to leapfrog both Atlético Ottawa and York United in the table, moving into first place ahead of the weekend.
BOX SCORE
Lineups
Forge FC: Koleilat; Duncan (Samuel 70′), Achinioti-Jönsson, Owolabi-Belewu, Parra; Hojabrpour, Bekker (Cissé 64′); Choinière (Schiavoni 79′), Borges, Ampomah (Badibanga 64′); Hamilton (Campbell 70′)
Halifax Wanderers: Rushenas; Fernandez, Nimick, Alphonse, Sow (Timoteo 28′); Dias (Ferrazzo 46′), Callegari (Probo 84′), Gagnon-Laparé; Rea (Bayiha 73′), Daniels, Ferrin (Telfer 73′)
Goals
45+2′ — Alessandro Hojabrpour (Forge FC)
63′ — Jordan Hamilton (Forge FC)
Discipline
15′ — Yellow: Ryan Telfer (Halifax Wanderers)
33′ — Yellow: Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé (Halifax Wanderers)
33′ — Red: Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé (Halifax Wanderers)
44′ — Yellow: Aidan Daniels (Halifax Wanderers)
62′ — Yellow: Nana Ampomah (Forge FC)
67′ — Yellow: Béni Badibanga (Forge FC)
