2023 CPL Regular Season — Match #80
Forge FC vs. Halifax Wanderers
August 19, 2023 at 7 p.m. ET
Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario
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It’s another Saturday night clash under the lights at Tim Hortons Field this weekend, as Forge FC welcome Halifax Wanderers to Hamilton this time with both clubs looking to establish their position in the title race.

Forge come in hungry, having failed to win their last two games and given up three goals in each of them. They lost 3-0 at Cavalry FC two weeks ago, and last Saturday at home they played to an entertaining 3-3 draw with derby rivals York United. Still, the Hammers enter the weekend third in the table — level with second-place Cavalry on 30 points and the first tiebreaker of wins, but six goals back in differential.

Bobby Smyrniotis and co. have their sights locked on winning the regular season title and securing a Concacaf Champions Cup spot, with league leaders Pacific being just two points ahead at the beginning of matchweek 19.

“We just have to be a good version of ourselves,” Smyrniotis said of this test against Halifax. “That’s the most important thing. It’s making sure we have good levels of energy, making sure we can dictate the game whether it’s on the ball or off the ball in different phases, and making sure we’re comfortable exposing our opponent.”

Halifax, however, roll into Hamilton looking to mount a title challenge of their own. They’re currently jockeying for position at the bottom of the playoff picture — they’re fifth, level on points (28) with Atlético Ottawa for fourth place but behind with one fewer win. The table is so tight that a loss (and a York win) would put them sixth and out of the playoffs, while a win could send them as high as second place.

Patrice Gheisar and the Wanderers continued to roll at home last weekend with a 3-0 win over Vancouver FC, but now they’ll look for just their second away victory of the season by walking into one of the more unforgiving venues in the Canadian Premier League. The good news for Halifax is they are, according to Gheisar, at perhaps their healthiest juncture of the season to date, with Jake Ruby, Tiago Coimbra and Mo Omar all in full training after dealing with knocks. The Wanderers gaffer did not suggest any players in the squad are unavailable due to injury, so he should have a full group to select from on Saturday.

These two sides have met twice now this season, their last matchup being a dramatic 2-1 win for Halifax at the Wanderers Grounds — where a last-second Daniel Nimick penalty claimed three points for the home side, just moments after Kyle Bekker equalized with a screamer for Forge. In their first meeting of 2023, the Wanderers took the lead at Tim Hortons Field courtesy of Massimo Ferrin, only for Woobens Pacius to salvage a point for the Hammers in stoppage time.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

• Wanderers looking to build on first away win: Halifax have won just once game away from home all season (from 10 attempts), currently holding a record of 1-6-3. Their road struggles seemed more of a concern three weeks ago, however, before they went to York Lions Stadium and won 2-0. So, the Wanderers actually have a chance this weekend to win a second consecutive away game, which would certainly put to rest some concerns over their ability to play on the road — which they may have to do in the playoffs. Obviously, Halifax have drawn immense strength from playing in front of their boisterous crowds at the Wanderers Grounds, but if they’re to be a serious title contender they’ll need to prove themselves in more hostile venues as well. “Our game management on the road needs to be a little different from when we’re at home,” coach Patrice Gheisar said. “At home with our great fans and the support that we have, we can start games on the front foot. We need to somehow find that energy when we’re on the road without our fans.”

• Forge need to tighten up defence: Forge have conceded three goals in each of their last two games, and coach Bobby Smyrniotis is not pleased about it. Looking back at the 3-3 draw with York, Smyrniotis was particularly frustrated by the manner in which they gave up goals, with all of them by his reckoning coming from individual errors by Forge players — fairly uncharacteristic of a side that’s usually so reliable. There’s not a ton that coaches can do in these situations other than preaching focus to players, but Smyrniotis said Friday that he’s hoping some the work they do in training will iron out those lapses. “When you watch back that game [vs. York], at no point were we really in danger in the game,” he said. “We created our own danger to ourselves. It’s quite a crazy game to watch back to see how it goes. It’s easy to say we need more concentration; you bring those concentration exercises into training through the week. You can do that through various things you do in training, just making sure the guys are always competing from the first to the last moment. In between, there’s various things we do that we believe increase concentration of players.”

• Battle of red-hot goalscorers: Both of these teams find themselves with plenty of in-form starpower heading into this game. Forge’s attack boasts the current Golden Boot leader, Terran Campbell, who scored another brace against York United to move up to 10 on the season so far. The 24-year-old seems to have found his confidence in Hamilton this year, which is excellent news for a club that’s been needing a player to step up and lead the attack. Halifax, meanwhile, will counter Campbell with an attacking star of their own, in 2021 Player of the Year João Morelli — who has now scored three goals in his last three games, truly starting to recover the dazzling form he had before tearing his ACL early last season. Bobby Smyrniotis said on Friday that Morelli significantly changes the way Halifax attacks, which means this could be a very different encounter to either of the last two meetings between these sides. Either way, look for one of those two red-hot forwards to cause problems for the opposition in this match.

PROJECTED STARTING XIs

Forge FC (4-3-3): Henry; Rama, James, Achinioti-Jönsson, Samuel; Bekker, Hojabrpour, Sissoko; Borges, Campbell, Pacius

Halifax Wanderers (4-3-3): Fillion; Fernandez, Nimick, Loughrey, Timoteo; Daniels, Callegari, Watson; Morelli, Perruzza, Ferrin

ALL-TIME SERIES

Forge FC wins: 8 || Halifax Wanderers wins: 3 || Draws: 7

Last meeting:

June 30, 2023 – Halifax Wanderers 2-1 Forge FC

KEY QUOTES

“They started the season one way, playing a lot, and maybe they didn’t have the results in the win column they wanted; they kind of went away from it and were getting some results being a little bit more resilient defensively, giving up a little bit of the ball, and now they’ve come into a little bit of a mixed type of play with bringing Morelli into the field … First 10-15 minutes we’ll really see what they’re bringing forward, but that doesn’t change a lot from what we want to do. We don’t want to come into our pitch and watch somebody else play with the ball.” — Forge FC head coach Bobby Smyrniotis

“I’ve probably known Bobby for 20 years, so I think we both have a good grasp of how we play. There’s some differences but a strong amount of similarities. They took all four games last year, and I don’t think Halifax scored a goal, that’s really given us more desire. Our guys have come in with more fight and they’ve maybe underestimated us. That certainly won’t happen tomorrow, I think they’ll come out flying wanting revenge and wanting to take it to us. So if we want the result we’ve got to really, really fight.” — Halifax Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar