The winning feeling remained at the Wanderers Grounds on Thursday night, as Halifax Wanderers FC came back from an early deficit to beat Valour FC 3-1 for their third win in four games.

The game started a little slow on the heavy pitch in Halifax, but it was a moment of quick play that helped Valour to open the scoring at the 15-minute mark. Jordi Swibel tracked back to win the ball in his own half and Noah Verhoeven flipped it forward to Themi Antonoglou, making a smart run into space to get on the end of the transitional ball. Antonoglou wasted no time whipping a cross into a perfect area in the six-yard box, where Shaan Hundal was in excellent position to smash it in and put the visitors in front.

A few minutes later, Halifax’s Aidan Daniels found himself staring at the yawning goal after a well-placed flick through the Valour defence by Ryan Telfer, but Daniels couldn’t put his shot on frame. His blocked attempt did win a corner, though, and it was on that opportunity that they levelled the match.

The initial delivery fell into a mob of Valour defenders that couldn’t clear it, as Telfer poked it back to Cale Loughrey at the top of the box. The defender rolled a shot around traffic and into the bottom corner, making it 1-1.

Within moments, Valour went from ahead to trailing on the road; just two minutes after the equalizer, Telfer was driving into the box again, and Valour defender Gianfranco Facchineri grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him down, prompting the referee to award a penalty. Dan Nimick took the spot kick for Halifax, making no mistake and putting his side in front.

It was the Wanderers’ game from there in the first half, as they looked to add to their advantage and continued to search for Telfer in dangerous areas. Although they couldn’t find the net again, they continued to test Jonathan Viscosi and appeared much more composed than the side that had conceded the first goal of the match.

The second half picked up much where the first had ended, as Giorgio Probo and Aidan Daniels both had chances to shoot from distance within the first five minutes; although both efforts were denied, Halifax continued in their role as aggressors — for which they were soon rewarded.

On another venture into the Valour penalty area, Wesley Timoteo flicked a cross into the box and caught defender Haris Chantzopoulos on the left arm, which the referee decided warranted another penalty for the home side. Once again, Nimick was flawless from the penalty spot, scoring his second of the match and fifth of the CPL season to make it 3-1.

Valour boss Phillip Dos Santos made an attempt to get his side back in the game by turning to his bench, bringing on a pair of recent signings: former CS Saint-Laurent players Loïc Kwemi and Safwane Mlah, who have good memories at the Wanderers Grounds from earlier this year, and perhaps could bring that confidence to their new club.

The road got even bumpier for Valour soon after, though. Viscosi came forward into a tackle too aggressively and brought down Clément Bayiha, giving away yet another penalty kick to the home side. This time, however, Nimick’s attempt to his left wasn’t hit hard enough, and — for the first time in his CPL career — he saw his penalty saved, as Viscosi made up for his own error.

That lifeline wouldn’t ultimately help Valour, who were unable to find their way back into the match and suffered their 10th loss of the season, as the Wanderers won their third — and second straight home game — to move in front of the Winnipeg club into seventh place.

BOX SCORE

Lineups

Halifax Wanderers FC: Fillion; Ferrazzo (Fernandez 60′), Nimick, Loughrey, Timoteo; Callegari, Rampersad; Daniels (Bayiha 70′), Gagnon-Laparé (Alphonse 86′), Probo (Dias 70′); Telfer (Vasconcelos 86′)

Valour FC: Viscosi; Facchineri, Mourdoukoutas, Chantzopoulos (Sukunda 59′), Antonoglou (Haynes 84′); Ohin Hanson 77′), Verhoeven; Faria (Mlah 59′), Ressurreição, Hundal; Swibel (Kwemi 59′)

Goals

15′ — Shaan Hundal (Valour FC)
22′ — Cale Loughrey (Halifax Wanderers)
26′ — Dan Nimick (Halifax Wanderers) (Penalty)
53′ — Dan Nimick (Halifax Wanderers) (Penalty)

Discipline

24′ — Yellow: Gianfranco Facchineri (Valour FC)
37′ — Yellow: Riley Ferrazzo (Halifax Wanderers)
53′ — Yellow: Jonathan Viscosi (Valour FC)
82′ — Yellow: Noah Verhoeven (Valour FC)