Atlético Ottawa captain Ben Fisk said it best after a 2-0 loss to Forge FC on Sunday: “In football, sometimes the result doesn’t tell the whole story.”

Atlético out-possessed and out-passed Forge over the 90 minutes, but were unable to create substantial scoring chances, dropping points with just two matches remaining in a hectic first round at The Island Games.

Francisco Acuña’s sixth-minute strike was the lone shot that Ottawa managed from inside the box. A Daniel Krutzen header in the first half gave Forge the lead, and a late insurance marker from David Choiniere the lone blemishes in Ottawa’s otherwise sturdy defensive performance.

Coach Mista lamented the lack of scoring opportunities, especially considering how clinical his team was in a head-turning win over Cavalry FC.

RELATED READING: Smyrniotis credits ‘superhuman’ Forge FC for emerging from six-game run atop standings

“They’ve been playing together for quite a while, champions from last year, and they were very well organized,” Mista said of Forge. “Looking back we should have played a bit more to the outside right then go through the middle but we’ll look back and see what went wrong.”

Ottawa’s midfield performed admirably to keep possession. Fisk played well with Acuña, while Mo Kourouma and Malyk Hamilton tried to find openings out wide. But Forge held a tough low block, likely looking to conserve energy in their seventh match since the 2020 CPL season kicked off 18 days ago.

“We did enough to get a bit more from the game,” Fisk stated.

“They put away their chances while we could have created a bit more going forward. We only had a handful of chances but I thought for the first two-thirds of the field we moved the ball and deserved more.”

Ottawa now has five points from five matches, and sits in seventh place, and are part of a five-team logjam vying for a top four spot in order to advance to The Island Games’ second round.

RELATED READING: CPL Debate: Most impressive league newcomer at The Island Games

Next up for Ottawa is a tilt vs. red-hot Pacific FC on Wednesday, followed by an important contest with HFX Wanderers next Sunday.

“We have two very complicated games coming up – Pacific just had a great performance,” Mista said,

“They’re one of the teams I like the most at the tournament. Aggressive, good in transition and they’re playing a good level. On our end, we continue down our path which is investing in growth and getting better every game.”

Dozens of Ottawa fans took in Sunday’s match at TD Place during a socially-distanced watch party on the pitch.

Shoutout to our fans back home @TD_Place !! #LetsGoAtleti #AllezAtleti https://t.co/iWvXHQnYV1

— Atlético Ottawa (@atletiOttawa) August 30, 2020

Fisk was quick to give them a shout out after the match.

“I think it’s awesome, feeling that support from people back home and, even under bizarre circumstances, we’re still representing that city well,” Fisk said.