Valour FC and Halifax Wanderers FC split the points at Princess Auto Stadium on Saturday afternoon, each scoring in the second half of a crucial game for both teams’ playoff hopes.
After a lively start to the match, the visitors had the first attempt on target, with Aidan Daniels testing Jonathan Viscosi from outside the box. His attempt came after Clément Bayiha’s initial effort from outside the box was blocked by a defender. Valour’s first attempt of the match came in the 17th minute when Safwane Mlah let one fly from distance, but his well-struck effort went high and wide.
Shots from distance were a theme early in the game. Giorgio Probo had a go in the 24th minute, but Viscosi dived to his right to make the save before grabbing the slight rebound. At the other end of the pitch Gianfranco Facchineri got his head on the end of a corner a minute-and-a-half later, but he was not able to get it on target. Aidan Daniels tried to smash a shot into the top right corner of the Valour net with a near-post effort just before the half-hour mark,a but it would only find the side netting for a goal kick.
Shaan Hundal was inches away from opening the scoring for Valour in the 33rd minute, rolling a low shot past Wanderers goalkeeper Aiden Rushenas but striking the inside of the back post. The ball came back out across the penalty area, but a Wanderers defender was able to clear it away from danger before Hundal could pounce on the rebound.
The last scoring chance of the first half came from a Valour corner, when Tass Mourdoukoutas headed the ball toward the Wanderers net. Rushenas dived to his left and likely would have had it covered, but Probo reacted quickly to head it away for a corner. An exciting first half ended scoreless, with both sides having several opportunities to go in front.
The Wanderers came flying out of the gates in the second half, finding a pair of scoring chance within two minutes of play resuming. Lorenzo Callegari took a shot from distance that was blocked by a defender, before Massimo Ferrin’s attempt from close range was stopped by Viscosi. They continued to pepper the Valour goalkeeper with shots, as Telfer and Ferrin both sent attempts wide of the mark while trying to put Viscosi under more pressure.
Rushenas made a big stop of his own at the other end of the pitch in the 58th minute, denying Shaan Hundal with a big diving stop to his left. Jordan Swibel jumped on the rebound but was unable to get his shot on target from a tight angle. Probo and Dante Campbell traded shots from outside the box as the clock continued to tick away, but Viscosi was able to deny Probo and Campbell’s attempt missed the target.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 76th minute, with Hundal continuing his red-hot form. The Valour striker made a run through the box to the back post and got onto the end of a low cross from Loïc Kwemi, in the right place at the right time for an easy tap in.
It was Hundal’s third match in a row with a goal, and fourth in his last five matches.
Riley Ferrazzo tried to equalize for the Wanderers a few moments later, but Viscosi made another important stop on an afternoon where he repeatedly stepped up to protect his net and keep his side in the game.
Diogo Ressureição tried to chip the ball over Rushenas and complete a great counter attack from the Winnipeggers in the 85th minute, but his effort didn’t have enough power on it before Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé was able to get back and clear it off the line. Ressureição looked frustrated, knowing that a low and hard shot might have been enough to put the game out of reach.
His frustrations were justified, as the Wanderers tied things up in the 89th minute. Zachary Fernandez rose above everyone to meet a cross from Vitor Dias in the air, heading it into the back of the net to tie things up at 1-1.
Both sides scrambled to find a winner in stoppage time, but four minutes came and went without either team able to break the deadlock. The single point doesn’t improve either side’s playoff positioning at a point in the season where time is running out for both to jump multiple spots in the table.
