Forge FC and York United left with an even share of the spoils from Tim Hortons Field on Saturday night, as the two Ontario foes drew 3-3 in an instant classic 905 Derby matchup.

Both sides had some fresh faces in the starting lineup on Saturday, as Forge handed a first start to Beni Badibanga on the left wing, while York gave Adisa De Rosario his debut in goal.

The first half began in fairly cagey fashion, both sides feeling each other out and looking for new openings after two entertaining clashes earlier in the season. Forge began to establish themselves though, getting more of a footing as Badibanga in particular looked to run at York’s defenders on the dribble.

Just before the half hour mark, the deadlock broke courtesy of the home side; Alex Achinioti-Jönsson sent an inch-perfect switch of play across the pitch to Tristan Borges, who brought it down and delivered an even more perfect ball with his left foot right to Kyle Bekker, who got past Paris Gee and redirected the cross out of the air to score.

Coming out of halftime, it was York who had the livelier start. Clément Bayiha chased a long ball down the right touchline and did well to pull the ball out of a battle with Garven Metusala, squaring it to the top of the box for Brem Soumaoro. The midfielder picked out Kevin Dos Santos on the left side of the penalty area, and the Portuguese winger flicked an excellent shot over traffic off the far goalpost and in to make it 1-1.

Stunned by the equalizer, though, Forge battled back quickly. Just a few minutes after York’s goal, they came blazing down the left flank; Badibanga absorbed some pressure and played a clever pass with the outside of his foot to Bekker running in behind. The Forge captain pinned yet another perfect cross to the foot of Terran Campbell, whose sliding finish deposited the ball in the goal to make it 2-1.

York returned the favour again in fairly short order, just 12 minutes later as Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé picked the ball off Alessandro Hojabrpour and played in Brian Wright, who made an outstanding solo run between the centre-backs and did well to outmuscle several defenders before chipping it over Triston Henry to score the 2-2 goal.

Then, just four minutes later, it would be the Nine Stripes who took command of the scoreline, as Forge failed to clear their lines and a very poor pass through the box got intercepted easily; Bayiha sent an attempt back on goal that Achinioti-Jönsson headed upwards, and Mo Babouli managed to get under it to nod it in.

The drama continued though — in the 76th minute Forge returned to level footing. An attempted cross through the box struck the arm of a York defender, prompting the referee to point to the spot for a penalty. Terran Campbell, the league’s Golden Boot leader, stepped up to take it; De Rosario got his hands on the initial attempt, but the rebound came right back out to Campbell who made no mistake on the second attempt to score his second of the match.

Despite a handful of extremely dangerous chances at either end in the final 20 minutes of play, though, neither side was able to find one last goal to pull back in front, and thus the rivals finished on level terms. So, at the end of the night and before Sunday’s final game of the weekend, York pulled back into fifth place ahead of Atlético Ottawa, while Forge remained in third place — but drew even on points with second-place Cavalry FC.

BOX SCORE

Goals

27′ — Kyle Bekker (Forge FC)
48′ — Kevin Dos Santos (York United)
54′ — Terran Campbell (Forge FC)
66′ — Brian Wright (York United)
70′ — Mo Babouli (York United)
76′ — Terran Campbell (Forge FC)

Discipline

38′ — Yellow: Paris Gee (York United)
45′ — Yellow: Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé (York United)
45′ — Yellow: Tristan Borges (Forge FC)
68′ — Yellow: Kyle Bekker (Forge FC)
70′ — Yellow: Mo Babouli (York United)
89′ — Yellow: Malik Owolabi-Belewu (Forge FC)