Cavalry, Forge feud set to light CPL finals
HAMILTON The El Clasico has nothing on this soccer feud.
Except, of course, 116 additional years of civil disobedience.
For Hamilton Forge FC and Cavalry FC, it’s only been a scant amount of time, by comparison.
But the blaze in this rivalry sure has built fast for a couple of firstyear clubs.
And here’s adding more fuel for the fire — a pair of matches to decide which one earns the moniker “champion” to cap the inaugural season of the upstart Canadian Premier League.
“I don’t know if ‘hatred’ is the right word,” said Forge captain Kyle Bekker when asked what the temperature of the two teams toward each other is on the eve of the CPL Championship series. “But I definitely want to win more than they do.
“We hold each other in high regard, and it makes for very competitive games. Neither team wants to give up an inch, so we’re both hungry in the inaugural season, so it makes for a good story. And we’ve had some battles so far this season.”
Indeed, they have.
One year with seven hotly contested matches.
And two more on tap in the CPL finals, which open Saturday between Cavalry and the Forge at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton (2 p.m., Cbc/onesoccer.ca).
Leg 2 wraps up the two-game, total-goal series next Saturday at Spruce Meadows’ ATCO Field (2 p.m., Cbc/onesoccer.ca).
Up for grabs is league bragging rights over the coveted first title that’s got plenty of players savouring the historical significance of it, the newly minted league winners award called the North Star Shield, and passage to represent the league in the CONCACAF Champions League next season.
“The next two weeks, we’re going to bleed,” said Cavalry star Sergio Camargo. “We talked about it as a group that we have a chance to do something special — something that’s going to be very hard to repeat. So we’re fully focused on the next two weeks.”
But the past between these clubs can’t be forgotten. It’s been a war of sorts — maybe not in the El Clasico Barcelona-real Madrid vein, but quite striking nonetheless given the short time frame and perceived Canadian politeness.
Never mind their head-to-heads have yielded identical 3-3-1 records with — as amazing as this sounds — three Forge wins of 1-0 and three Cavalry triumphs of 2-1.
It’s that 1-1 draw on June 4 in the first leg of their Canadian Championship battle that saw a melee — involving fans and players at Tim Hortons Field — cap the night that really set the rivalry in motion. That event was wrought with allegations of racism that eventually saw a Forge assistant coach being handed a suspension by the Canadian Soccer Association.
“It’s just because of the nature of the way the first two games against each other ended up,” said Bekker, also lumping in the tense one-goal first meeting won by Cavalry on
May 12. “They scored late here at home (June 4), and we weren’t happy about that — and that just builds into a competitive edge for the next one. And obviously there’s some extra stuff that adds into it that I’m not going to say too much about.”
The leaders of the Cavalry insist there’s no hatred directed at Forge. It’s just two teams teeming with intensity. To boot, they’re both so solid with their game plans.
“Tactically, I think we’re two diverse teams that are little bit different than each other, and I think that makes for a very good game,” said Forge head coach Bobby Smyrniotis. “We each like to attack, but we attack a little bit differently, and our defending is different. But we are the two most efficient teams in the league, and that’s why we’re here.”
The Cavalry agree.
“We’ll pick them apart like we do with every single team,” said GM/ head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. “Every team has a weakness, and we feel we know some of theirs, and we’re going to try to exploit them.
“But you look at their strengths, and they’ve got a number of them. They’re very dynamic on the break. They’re a fast-breaking team. They’ve got speed up top. They’ve got a very skilful playmaker in Kyle Bekker. They’ve got a young group that knows each other. They’re well-oiled.”
Captain Nik Ledgerwood added: “They’re a good overall team. If you look at some of the players — Bekker and (fellow veteran David) Edgar, who have been mainstays on the national team — there’s a lot of leadership there. Obviously with Borges and (Anthony) Novak, they have some great attacking players, as well.
“I think one thing we have a lot more than they do is the grit and the whatever-it-takes mentality in the locker-room. And I think that’s what it’s going to take at the end of the day.”
It’ll take a whole lot of something, for sure.
“Enjoy the show,” Camargo added. “Because these next two games are going to be a battle.