Cavalry have Forge in their sights
Calgary side down one goal heading into Game 2 of Canadian Premier League final
Sure, there was frustration — on both sides of Saturday’s battle that saw Forge FC edge Cavalry FC 1-0 to start the Canadian Premier League finals.
But neither showed visible signs post-match that a case of the grumps would linger very long with the second leg of the two-game, total-goal championship series in the offing.
Instead, both conveyed a sense of accomplishment — for very different reasons — following the cutthroat contest played at Hamilton’s Tim Hortons Field.
Especially Cavalry, the losers on the day.
“We’re happy with the circumstances that it only ended up 1-0,” said Cavalry captain Nik Ledgerwood.
“I think Forge will regret not putting it away, because they had a ton of chances to put the game away.”
Regret?
Hmm ...
Not likely since the Hamilton crew is holding a one-goal edge heading into Saturday’s second leg set for Spruce Meadows (2 p.m., Cbc/onesoccer.ca), which is enough to put Forge firmly in the driver’s seat.
So regret, well, not yet, anyway. But it’s Ledgerwood’s way of saying Forge missed out on its chance to capitalize on the situation at hand in that first leg.
And it certainly did, in spades, putting a distinctly different spin — a positive one where Ledgerwood and the Cavs are concerned — on the looming series-capper at ATCO Field.
“Obviously, it was frustrating for us,” said Ledgerwood of the loss.
“We felt good before the game, and we felt good in training. Then obviously some decisions don’t go your way. You get the red card (to Joel Waterman). You get a goal just before halftime against you.
It’s a tough one to chew.
“Obviously, we’re frustrated, but the bigger picture you have to look at is that it’s a game over two legs. We have a massive chance to go back to our field and put our stamp on the game.”
For sure, Forge blew its chance to deliver a convincing result on the scoreboard on its home turf.
While the hosts dominated play — with the 18-3 shot totals favouring them as the most telltale sign — they only came away with the one goal.
And Tristan Borges’ strike could even be deemed fortunate, given that it came right on the final second of the one minute’s worth of injury time added to the first half (and even more so if you believe — like Cavalry players do — that the ball on the deft move along the sidelines by Christopher Nanco rolled out of bounds just seconds before the goal).
Regardless, Forge could have easily buried the Cavs in the first leg.
How about three blasts off the crossbar — one from each of Kyle Bekker, Borges and David Edgar?
Then there was the penalty save off Borges by Cavs goalkeeper Marco Carducci.
And don’t forget, the Cavs played with only 10 men for more than 40 minutes of game time after Waterman was flagged for a deliberate hand-ball violation in the penalty area, which also set up the freebie attempt by Borges.
Forge had oodles of opportunities to put its stamp on that game — and to take a stranglehold in the series.
“I like my crossbar every day, as long as it keeps the ball out,” said Carcucci with a big grin postgame. “I’ll take those when we get them.”
Meanwhile, Forge players will have to settle for the one goal after all the near-misses.
“It’s tough,” said Forge captain Bekker, shaking his head.
“We hit the crossbar three times? Obviously, it would’ve been nice to go in. It would’ve been a good moment. We had those chances. Obviously, we were unlucky.”
“It’s part of the game,” added Forge head coach Bobby Smyrniotis. “It’s part of it. It’s a game of inches. If it’s 10 centimetres lower, it’s in. But guess what? It wasn’t. If it’s 10 centimetres higher, then it’s out.
“But it shows we put in a good performance. Very happy again with the performance all-around. We’d gladly have liked one of those to go in, and we’ll wait for one of those to go in next Saturday.”
If one does, then it’ll surely tip the scales even more in favour of Forge, because if the two teams are tied in total goals following the second leg, then the tiebreaker goes to the team with the most away goals.
And the Cavs missed on that opportunity at Tim Hortons Field.
But once Waterman was sent off in the 37th minute, the game plan turned on the visitors. The potential for offence was essentially lost. Instead, they had to suck it up — or “suffer” as GM/ head coach Tommy Wheeldon
Jr. aptly put it, meaning collapse into a defensive shell and bide their time before even getting control of the ball long enough to offer up an attack.
That didn’t happen. “Sometimes football throws you a curveball,” said Wheeldon Jr. of the early red card to Waterman. “And we have a saying around our clubhouse — ‘Adapt and overcome.’
“It’s not the best scenario to be in, but we’re still in the fight. We can take that back to Spruce Meadows and get that place rocking. We’re disappointed to lose, but we can get that back at home.
“One-goal games are OK to swing,” added Wheeldon Jr. “We know we’ll score goals at home. That was their chance to really take us out of the tide, and they didn’t take it.
“We’re still in the game.”