The Halifax Wanderers extended their unbeaten run to five matches with their first home victory of the season Monday afternoon, beating Cavalry FC 1-0 in a Canada Day clash on the east coast.

The start of the match was end-to-end, with both sides trading corners in the early goings. Massimo Ferrin had the first attempt to score in the match, taking a shot inside the penalty area that was blocked by a Cavalry defender before sailing just wide of Marco Carducci’s net. Aidan Daniels had a go from distance shortly after, but his effort was also blocked.

Tobias Warschewski came inches away from giving the visitors the lead in the 21st minute. Rising above everyone to win a header on a floated cross from Fraser Aird into the box, Warschewski sent the ball back across goal, freezing Wanderers netminder Yann Fillion. It had everyone beat, but struck the right post in the top corner of the goal, before the Wanderers cleared it away.

Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé tested Carducci a few minutes later, heading the ball on goal after a deep cross into the area from Dan Nimick. Gagnon-Laparé headed the ball down into the ground to ensure it would end up on target, but when it hit the ground the grass killed a lot of the momentum the ball had and the Cavalry goalkeeper was able to make an easy catch.

Daan Klomp found himself in Halifax’s penalty area with ten minutes left in the first half and unleashed a powerful shot, but he couldn’t keep his effort down and it soared over the crossbar.

Both sides had their chances in the first half, but Gagnon-Laparé’s header was the only effort on target, and the game was scoreless after 45 minutes.

The hosts finally broke the deadlock in the 49th minute, with Ryan Telfer picking out the bottom right corner of the net with a driven shot from the edge of the 18-yard box. Telfer ran towards the box before cutting suddenly to his left, opening up a lane for him to

GOAL ⚓️

Ryan Telfer gets the party started early in the second half for @HFXWanderersFC, striking to give his team a 1-0 lead over @CPLCavalryFC

🔴 Watch our @tonybet_canada #CanPL MOTW on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/egdzM11Akq

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) July 1, 2024

Cavalry upped the tempo after conceding, nearly scoring twice in quick succession. A few minutes after Eryk Kobza hit the target with a header, Warschewski hit the woodwork again with a free kick from outside the box, thanks to a touch from a diving Yann Fillion. Moments after that, Jesse Daley fired a low shot through a crowd in front of Fillion’s net, but it struck the outside of the post.

Massimo Ferrin hit the target with a low shot in the 64th minute, but Carducci denied him with a diving stop. Tom Field cleaned up the rebound with a slide tackle, which saw the ball strike Telfer and go out of bounds for a Cavalry goal kick. At the other end of the pitch later in the half, Sergio Camargo hit the net with a low shot but Fillion was again able to get down and make what ended up being a fairly comfortable stop.

The Cavs kept pushing for an equalizer, and nearly found it off the head of Klomp, who redirected a cross from Maël Henry wide of the Wanderers net. The late stages of the match were mostly spent in the Wanderers half of the pitch as they tried to hang on for the victory and Cavalry were desperately looking to steal a point.

That goal would never come, however, and the Wanderers held on for the first win at Wanderers Grounds in 2024. It is also just the third victory for the Wanderers against Cavalry in CPL history, and sees them rise to ten points on the season, tied in that regard with seventh-placed Valour with a game in hand.

BOX SCORE

Lineups

Halifax Wanderers FC: Fillion; Ferrazzo, Nimick, Loughrey, Timoteo; Callegari, Gagnon-Laparé (Alphonse 82′); Bayiha (Dias 69′), Daniels, Ferrin; Telfer

Cavalry FC: Carducci; Aird, Kobza, Klomp, Field; Shome, Daley (Henry 76′), Trafford (Montgomery 62′), Myroniuk (Camargo 62′); Shaw (Chanda 76′), Warschewski

Goals

49′ — Ryan Telfer (Halifax Wanderers FC)

Discipline

17′ — Yellow: Eryk Kobza (Cavalry FC)
19′ — Yellow: Lorenzo Callegari (Halifax Wanderers FC)
37′ — Yellow: Charlie Trafford (Cavalry FC)
69′ — Yellow: Tom Field (Cavalry FC)
77′ — Yellow: Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé (Halifax Wanderers)