Forge FC leapt from sixth in the CPL table into a tie for third on Tuesday night as they came from behind twice to beat FC Edmonton 4-3 thanks to a Tristan Borges hat trick at Clarke Stadium.

After a bright start, the Eddies found the back of the net fairly early on in this one. In just the 12th minute, left wingback Wesley Timoteo received the ball in a pocket of space on the left flank, at which point he sent a perfect low cross along to an unmarked Mamadi Camara to finish at the back post and make it 1-0.

Down a goal, Forge began to press forward more, and they came achingly close to the levelling goal just five minutes later; Tristan Borges curled a ball in toward the head of Woobens Pacius, but Edmonton ‘keeper Andreas Vaikla came diving across goal for a miraculous save.

Soon, though, the visitors would capitalize on a chance. Their pressing forced a mistake in Edmonton’s half and Emery Welshman sent the ball to the top of the box for Kyle Bekker, who played in Tristan Borges through a gap on the left to finish and equalize the match.

The momentum wouldn’t last long for Forge, however. Ten minutes after they’d drawn even, the Eddies added a second goal to the board — for the first time in 2022. Tobias Warschewski sent the cross in from a free kick just outside the box, and Forge midfielder Alessandro Hojabrpour got a foot to it but couldn’t steer it to safety, instead knocking the ball into the net for an own goal.

A few minutes into the second half, Forge coach Bobby Smyrniotis turned to his bench to try and turn the deficit around. He brought left-back Kwasi Poku and attacker Terran Campbell on in the 55th minute for Ashtone Morgan and Emery Welshman, respectively, perhaps hoping to inject some energy into his side.

Quickly, Smyrniotis was rewarded for the change. Poku found the ball on the left edge of the box and he sent a flat pass across the top to Aboubacar Sissoko, who spotted a Tristan Borges run and played it through for the latter to score his second of the game. Just two minutes later, it was Campbell who hunted down a long ball up the right flank, and he managed to beat Vaikla with a low shot — though it was Edmonton defender Bicou Bissainthe who ultimately put it in the net, stumbling attempting to clear.

FCE coach Alan Koch turned to his own bench then, with 20 minutes to play, as he brought on the trio of Azriel González, CJ Smith, and Kairo Coore — and he soon added Masta Kacher to the mix as well.

It wasn’t to be for the hosts, though. With 10 minutes to play, an errant tackle from Smith on Tristan Borges prompted the referee to award a penalty to Forge, and Borges buried it himself to complete the hat trick and put the match — almost — to bed.

It wasn’t quite finished there; the Eddies clawed back another goal in the 86th minute, as a perfect corner taken by Warschewski found Kairo Coore and the 21-year-old scored his first goal for Edmonton to make it 4-3.

Nonetheless, that would be the end of the attacking deluge in this match, as Forge held onto their 4-3 lead to take all three points home from Edmonton ahead of Saturday’s 2020 Canadian Championship Final.

BOX SCORE

Goals

12′ — Mamadi Camara (FC Edmonton)
24′ — Tristan Borges (Forge FC)
34′ — Alessandro Hojabrpour (Forge FC) (Own Goal)
61′ — Tristan Borges (Forge FC)
63′ — Bicou Bissainthe (FC Edmonton) (Own Goal)
80′ — Tristan Borges (Forge FC) (Penalty)
86′ — Kairo Coore (FC Edmonton)

Discipline

42′ — Yellow: Aboubacar Sissoko (Forge FC)
45+1′ — Yellow: Kyle Bekker (Forge FC)
90+3′ — Yellow: Simon Triantafillou (FC Edmonton)