May 31, 2024...Preview: Forge FC vs. York United FC - 2024 Match #28 (from canpl.ca)
PREVIEW: Forge FC vs. York United FC — 2024 Match #28
2024-05-31
by CHARLIE O’CONNOR-CLARKE, DIGITAL CONTENT EDITOR (@CHARLIEJCLARKE)
2024 CPL Regular Season — Match #28
Forge FC vs. York United FC
June 1, 2024 at 4 p.m. ET
Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ontario
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A new month begins with a new 905 Derby this weekend, as York United head around the Golden Horseshoe to Hamilton for
their third meeting with Forge FC so far this year.
The two Ontario foes find themselves neck and neck in the Canadian Premier League standings so far, at 10 points
each — although Forge have played just six matches while York have played seven.
York will be visiting Tim Hortons Field with some confidence, currently riding a three-game unbeaten streak. Last Friday,
they beat the Halifax Wanderers 2-1 at home just days after Mauro Eustáquio took over the technical area as interim
head coach. Now, with a full week of training ahead of Eustáquio’s second match at the helm, the Nine Stripes will
be hungry to repeat last week’s success.
“It was a week of stability and growth,” Eustáquio said Friday. “It’s always easier to work when things are going your
way, and fortunately the last three results were positive for us. … The message was sent very clearly what we wanted
as a staff, and we have our game plan so the guys soaked it up, everybody’s ready to go and we want to keep this positive
streak going.”
Forge are never pushovers, though; the reigning North Star Cup champions faltered last weekend with a 3-0 loss
at Atlético Ottawa, but the effects of their midweek marathon game against CF Montréal may have been a factor there.
Still, it was a frustrating outing for Forge, who have now lost two consecutive CPL games (and are winless in three),
having also dropped a 2-1 result to Vancouver FC last time they were at home.
This matchup is a familiar one, though; Forge and York have met twice already this year, once in the league and once
in the Canadian Championship. Forge were heavy victors in both contests, winning the CPL match 3-0 at York Lions Stadium
then taking the cup tie 3-1 at Tim Hortons Field a couple weeks after.
York have won just one of the last seven 905 Derby matchups, their only win in the last two years being a 2-1 triumph
in Hamilton — ironically, just one day over a year ago on May 31, 2023. The Hammers have had an advantage historically
in this fixture with 14 wins to York’s seven (plus two draws, including the CPL’s inaugural match). At Tim Hortons Field,
it’s a little more even; Forge still have the edge with six wins to York’s four (as well as both draws), but the Nine
Stripes have won in Hamilton at least once in each of the last three seasons.
There’s no doubt York will be on the lookout for redemption this week after already losing twice to their rivals.
After proving what they can do in difficult circumstances last week, they’re keen to repeat that performance against
an opponent that’s been more dangerous so far this year.
On the health front, York are dealing with a mostly available group, with Brian Wright being the main concern after
he left last Friday’s game with an injury. York have been missing Mo Babouli for a few games but he could be ready
to play, as could Juan Córdova and Oswaldo León after both came off the bench against Halifax.
All CPL matches are available to stream on OneSoccer or on TELUS Optik TV Channel 980.
3 THINGS TO WATCH
York looking to replicate home form on the road: So far this season, things have gone quite well for York United
at home — they’ve won three in a row at York Lions Stadium after losing their opener there to Forge — but they have yet
to replicate that when they play away. In four league matches on the road they have one point, a 2-2 draw with Cavalry,
with just three goals scored in contrast to the eight they’ve scored in four home games. Last season, York led the league
with 24 away points; they’ll certainly be happy that they’re taking better advantage of home field, but not if it’s at the
expense of their road success. This short trip down the QEW to Hamilton is an excellent opportunity for them to get on the board;
they don’t leave Ontario for most of June (not until a trip to Winnipeg on June 27), so the light travel might make it easier
to put together a cohesive game plan for an away day in Hamilton.
Forge seeking rebound, return to scoring form: In the first three games of the CPL season, Forge were scoring seemingly at will,
with seven goals in their 3-0-0 start to the campaign. Since then, however, they’ve slowed down a little, with one goal in their
past three CPL matches. Of course, that stretch is split by a game in Montréal where they scored two excellent goals against
an MLS team, but still, Bobby Smyrniotis pointed out after the loss in Ottawa that he thought his team had not been executing
well in attack. They got into the final third 79 times (as opposed to Ottawa’s 47), had an equal number of touches in the box
with 22, and yet were outshot 12 to six. Forge need to find a way to turn that time on the ball and all those ventures to the
attacking half into shots and, obviously, goals. Their creators and wingers like Béni Badibanga, David Choinière
and Tristan Borges continue to be dangerous, but with Terran Campbell and Jordan Hamilton dealing with injuries recently Forge
haven’t had the same consistent finishing. Kwasi Poku was excellent at the number nine spot in Montréal but only got 14 touches
in Ottawa; he might still be the best option if Forge want to hit York in transition and with balls in behind.
Differences expected from prior two matchups: It’s unusual for two sides to be seeing each other for a third time this early
in the season, but already much has changed — for York, at least. The Nine Stripes have made a coaching change, and although much
of Mauro Eustáquio’s messaging as interim coach comes from a similar blueprint to Martin Nash’s, the team was already undergoing
a tactical transformation. In more recent games, York have played a 4-1-4-1 formation that has helped them overload the wings
successfully; that would be a new dynamic that Forge haven’t yet seen from them. Undoubtedly, Forge will make some tweaks as well
to avoid York figuring out how to stop the things that made Forge successful in the last two games. Expect a different kind
of chess match on Saturday as these two familiar rivals look to throw something new at each other. “They’ve changed some things up,
but we’ve seen a lot of common things as well going back to their last game against Halifax,” Forge coach Bobby Smyrniotis said.
“For us it’s just making sure we’ve got good energy levels; we’ve done an excellent job in the first two games of exposing certain
parts of the field. We just need to be ready, and we usually are, if those get closed down on what the alternate routes are to get
to the opponent’s goal.”
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
Forge FC: Kalongo; Duncan, Achinioti-Jönsson, Owolabi-Belewu, Parra; Bekker, Hojabrpour; Choinière, Borges, Badibanga; Poku
Valour FC: Vincensini; Ferrari, Sturing, Abatneh, Botello; Baldisimo; Salanovic, Soumaoro, Martínez, Babouli; Ricci
ALL-TIME SERIES
Forge FC wins: 14 || York United wins: 7 || Draws: 2
Last meeting:
May 2, 2024 — Forge FC 3-1 York United (Canadian Championship)
KEY QUOTES
“There’s always going to be bumps along the road but I think the guys have been playing some very good football. … Overall
we’re happy, the guys that are playing a lot of minutes have done an excellent job and we also know that we’re going
to need more from everyone else coming into squad, for those players that are here who maybe haven’t played as much yet.”
— Forge FC head coach Bobby Smyrniotis
“[Forge are] a good team, obviously they’ve been together for some time. They have good dynamics, good individual players
that can decide a game off just a moment of brilliance. They also have the collective group that’s been strong. We’ve
analyzed it, not only them but we’ve analyzed what we did against them and there are a couple things that we will change
up and make sure that recurring errors don’t happen.” — York United interim head coach Mauro Eustáquio
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