2022 CPL Regular Season — Match #80 (ComeOn! Match of the Week)
Forge FC vs. York United
August 20, 2022 at 7 p.m. ET
Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario
Watch Live: OneSoccer.ca & TELUS Ch. 980 // Tickets available here

The 905 Derby returns to Hamilton this Saturday evening in the ComeOn! Match of the Week, as York United head west down the QEW to take on Forge FC at Tim Hortons Field.

The Nine Stripes pay their first visit to Hamilton of the 2022 season at an interesting point in the campaign. They currently sit seventh in the league table with a 5-5-10 record and 20 points, putting them 14 back of Cavalry FC in the fourth and final playoff spot. That said, York have been in improving form over the past few weeks, having broken out of their lengthy winless slump and begun looking far brighter in attack.

Last time out, York beat FC Edmonton 3-2 at home this past Sunday, thanks to late goals from Lisandro Cabrera and Jordan Wilson after the 80th minute to reverse a deficit and claim all three points. They lost at Valour the week before that, but their prior match was a scintillating 4-2 win at HFX Wanderers, in which York’s attack looked as ruthless as it had at any point this year.

All that is to say, this is a team still adjusting to mid-season roster turnover but starting to find solutions in attack that may help them string results together in the final stretch of the season. The good news is the squad is much healthier and deeper than it was a few months ago, with a lot of options for coach Nash to select from, although a few key pieces continue to work their way back from injury, including goalkeeper Niko Giantsopoulos — who remains out after injuring himself against Valour. Expect 20-year-old Eleias Himaras to get the start between the sticks for York.

Forge, on the other hand, have been sailing relatively smoothly the past few weeks, although their most recent outing was a tough 2-1 loss at Spruce Meadows to Cavalry FC last Friday, which saw Jordan Hamilton’s late equalizer nullified even later by a goal from Mikael Cantave.

Still, heading into the weekend’s matches, Forge sit atop the league table with a record of 11-2-5 and 35 points — although both Pacific FC and Atlético Ottawa have an equal points total, sitting behind Forge on the tiebreaker with both having fewer wins. Forge also have a game in hand on Pacific and two on Ottawa, which may provide them with an opportunity to cement themselves as the league’s top club.

The loss to Cavalry ended a six-game winning streak for Forge, which began the last time they met York on July 8. That game, played at York Lions Stadium, ended up a fairly comfortable 2-0 result for the Hamilton side thanks to a first-half own goal against York and a Woobens Pacius strike later on to seal it.

Like York, Forge’s squad continues to get healthier. Head coach Bobby Smyrniotis revealed Friday that fullback Jonathan Grant is finally available after a lengthy injury, as is Emery Welshman who missed the game in Calgary with a knock.

York did beat Forge in their only other meeting this year, as Sebastian Gutierrez scored the only goal in a 1-0 home win for Nash’s Nine Stripes. Historically, these two local foes have played some entertaining games, including the CPL semifinal last autumn at Tim Hortons Field, in which Forge eventually emerged 3-1 victors despite York equalizing just before halftime.

No matter the stakes, these two teams are always up for a clash with one another, so this 16th chapter of the 905 Derby is sure to be no different.

Also of note for Saturday’s contest: Prior to the CPL game, Tim Hortons Field will play host to a League1 Ontario men’s premier division clash between Hamilton United and Simcoe County Rovers, which kicks off at 2:30 p.m. ET. Fans with tickets to the Forge-York match in the evening will also be able to attend the L1O game to experience another exciting level of the sport in Canada.

Make your match picks prior to kickoff at canpl.ca/predictor for a chance to win prizes, including the grand prize of a trip to the 2022 CPL Final! To learn more about ComeOn!, click here.

All CPL matches are available to stream on OneSoccer, or on TELUS Optik TV Channel 980.

3 THINGS TO WATCH

• Babouli returns to Tim Hortons Field: York United made one of the biggest mid-season signings in the league just over a week ago, bringing in attacker Mo Babouli to help reinforce their attack. The 29-year-old Babouli, who spent the 2020 and 2021 campaigns on the other side of this divide at Forge, made his debut for York last Sunday against Edmonton in the last half-hour of the win. With a few more training sessions under his belt, he may be in contention to feature more heavily against his former club. Over two years with Forge, Babouli made 43 appearances in all competitions and scored 12 goals with six assists, earning a reputation as one of the most dangerous attacking players in the CPL. Martin Nash will certainly be hoping Babouli knows a thing or two about how to beat some of the Forge defenders he played with previously. “He’s trained well this week and trained well last week,” Nash said when asked about Babouli’s chances of starting on Saturday. “It’s still a decision that’s got to be made… It’s just really, is he fit enough to go from the start, those are the questions we’re going to answer.”

• Forge seek bounce-back performance after loss: Forge have lost 19 regular season league games in their history, but only four of those have ever come directly after another CPL defeat. With last week’s game at Cavalry ended in disappointing fashion after the Cavs’ late winner left Forge empty-handed, Bobby Smyrniotis and co. will be very keen on getting back on the right foot at home this weekend. Of course, there’s very little sense of concern in the Forge camp; they’re quite secure in their position in the playoffs, and with games in hand they feel like the probably favourites to finish the year in first place again. Still, as a matter of principle they prefer to hit back with a big performance after suffering a defeat. Smyrniotis, stoic as usual in his prematch remarks, explained that his team knows exactly what it needs to do in the final 10 games of the season, and that they’re not particularly fazed by individual results. “We don’t get too excited when we’re winning, and we don’t get too down when we lose a game or something like that,” he said. “You just have to move on to the next one, because you know how things work in the league and what we need to do in the table.”

• Nash calls for ‘freedom’ in attack: Scoring goals has not necessarily come easily to York United this year, with the Nine Stripes still at the bottom of the league with just 17 from 20 games played. The past month has seen them improve in that regard, though; they have seven goals in their last three games, and the results against Halifax and Edmonton were positive in the way York finished their chances. With a few new faces coming into the attacking setup — not just Babouli, but also the likes of Ronan Kratt and Kevin Dos Santos — plus some like Mateo Hernandez and Lisandro Cabrera finally starting to come into form, coach Martin Nash is liking the progress he’s seen. He said on Friday afternoon that, despite where his club is in the standings and their previous difficulties, he’s hoping to see them play a free-flowing game without any pressure for the final eight games of the year. “I do want them to play free, and not be afraid to get on the ball and create,” Nash said. “But know your role and do your role defensively as well, it’s a little bit of both. We want guys to be able to go out there and express themselves with no pressure on them as far as going forward, but they have a job to do defensively and they have to do it for the team.”

ALL-TIME SERIES

Forge wins: 9 || York United wins: 5 || Draws: 1

Previous match:

July 9, 2022 — York United 0-2 Forge