2023 CPL Regular Season — Match #48
Halifax Wanderers vs. Forge FC
June 30, 2023 at 6 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. AT
Wanderers Ground in Halifax, Nova Scotia
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The Halifax Wanderers’ mission to establish the Wanderers Grounds as a fortress once again in the Canadian Premier League faces a real test on Friday evening as three-time champions Forge FC come to town.

Forge were ruthless in their two trips to the east coast last year, winning 4-0 and 3-0 respectively. They and York United are the only sides in league history to have won three matches on the road at Wanderers Grounds.

The hosts, however, will feel incredibly confident having won back-to-back home matches, and are undefeated in their last three after a late Aidan Daniels goal secured them a 2-2 draw with York United on the road this past week. Halifax are looking to make it three straight wins at home for the first time in club history — which would be an important step towards the club’s ambitious goal of playing up 30 points at home this season.

“We want our opponents not to look forward to this trip, we don’t want them to come down here and bank on the three points,” said Halifax Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar. “It is a very, very important game and I think it is about how we start and then being able to maintain that energy throughout the entire game.”

Daniels, in particular, has been the catalyst of the club’s attack in recent matches. He had a goal and an assist against York, and now has three of each on the season, already far surpassing his totals from all of last season. He is tied for second in the league with Pacific pair Sean Young and Ayman Sellouf for goal contributions (goals+assists) so far this year.

Forge, meanwhile, are coming off their first win in the past six matches, as June has been a month to forget for the Hamilton side. After three straight matches without a goal, they managed four against Ottawa in a chaotic 4-3 victory this past Sunday.

Despite their recent struggles, Forge remains one of the league’s top away sides, tied with York United and Pacific with a league-leading 10 points away from home already this year. They have also allowed just five goals in six matches on the road in 2023.

Forge will be travelling out east without some key players, however, as the club continues to deal with a list of injuries. Smyrniotis confirmed that veteran fullback Ashtone Morgan remains out with injury, while David Choinière will also miss this trip for precautionary reasons. Garven Metusala, meanwhile, remains away on international duty with Haiti at the Gold Cup.

While Halifax has no significant injuries, there are several game-time decisions for them after a road-heavy start to the season. Head coach Patrice Gheisar said this is an important time of the year to make sure that they are not rushing players back from injury unnecessarily, as tempting as that can be at times.

One player who Halifax will certainly be without is captain Andre Rampersad, who recently scored his first international goal for Trinidad & Tobago in a 4-1 loss to Jamaica at the Gold Cup on a brilliant backheel effort. However, Rampersad could be available again soon, should Trinidad lose their final group game against the United States and fail to advance.

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3 THINGS TO WATCH

• Forge looking to get off to a better start against Halifax:  Forge FC ended their winless streak this past weekend against Ottawa, but continued a streak of a different kind. After allowing Atleti’s Gabriel Antinoro to score the second-quickest goal in CPL history this past weekend, they made it six straight games without scoring first. The good news is if they can find the opening goal they are the only side in the league so far this season that have not given up a single point from a winning position. Especially going into a Wanderers Grounds environment that will feed off anything the home side is able to do in attack, quieting them as early as possible will go a long way towards securing what would be a big road result at this point in the year for Forge. The first goal will be critical in this match.
• Wanderers’ Tiago Coimbra finding his scoring boots:  Coming into this season, 19-year-old Thiago Coimbra was considered one of the more exciting young signings in the league — given his profile as a Canadian youth international and development at one of Brazil’s top clubs. It took him a little bit to find his footing as a professional, but with goals in back-to-back games, Coimbra is showing his immense potential. Gheisar says his young striker’s recent form has also pushed teammate Théo Collomb to up his game and intensity and now there is more healthy competition than ever within the squad at the striker position. Coimbra, in particular, is a nightmare for defenders who are already perhaps fatigued from their travel into Halifax. “The last thing you want to do is play this young man that just constantly runs, and he’s always on you,” said Gheisar. “The goals have been great but what I’ve really liked from Tiago is he has been able to conduct and carry out our plans. It is one thing to have a good player, but it is another to carry out what we need. I think his growth has been great.”

• Can the Campbell-Pacius partnership re-ignite the Forge attack?: Perhaps one of the biggest surprises in the Canadian Premier League this season is the fact that despite having a cast of some of the most proven attackers in the league’s history, Forge FC have managed to score more than a single goal in a match just three times in 13 matches. In fact, they scored as many goals in their last match against Ottawa as they had managed in the previous seven combined. That scoring spree came courtesy of two of the league’s most prolific goalscorers, as well as two players who once they get hot tend to stay that way. Terran Campbell, the league’s all-time leading goalscorer, found the back of the net twice in the opening half this past Sunday. His first goal was set up by Woobens Pacius, who would then head home the winner for his third of the season. When Forge have been at their best offensively this season, it has been that pair working together to create goalscoring moments and the Hamilton side will be hoping that form makes the trip to Halifax.

PROJECTED STARTING XIs

Halifax Wanderers: Fillion; Fernandez, Nimick, Loughrey, Campagna; Omar, Callegari; Daniels, Watson, Ferrin; Coimbra

Forge FC: Henry; Rama, James, Owolabi-Belewu, Samuel; Sissoko, Bekker, Jensen; Pacius, Borges, Campbell

ALL-TIME SERIES

Halifax wins: 2 || Forge FC wins: 8 || Draws: 7

Last meeting:

April 22, 2023 – Forge FC 1-1 Halifax Wanderers

KEY QUOTES

“We have learned to really join our fans in their energy and find that energy in attack and play our brand of football so it is really exciting to have that game be before Canada Day, at night. It is my first game at the grounds at night so we are all really excited about it.” — Halifax Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar

“We have to be aggressive in the way we enter this game. We have traditionally done well in coming out here in Halifax and getting proper results and that is what I expect, I expect us to be the aggressive version of ourselves, at least that is what we want.” — Forge FC head coach Bobby Smyrniotis