Even with 10, Forge finds a way
Novak’s short-handed winner sends Hamilton into Panama in CONCACAF League
They began writing Canada’s newest soccer book before the author even had a real name, and they keep adding chapter after chapter.
Forge FC was the driving force behind the creation of the Canadian Premier League, dating back long before the pro loop’s 2019 inaugural season, way back to when they were known only as just a wild-eyed fantasy of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Now, the very real Forge, and with them the CPL, are busily creating an international identity, about to play in their fourth different foreign country.
The two-time CPL champions advanced to the single-game CONCACAF League quarterfinal on Nov. 3 against hometown Tauro F.C. in Panama City after Thursday night’s muscular and stunning — given the circumstances — 2-1 victory over tenacious Municipal Limeno in San Salvador.
Forge FC was obliged to play the final half-hour a man short after key outside back Johnnie Grant was sent off for a second yellow card in the 64th minute. But that’s when the personnel depth and biggame experience Hamilton has been stockpiling over two vastly different but intense seasons clicked into another gear. They locked seamlessly into short-handed mode, conserving energy by running less and making safer passes and actually took control of the play.
And, with just six minutes left in regulation, power striker Anthony Novak broke not only a 1-1 draw but local hearts, pouncing on a slight Limeno misplay and hammering the improbable winner home. Novak and Elimane Cisse, who set him up, were both second-half substitutes as head coach Bobby Smyrniotis continues to push all the right buttons for his team, now unbeaten in their past seven games, six of them wins.
The match was held behind closed doors (pandemic cautions) in the Salvadoran capital’s 50,000seat Estadio Cuscatlan, the largest soccer venue in Central America. Exhaustingly physical under the intense humidity, the match played out mostly as anticipated, except for the visiting side scoring the winner while a man short.
“We knew it would be hard with 10,” said first-year Forge Mo Babouli, the former TFC midfielder who continues to elevate his level of play, deftly setting up David Choiniere’s opening strike and threatening to score twice himself. “We knew we had to take care of the ball a bit more, be more patient in our attack.”
Forge’s greater CONCACAF League experience trumped the home side’s more recent game readiness, which surfaced late in the first half when they matched Choiniere’s 21st-minute goal. It was the first time a ball had entered the Hamilton net in 392 minutes of play.
Forge has swerved around or driven right over the obstacles blocking their road to more games: It hadn’t played a real match in a month; didn’t have a home leg as a safety net; the club has been quarantined repeatedly; it has taken 16 COVID-19 tests and counting; took nearly 13 hours to get to San Salvador on Tuesday; and is missing injured forwards Chris Nanco and Marcel Zajac.
But those are in the rear-view mirror as they depart directly for Panama, where they’ll be back in a bubble, just like the Island Games but with fewer matches. Just the one: a week from Tuesday.
“We can breathe a bit, get prepared for this one,” said Smyrniotis, adding his staff has done some advance scouting on Tauro F.C. but that he doesn’t like to hear anything about the next opponent until finishing with the current one, which Hamilton did Thursday night.
“Ten days is a good stretch, so we’re not too far away from a competitive match,” says Babouli, the former TFC forward. “Now we get a chance to recover, get a chance to adapt to the weather and the field ... and it gives us time to work on our opponent. Time is always good.”
The times are good for Forge FC.