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Hart bemoans HFX’s ‘unrecognizable’ 1st half in defeat to Cavs

HALIFAX – HFX Wanderers FC have escaped with points after falling behind before in Canadian Premier League action.

But after allowing two back-to-back goals in the first half of their latest tilt against undefeated Cavalry FC, the Wanderers couldn’t do enough to overturn the deficit, despite a second-half effort by Andre Rampersad.

“We’ve played five games now where we’ve started slow in the first half and in a couple of occasions we managed to pull ourself back into game plan,” HFX coach Stephen Hart told reporters following the 2-1 loss.

“But today, we lost the game in the first half.”

With the loss, HFX Wanderers FC’s chance for a Spring title officially ended, and Cavalry FC is now just one single point away from clinching the first of two berths in the 2019 CPL Championship. Not that the Wanderers were favourites for the spot – it would have taken a win today, and many other results going their way over the course of the next two weeks to overturn the point deficit.

Still, Hart lamented the performance on the day more than the consequences that it bore.

“We really did not accept any responsibility to take the ball and play football. The ball was just another opponent today,” Hart offered.

Hart also said that his team struggled with handling Cavalry’s high-press system, and couldn’t attack the spaces that opened up from the aggressive tactic. The strategy to beat the press was to bypass the midfield and get the ball to striker Tomasz Skublak, which Hart said the team did pull off successfully a few times … but not enough to truly test the Cavs.

“I mean, we were unrecognizable in the first half, let’s face it,” Hart continued. “On both ends, defensively we weren’t even close enough to get a foot in. I’d be surprised if we had 23 per cent possession in the first half, very surprised.”

Any chance of escaping that climb of a first half without conceding was erased by Sergio Camargo in the 39th minute, before the Wanderers conceded an own goal three minutes later.

“Both goals were our fault, let’s face it, we gave the ball away in bad areas of the pitch and we paid the price,” Hart opined.

“It’s a situation where you’re playing the top team in the league, they’re pouncing on every single error, they’re snapping at you and we gave them those chances. They didn’t pick us apart.”

HFX Wanderers FC manger Stephen Hart. (Photo: Trevor MacMillan/CPL)
HFX Wanderers FC manager Stephen Hart. (Photo: Trevor MacMillan/CPL)

In the second half, the Wanderers tried to be more direct and use their collective pace to give the Cavalry side trouble at the back. The adjustment paid off as Andre Rampersad scored at the 50 minute mark after connecting on a cross from Kodai Iida. As has been the case frequently in post-game press conferences, Hart gave Iida credit for his performance on the pitch.

“Kodai caused a lot of trouble with his dribbling and I’m happy that we won the second half, if I am happy at all,” Hart, who clearly was not pleased with the result, offered curtly.

“Coming into the dressing room at halftime, we knew what we had to do. We knew what we were doing wrong,” said Rampersad after the game.

Despite the boost of confidence that Rampersad said the players felt after the goal, the team wasn’t able to score another to earn another comeback at Wanderers Grounds, where the raucous crowd have been treated to many a turnaround of late.

“That’s football, that’s how it goes,” Rampersad concluded. “You go down and sometimes, it’s just too late.”