Final Score: Valour FC 0-1 Forge FC
Goalscorers: Jensen 36′
Game of the 2024 season: 103
CPL match: 587
Match in a minute or less
Forge clinched the 2024 CPL Shield on Sunday, as they defeated Valour FC 1-0 at Princess Auto Stadium, officially confirming their spot atop the Canadian Premier League’s 2024 regular season table.
Noah Jensen opened the scoring for Forge in the 36th minute, as Kyle Bekker found him in the box with a nice cutback, and he slotted home on his left foot to make it 1-0.
From there, Forge did what they needed to in order to grind out the victory, allowing them to secure the CPL Shield with two games to spare.
Three Observations
Forge brings famed playoff mentality to CPL Shield clincher:
Forge have made it clear since the start of this year – they’ve had their eyes on the CPL Shield.
Having won four North Star Cups as playoff champions, they’ve made a habit of finding a way to lift trophies at the end of the postseason, but they haven’t been able to replicate that same success in the regular season.
Other than in 2021, their lone season where they finished atop the regular season table (ironically the lone season they failed to win the North Star Cup), they’ve done well enough each season to ensure they always make the playoffs, but haven’t been one to typically find themselves atop the mountain at the end of each regular season campaign.
Instead, they’ve done well to peak in time for the biggest games in the playoffs, hence their impressive postseason record, but this year, they wanted to replicate that big game mentality in the regular season. Especially given what’s on offer for the team that finishes first in the regular season, which is a trophy and a spot in the Concacaf Champions Cup, it’s given them plenty of reasons to want to translate that playoff success over to the regular season now.
As a result, they’ve done well to adjust and do what they’ve needed to in order to become CPL Shield winners. After past seasons where they started a bit slow out of the gates, they came out strongly this year, and then did well to never dip too much even as they navigated a deep run in the Canadian Championship.
Then, as injuries started to hit them, they found a way to use the depth of their group, which is crucial over a long season.
Now, with two games to go, they’ve achieved this goal thanks to their continued hard work and consistency, and that’s a hugely deserved reward for them as a team.
“It’s amazing for our group to be recognized with this regular season trophy, to be the most consistent team in this league,” Jensen said. “And I think that’s something that we’ve deserved. The past couple of years maybe we’ve had a lot of ups and downs through the year and we’ve been battling going into the playoffs, but I think we’re playing our best football right now.”
“It shows in our results, and that’s something we’re going to look to continue going forward.”
Heading into the playoffs, however, where they have every intention of wanting to lift the North Star Cup for a fifth time in six years, becoming the first time to win the regular season and playoff double, they don’t want to slow down anytime soon.
The beauty of winning the Shield, however, is that they can head into the playoffs with a clear edge, which is another reason why Forge were so eager to secure this position.
Make no mistake, however – their main goal is a North Star Cup. They made that very clear after the fact, so while they’ll now sit back, reflect on what this accomplishment means, and enjoy the feeling of lifting a trophy next week, their focus has already turned on ensuring they finish the season on a high note to keep their momentum going as they reach the playoffs.
That’s the sort of mentality that has allowed Forge to cultivate this history of success, and they’ll now look to use it as they chase another trophy.
“Last time I checked, a champion in this league is crowned in November,” Forge’s head coach, Bobby Smyrniotis, said. “That’s the ultimate goal, that’s what we play for. This one is important for us, because it gets us the one thing we want out of the way, and that’s the Concacaf Champions Cup berth.”
“That’s something we cherish, this will be a our sixth entry into Concacaf competition, it’s something that this club prides itself on, not as just a club in the CPL, but as a club in Canada, we’ve been doing a great job in making sure we’re playing in these competitions, so that was goal number one (when winning the Shield), and it’s always better to get that out of the way.”
He added: “We’ve got more in us, and I think this period ahead gives us the ability to work on things and we’ll continue to get better to make sure we’re sharp for what comes ahead.”
One lapse hurts Valour as they miss opportunity to jump into playoff spot:
Against a dangerous Forge attack, Valour knew that they needed to be alert defensively in this game if they were to have any chance at getting something out of it.
As a result, Valour started this game in more of a defensive posture, as they wanted to avoid conceding too much space to Forge in the attack.
Well aware of the threat that Forge possesses up front, they sat back in a 4-4-2 off the ball, and tried to limit them from finding space centrally, while ensuring they didn’t get overloaded out wide.
From there, they looked to hit on the break, using the threat of Loïc Kwemi and Abdul Binate out wide, Shaan Hundal centrally, with Diogo Ressureição sitting underneath as a link player.
To their credit, they did well to keep Forge quiet early. There were a few dangerous moments, but for the most part, Valour’s plan was working, and they held Forge at bay, while slowly growing into the game offensively.
Yet, that still wasn’t enough to keep their guests quiet in the first half, as they were still able to combine for a goal on a swift attacking play, one originating off a moment where Valour lost concentration. With that, it pushed Valour to alter their approach for the second half, as they looked to find a way to claw back at least a point.
Because of that, after sitting a bit more defensively in the first stanza, as they kept just 38.7% of possession, they turned that around in the second half, keeping 59.2% of the ball. They ended up being far more dangerous with that possession, too – after generating just four shots in the first half, they had seven second half attempts as they pushed for an equalizer.
Ultimately, however, they were unable to make the most of those opportunities, and that Forge goal ended up proving to be costly as a result. On a day where there wasn’t much splitting both teams, that Valour switched off at a crucial moment ended up being the difference, as it gave Forge a key edge right before half time.
