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Forge FC fans to play pivotal role in 3-game home stand to finish regular season
September 28, 2022
by
Anthony Urciuoli
News

Forge FC have completed the away portion of their schedule, leaving just three matches on the regular season fixture — all at Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Field.

That makes Forge fans the x-factor as the club looks to secure a favourable playoff position.

“We want to finish strong; having three home games in a row is a big advantage,” said Forge forward David Choiniere. “We have the best fans and stadium in the league, and we want to give our fans three wins. That’s the goal.”

Making things even more interesting, the final three regular season matches will be played over the course of nine days; a difficult proposition for any professional soccer club. However, Forge is not just any pro club. They’ve thrived and mostly succeeded over the last couple of years on a condensed schedule that included mid-week trips to Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Panama, and Costa Rica.

For the first time since the inaugural Canadian Premier League season, though, Forge FC have not had to deal with the gruelling schedule that comes with CONCACAF competition in 2022.

For a club searching for more consistency, three games in nine days in front of their supporters and zero travel may be exactly what Forge needs to secure top spot in the table.

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“(Matches on short-rest) is something we’ve been successful at in the past, and we did it earlier this year with mid-week (Canadian Championship) games. It gives good rthym to the team,” said Forge head coach and technical director Bobby Smyrniotis.”

“I think everyone knows the importance of the games in front of us, and I think it’s good to have a week off between, but here we go — we’ll play three.”

“The most important thing for us is to step onto the pitch on Saturday and play our brand of football,” he added.

Heading into Saturday’s match against a York United side that have been eliminated from contention, Forge occupy second place with 41 points over 25 matches played. They’re four points back of Atletico Ottawa with a match in hand, meaning Forge may need to win-out and hope Ottawa drops points to HFX Wanderers FC and/or York to earn a potential home championship match.

But, first things first; York at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Pacific FC on Wednesday (Oct. 5) at 7 p.m., and finally, Forge will play Halifax at 1 p.m. next Saturday (Oct. 9).