York United FC continued their outstanding run of home form on Saturday, as they took down Halifax Wanderers FC by a 2-1 scoreline at York Lions Stadium, launching themselves into second place in the Canadian Premier League.
For the sides’ second meeting of the year, neither manager made many changes from the previous week. Halifax boss Patrice Gheisar made only one swap in his starting XI, putting captain Andre Rampersad back into the squad after he recently became eligible thanks to a suspension being reduced. Meanwhile, York’s Benjamin Mora made a pair of changes, as Kadin Martin-Pereux slotted in on the left in place of the suspended Orlando Botello, while Juan Cordóva came into midfield instead of Brem Soumaoro.
After a brief feeling-out period for the first 15 minutes, where the Wanderers had more possession but remained patient as they probed the York setup, it would in fact be the home side who opened the scoring. York won a corner that Mo Babouli floated with his right foot across the six-yard box, finding a completely unmarked Marki Voytsekhovskyy who was able to nod it in with a well-placed header.
Halifax continued to push though, and by the half-hour mark they still had a whopping 83 per cent possession. The closest they came to scoring in that stretch was a Rampersad strike from the top of the box, where he had done well to open space for himself, but CPL Goalkeeper of the Month Thomas Vincensini was able to dive and push it away.
Dan Nimick created an opportunity on his own just seconds before halftime, dancing through York’s backline to bear down on goal, but his attempt to finish across to the far post ended up bouncing wide thanks to Vincensini’s fingertips.
The home side came out more aggressively after halftime, and were soon rewarded for it. In the 58th minute, Voytsekhovskyy made his way into the penalty area and opened a lane for himself, but his attempted shot was blocked — only to fall in the path of Cordóva. The midfielder wasted no time wrapping his foot around the ball and blasting it into the top right corner from high in the box, giving York a 2-0 lead.
Both sides made a handful of changes with around 20 minutes to play, York looking to shut things down while Halifax sought to at least find one goal and give themselves a chance.
The Nine Stripes held their structure well though, forcing the Wanderers to play crosses that were easily dealt with for the most part — although Ryan Telfer did cause some problems with his running from the right side.
At last, in the 87th minute, Halifax showed signs of life, as again it was Telfer driving into the box on the right, evading his mark and sliding it across the area to Giorgio Probo, who smashed it into the open goal (off a sliding York defender) to make it 2-1.
That would be all the Wanderers could muster though, as they ran out of time before they found an equalizer, although that wasn’t without a couple of mad scrambles in front of goal in the dying moments of stoppage time. Halifax also had at least one late moment where they felt they should’ve been awarded a penalty, but the referee did not award one.
Seeing out the victory, York improved to 5-1-1 at home this season, unbeaten in their last six matches at York Lions Stadium. The Wanderers, meanwhile, remain at the bottom of the table, unable to continue what had been a two-game winning streak.
BOX SCORE
Lineups
York United FC: Vincensini; Ferrari, Abatneh, Adekugbe, Sturing, Martin-Pereux; Babouli, Cordóva (Soumaoro 70′), Martínez (Jimoh 70′); Voytsekhovskyy (Esprit 86′), Wright
Halifax Wanderers FC: Fillion; Ferrazzo (Fernandez 81′), Nimick, Loughrey (Alphonse 81′), Timotéo; Callegari, Rampersad (Daniels 70′); Bayiha, Gagnon-Laparé (Dias 70′), Ferrin (Probo 75′); Telfer
Goals
17′ — Markiyan Voytsekhovskyy (York United)
58′ — Juan Cordóva (York United)
87′ — Giorgio Probo (Halifax Wanderers)
Discipline
18′ — Yellow: Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé (Halifax Wanderers)
51′ — Yellow: Josué Martínez (York United)
77′ — Yellow: Cale Loughrey (Halifax Wanderers)
77′ — Yellow: Yann Fillion (Halifax Wanderers)