As a result, Valour missed a key chance to climb up the table, after results elsewhere ended up helping them out this weekend. Had they won this game, they could’ve finished this weekend alone in the CPL’s fifth and final playoff spot – even a draw would’ve been enough to put them in a three-way tie for that spot.
Instead, they sit one point behind Pacific and Vancouver, who are currently tied on points.
The good news is that Valour now heads to Vancouver next week, where they were going to need to avoid defeat regardless of what happened against Forge – now, they go there knowing that they’ll need a win to give them their best shot at reaching the playoffs, and to avoid a loss if they want to reach the final matchday still alive in that race.
Despite this loss, Valour can head there still in good form, as they’ve lost just three of their last 12 games, but this game is a reminder of the time of year we’re at – form can start to go out the window, and it’s all about execution in the key moments.
Unfortunately for Valour, despite a solid performance, they lacked that execution in both boxes in this game, and missed out on a key opportunity to move up the table because of that.
“It was an awkward moment,” Valour’s head coach, Phil Dos Santos, said of the goal they conceded. “We had been under pressure a few moments in that half and dealt with it, and we knew Forge likes to attack those half-spaces, they bring one of their midfielders to create the overload there, then it wasn’t only how we defended the wide area, but how we defended the cutback. I think that we had six players on the same line all collapsing towards the goal.”
“We slept for a moment, and this is a good team, so when you sleep, you’re going to get punished and penalized, and that’s what happened.”
“It’s frustrating for all of us,” Valour centre back, Gianfranco Facchineri added. “Regardless of being a defender or a forward who might not be involved in the defence event as much, it was a frustrating moment.”
Forge finding away form at perfect time:
It’s been no secret that Forge’s away form hasn’t been as strong as they’d like in 2024, especially considering how dominant they’ve been at home, where they’ve picked up an astonishing 34 points from 13 home games so far this season (11W-1D-1L).
To Forge’s credit, however, after struggling to pick up results away from home to start the year, sitting with a record of 1W-3D-4L (6 PTS) after their first eight road games, they’ve started to find some away form at a crucial moment.
Now, after today’s game, they’ve now got a record of 3W-1D-1L (10 PTS) in their last five road games, which now gives them the third-most road points in the CPL with 16.
That’s proven to be crucial for them in their playoff push, and has arguably made the difference in that tight race, as their road form was a big reason why they haven’t grabbed control of the race until the last month or so.
To be fair, they hadn’t needed to be great on the road thanks to their dominant home form, but being able to push into the CPL’s elite in terms of road performances has made a huge difference for them, and it’s hard to argue with that notion based on how the table looks.
Yet, credit has to be given to Forge for how they’ve adjusted their game to be better suited to deal with these road games as of late.
At home, a reason for their dominance is that they’ve found the perfect formula to play their offensive game, which is why 29 of their league-leading 45 goals have been scored at home. When at home, they know they’re going to play on the front foot, dominate possession and put opponents under pressure, and they’ve proven that with their results.
Through that, they’ve also been quite good defensively, as a good offence has proven to be be a good defence for them – they’ve conceded just 10 goals in 13 home games.
By comparison, on the road, Forge had scored just 15 times in 12 road games before this one, and more importantly, had conceded 18 times, showing the impact not being as dangerous offensively as had at both ends of the pitch.
Because of that, they had to switch thing sup on the road, focusing on their defensive play instead of offence. As a result, they’ve only conceded five goals in their last five road games (three of them came in a 3-0 loss to Halifax where Forge struggled defensively, thus styming their attack), doing well to tighten things up at the back.
That was on full display in this game, as they limited Valour to just 0.81 xG on 11 shots, with only two of those shots being worth more than 0.10 xG (a 65th minute Loïc Kwemi attempt worth 0.185 and a 29th minute Diogo Ressurreição attempt worth 0.243), to help them keep a clean sheet.
Yet, that’s a credit to Forge’s mentality as a group, and it’s a big reason why they’ve been able to clinch the Shield.
Ironically, they might not need to use this newfound road form if all goes well for them in the playoffs, as they could host all the way through if they take care of business in their first playoff game, but there is still a scenario where they might need to contest a semi-final and then the final on the road.
Because of that, while they’ve set themselves up to ride their home dominance for the rest of the season, if things don’t go as planned in the postseason, they can look at this recent stretch and be confident in their ability to head out on the road and get the job done if needed.
“It’s been hard because we haven’t been able to pinpoint exactly what (the problem) was, but it was discussion we’ve had with the players,” Smyrniotis said of his team’s road record. “It’s about little things, understanding that Tim Hortons Field plays differently, the field is different, there are different factors to it.”
“But as time has gone on, and these games have become more important, because the margin of error is smaller, the guys have taken care of business.”
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Kyle Bekker, Forge FC
As he usually is, Forge’s captain was a vital presence on both sides of the ball in this game. Because of that, he finished with one assist, three chances created, five shots, completed 47 out of 53 passes (89%), one dribble and five out of six long balls offensively, while also chipping in with seven recoveries and two out of four duels won defensively in a balanced performance.
What’s next?
Valour will head out on the road for their next match, as they will travel to British Columbia to take on Vancouver FC at Willoughby Community Park on Sunday, October 13th (2:00 p.m. PT/4:00 p.m. CT). Meanwhile, Forge will return home to take on Atlético Ottawa at Tim Hortons Field on Saturday, October 12th (4:00 p.m. ET).
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