HFX Wanderers FC enjoyed their first real Kitchen Party since 2019 on Monday, as they clawed back from an early deficit to beat Atlético Ottawa 2-1 in a successful return to Wanderers Grounds.

Ottawa welcomed some reinforcements both new and familiar into the side, with recent addition Raul Uche starting up top alongside Ryan Telfer, who returned to the side after a few weeks with the Trinidad and Tobago national team at the Gold Cup. The Wanderers, meanwhile, kept their lineup fairly consistent to recent outings, with a front four of Akeem Garcia, Joao Morelli, Alessandro Riggi, and Cory Bent spearheading the attack — plus, for the first time in a few weeks, head coach Stephen Hart was on hand to oversee things after leaving the Winnipeg bubble for a medical procedure.

Amid torrential rain in Halifax, the two sides were quite cagey to start the game, struggling to move the ball quickly on a wet, heavy pitch. Eventually, though, the floodgates burst open: Atlético Ottawa won a corner in front of the Wanderers supporters, and Chris Mannella delivered a perfect ball to an unmarked Telfer for a powerful headed finish.

It took just four minutes for the home side to respond, though. HFX, moving upfield with speed, managed to get numbers into the box as Cory Bent made an overlapping run on the right side of Morey Doner. He sent a superb curling cross in front of the Ottawa backline, which Akeem Garcia — who very well might’ve been in an offside position — brought down before Joao Morelli scored it from the rebound.

After a few more waves of Wanderers pressure, the hosts took the lead before halftime thanks to another excellent run and cross from Bent, sent in for an excellent one-touch finish by Morelli (definitely onside this time).

The rain cleared up a little in the second half, but that didn’t change the tide of the match; in fact, the Wanderers seemed to press further forward, generating far more attacking opportunities than Ottawa. Morelli had a couple very good chances to complete his hat trick — likely the most dangerous attacking opportunities either team had in the second frame — but he wasn’t able to find the insurance marker for Halifax. Ottawa really struggled to penetrate into the box, finishing the game with just one shot in total.

Nonetheless, the Wanderers were able to see out the 2-1 victory to celebrate in front of their home fans on Natal Day. With three more points in their tally, HFX managed to leapfrog York United in the table and move into a tie on 11 points with fifth-place FC Edmonton. Atlético Ottawa, meanwhile, remain in last place in the CPL with seven points.

BOX SCORE

Goals

21′ — Ryan Telfer (Atlético Ottawa)
25′ — Joao Morelli (HFX Wanderers FC)
37′ — Joao Morelli (HFX Wanderers FC)

Discipline

29′ — Yellow: Akeem Garcia (HFX Wanderers FC)
39′ — Yellow: Chris Mannella (Atlético Ottawa)
79′ — Yellow: Tevin Shaw (Atlético Ottawa)
90′ — Yellow: Miguel Acosta (Atlético Ottawa)