For the first time all season, Valour have won back-to-back games in CPL action, as they defeated Forge FC 2-1 at Princess Auto Stadium on Sunday.

Thanks to that, they’ve now provisionally climbed to within three points of the fifth and final playoff spot in the CPL table, having picked up seven points in their last three games.

As for Forge, they saw a four game unbeaten run snapped with this loss, and have now lost six of their last seven visits to Princess Auto Stadium, which continues to be a tough venue for them to pick up results at.

Valour nearly opened the scoring early in the game, as the ball fell to Safwane Mlah in the box within the first few minutes, but he powered his shot off the crossbar and out.

Soon after, though, Jordi Swibel got Valour on the board in spectacular fashion in the 11th minute, as he stepped up to take a dangerous free kick, curling the ball into the top corner with a perfect strike to give his team the 1-0 lead.

At the other end, Forge looked to get back into the game, and started to push. First, they came close through Tristan Borges, who dragged a dangerous shot just wide of the goal, before David Choinière nearly found the net with a left-footed shot that was only denied by a great save from Jonathan Viscosi.

Then, right after, Daniel Parra had a great look after a nice cross from Malcolm Duncan, but he flashed his header just over the crossbar.

Continuing their push, Forge had one of their best looks in the 36th minute, as Choinière found the trailing run of Kyle Bekker with a nice cutback, but Bekker sent his shot well over the goal from close range.

After half time, however, Forge finally got their equalizer. After receiving the ball out wide, Bekker looked up and curled a perfect ball into the box, finding Tristan Borges at the back post, and Borges would to the rest from there with a perfect header to make it 1-1.

Despite giving up that goal, however, Valour didn’t get too down about it. Instead, they picked their heads up and looked to regain their lead as soon as possible. To their credit, they’d do that, as well – just moments later in the 57th minute, Jordan Faria snuck in behind Forge’s defence before playing a perfect low cross to Diogo Ressureição, who would slot the ball into an empty net to make it 2-1.

Eager to respond right away, Forge nearly respond with another goal, as Bekker fired a dangerous shot from distance in the 61st minute, forcing a tough save out of Viscosi with his dipping shot.

After both teams traded a few half chances over the next 20 minutes, Valour nearly sealed the game with a goal in the 79th minute. There, the ball fell to Noah Verhoeven all alone inside Forge’s box, but despite having a great look at the net, Valour midfielder was unable to keep his shot below the crossbar, powering his attempt well over the goal.

Meanwhile, Forge continued to push for an equalizer, and almost found it in the 84th minute, as the ball fell to Noah Jensen in the box, but his shot would go right into the hands of Viscosi.

Then, in the 94th minute, the ball fell to Borges in a dangerous position in the box, but he sent his shot well over the net from close range.

From there, however, Valour would do what they needed to in order to hang on, allowing them to secure a valuable victory in their race to push for a playoff spot.

BOX SCORE

Lineups 

Valour FC: Viscosi; Alarcón, Mourdoukoutas, Facchineri, Antonoglou; Mlah (Sánchez 72′), Campbell; Faria (Verhoeven 72′), Ressureição; Swibel (Chantzopoulos 88′), Hundal (Binate 83′)

Forge FC: Kalongo; Duncan (Owolabi-Belewu 72′), Achinioti-Jönsson, Metusala, Parra; Hojabrpour (Samuel 76′), Bekker (Jensen 76′); Choinière (Hamilton 84′), Borges, Ampomah (Cissé 72′); Poku

Goals

11′ — Jordi Swibel (Valour FC)

53′ — Tristan Borges (Forge FC)

57′ — Diogo Ressureição (Valour FC)

Discipline

33′ — Yellow: Alesandro Hojabrpour (Forge FC)

35′ — Yellow: Themi Antonoglou (Valour FC)

38′ — Yellow: Tristan Borges (Forge FC)

52′ — Yellow: Jordi Swibel (Valour FC)

64′ — Yellow: Kwasi Poku (Forge FC)

90+5′ — Yellow: Dante Campbell (Valour FC)

90+6′ — Yellow: Juan Pablo Sánchez (Valour FC)