HFX Wanderers FC and Atlético Ottawa entertained and enraged Sunday in a 2-2 draw at TD Place in Ottawa.

A Joao Morelli brace, a Ryan Telfer sending off and ensuing extracurriculars, and a surprise equalizer from the home side gave viewers good value for a match between two teams at the bottom of the CanPL standings.

Proceedings started out well for Morelli and his Wanderers, who were given a penalty after just 120 seconds when newcomer Nyal Higgins took down Samuel Salter on the edge of the box. Morelli converted, taking a lead in the CanPL golden boot race with his sixth goal. That was also Ottawa’s eighth conceded penalty of the CanPL season – more than four times the second team in that category.

Ottawa started the match with a series of absences, with previously-known injury list players Drew Beckie and Chris Mannella being joined by regular starters Milovan Kapor, Dylon Powley, and others out of contention. Head coach Mista gave debuts to newcomers Higgins and Myles Cornwall in their stead.

RELATED READING: Match Analysis: Atlético Ottawa claws back after Telfer red, Morelli bucks Wanderers’ goalscoring trend || Sights & Sounds: Atlético Ottawa 2-2 HFX Wanderers

Atleti proceeded to take possession and control of the attack for much of the half. The Wanderers’ back three-turned-five gave up a couple of half-chances – and a penalty shout of their own involving Brian Wright and a lunging Christan Oxner – before an equalizer came via Wright in the 38th minute on a broken play off a corner. Ryan Telfer’s second-chance nodded effort was sent goal-bound by the centre forward.

Telfer was Ottawa’s best player through the first half… until he was sent off by referee Scott Bowman in a play in which saw the Trindad & Tobago international get tangled up with the official only to deliver a sliding tackle into Morelli. A shoving match ensued between both teams before Telfer, who was originally given a yellow card, was instead given his marching orders and protested the decision with an unseemly gesture.

Halifax, as expected, opened the second half well with a clear-cut chance from substitute Stefan Karajovanovic. Morelli added his second – and CanPL leading seventh on the season – after 50 minutes with a beautiful take-down-and-turn off a ball into the box, eventually taking a shot on his left foot across his body.

Ottawa enjoyed a solid stretch of attacking promise in the second half as Malcolm Shaw was introduced to add an attacking punch. Shaw got an equalizer after Wright was taken down around the top of the penalty area, burying the resulting spot kick in the 75th minute.

Halifax applied plenty of late pressure but simply ran out of time and were forced to their third draw in a row in an all-Ontario road trip closer. Ottawa, meanwhile, ended a two-game losing skid with the result.

BOX SCORE

Goals

3′ — Joao Morelli (HFX Wanderers FC)

39′ — Brian Wright (Atlético Ottawa)

51′ — Joao Morelli (HFX Wanderers FC)

75′ — Malcolm Shaw (Atlético Ottawa)

Discipline

35′ — Yellow: Ben McKendry (Atlético Ottawa)

45+2′ — Red: Ryan Telfer (Atlético Ottawa)

45+2′ — Yellow: Joao Morelli (HFX Wanderers FC)

58′ — Yellow: Stefan Karajovanovic (HFX Wanderers FC)

68′ — Yellow: Zachary Verhoven (Atlético Ottawa)

74′ — Yellow: Jems Geffrard (HFX Wanderers FC)