Tristan Borges, one of the most dominant players in Canada’s league, nicely summarized playing against one of the most dominant teams in Mexico’s league.

“We obviously had some chances,” said the 2024 Canadian Premier League Player of the Year after Forge FC was defeated 2-0 by CF Monterrey last night in the first leg of the opening round of the Concacaf Champions Cup before 4500  fans at Hamilton Stadium.

“But when you play against a team like Monterrey, with that much quality you have to take advantage of those chances. They’re obviously going to capitalize on theirs.”

Oh so true. On a frozen pitch that grew more slippery as the mercury dropped, the Hamilton side could not convert some early glorious in-the-box chances—Monterrey had some too, but from further away from the net in the first half, and the cost was an acclimatized Los Rayados scoring twice in the opening 20 minutes of the second frame.

Both goals were as professional as you can get, a factor of the depth and skill of a team which came within inches of yet another LIGA MX title just seven weeks ago, and also of the fact that they’ve already played five league games, while this was Forge’s first real match since the CPL Final three months ago. They are, in other words, a ways from rounding into mid-season form.

Forge controlled play early, especially down the right side—and often on the right with newly returned defender Rezart Rama showing bold form with daring rushes—and had some glittering moments but they were unable to finish. They came out of the first half with a scoreless draw instead of being a goal, maybe more,  up but it was still the first time in their three games against primo Mexican Champions Cup competition (Chivas, Guadalajara) that they had not allowed a goal in the first half.

But nine minutes into the second half, just after Hamilton had a chance at the other end they could not steer into the net, Monterrey’s Roberto De La Rosa delivered a nice feed to dangerous midfielder Nelson Deossa who put in a curling shot high to the left of Hamilton keeper Jassem Koleilat, who made a couple of excellent stops in this game.

Then, as soccer so often goes, the Hammers had to chase the game. And after a  Forge foul just a few feet outside the centre of the box,  Jordi Cortizo—who stepped in as a substitute just seconds earlier—hooked a shot past the wall that was virtually unstoppable.

“Like I’ve said, and everyone can see, they have a lot of quality in their team and once they got up a goal and got used to how the field was going to be they started to feel a little more comfortable and got a little more into the game,” Borges said. “We kind of expected that: we didn’t expect them to shut down because of the weather and the field.

“I think the way we played today shows our confidence. We had great chances in the first half and if we put those in the net I think the game is different. The confidence throughout the group is still high…it’s a little bit of heads down right now afterward but I think everyone knows that the performance we put out we need to be proud of.”

Head coach Bobby Smyrniotis said he told his players “I was proud and happy with the performance, I was just upset that they deserve more as players. In the first half and the opportunities that were there, we played some great football to create them. We were resilient and stayed on task in the second half, even though we’d gone down.

“If you’ve been around this game long enough you know it’s got this cruel way of punishing teams. Sometimes we’re on the positive end of it, today we were on the negative end of it. We’ve got a game in a week and we’ve got to get a result. We put a performance in here today in difficult conditions for everyone, but the task still remains the same.”

Monterrey made some slight alterations in the second half including early substitutions (they have four games within 12 days), tweaked tactics and also a change in footwear, and have to be credited for their adjustment to the kind of winter conditions they rarely encounter.  All night players from both teams were tumbling over or sliding past the ball and most were using little baby steps to remain stable. Forge star David Choinière said it was the same for both teams but that it was hard to break into full stride for deep sideline runs. Monterrey, once they got the lead, did have longer strides but largely because Forge had been pressing and there were wider, spacers, for the visitors to sprint into.

That, and they’re darned good.

Monterrey had seven shots on target to three by Forge but Hamilton also missed a couple of what could have been tap-ins. The Mexican side also had a large 19-6 advantage in shots toward the net and earned five more corner kicks than Forge.  But Forge had more possession time, and more passes, and were about equal to their foes in successful pass completions.

While stats aren’t always relevant this one might be: Monterrey, which has played five matches already, did not commit a single offside violation while Forge, which was breaking in five new starters from the lineup which finished last season,  had seven. Unpredictable conditions played a role in that but so did still learning to play with each other and not having 2025 match experience.

But Smyrniotis and his players weren’t making excuses:

“We knew coming into this match that the tactical components have to be good for us because it’s not us being match-sharp and being match-fit. I think for the most part the guys were tactically excellent, especially in the first half. In the second half, we still did a good job but it becomes much different once there’s a goal. It changes the way things are and changes the way they go about the game.”

One of the five new starters was striker Brian Wright, who put the result bluntly into perspective.

“It was a game of two halves,” said Wright, who was central to some of the Forge’s best offensive moments. “We did well in the first half and in the second half came out flat. That’s what happens when you don’t finish your chances. I’d say we had the better chances in the first half and obviously they’re a quality side and they finished their chances.

“Bobby and the coaching staff had us well-prepared and both teams had to play with the same conditions. Their quality showed on their chance outside the box on that free kick.”

Those conditions often looked like the Disney scene of Bambi trying to stop on ice. Monterrey’s offensive ace  Sergio Canales who, oddly, was brought into the game for the final 10 minutes or so with his team already up a pair, said the pitch was just like a skating rink.

Those conditions change drastically for the return leg, in Monterrey’s magnificent Estadio BBVA which has more premium seating than any other stadium in Latin America. The weather will be warm, and the crowd possibly approaching 40,000.

“In Monterrey, our approach has to be the same, but we have to score,” Borges said. “If we show up in the first half like we did tonight and we put the ball in the net, and we don’t concede, I think we can create a good chance for a surprise.”