Valour FC kept a clean sheet in their 2022 home opener, as did the visiting HFX Wanderers, as the two sides played out a 0-0 draw at IG Field in Winnipeg.

Despite Valour leading in terms of possession, Halifax were in control for a lot of the first half. They outshot the home side 12-3 in the first 45 minutes of the match, with Alex Marshall and Andre Rampersad leading the way with three apiece. Marshall looked lively, and was getting himself into good areas, but wasn’t hitting the target.

Marshall, along with Peter Schaale and Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé all fired shots at Sirois in the opening 10 minutes of the game, but nothing would come of their early opportunities. HFX Wanderers took a lot of shots in the opening 45 minutes but with so many of them coming from outside the box, struggled at times to make them count. Of their 12 shots before halftime, three of them were on target and six of them were from outside the penalty box.

The two sides again came out quickly in the second half and each created a scoring opportunity in the first three minutes after the break. At one end of the pitch, substitute Pierre Lamothe forced a save out of Jonathan Sirois with a shot toward the near post, but it was turned away for a corner kick that wouldn’t amount to much.

At the other end of the pitch Brett Levis had a shot attempt from distance — in a similar area to the wondergoal he scored against Atletico Ottawa two weeks ago — but it was blocked. Less than a minute later Moses Dyer, who was quiet by his own standards in the first half, got his first shot on target of the match, but Kieran Baskett was able to turn it away.

Another great shot from Lamothe required a stop from the Valour goalkeeper about 10 minutes later. As the ball came to him just outside the penalty area, Lamothe fired in a hard shot that took a deflection on the way through, but Sirois was again equal to it.

The two sides continued to trade counter-attacks, but this match would end scoreless. The momentum shifted after halftime, with Valour outshooting HFX 12-5 after the break (the final tally was 17-15 for HFX), but like the visitors did in the first half, were largely missing the target and shooting from low quality chances.

With the draw, both teams are now unbeaten in two matches. Halifax hang onto fourth place in the table with two wins and a draw in five matches, while Valour sit in sixth with a win and two draws in six games.

BOX SCORE 

Discipline

32′ — Yellow: Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé (HFX Wanderers) 

52′ — Yellow: Peter Schaale (HFX Wanderers)

58′ — Yellow: Andy Baquero (Valour FC)

76′ — Yellow: Andre Rampersad (HFX Wanderers)

79′ — Yellow: Stefan Cebara (Valour FC)

89′ — Yellow: Brett Levis (Valour FC)