April 7, 2022...Match Summary York United FC vs HFX Wanderers FC (from York United FC website)

  
ENCOURAGING SIGNS BUT FIRST GAME OF NEW CPL SEASON ENDS IN NARROW LOSS 

York United FC went down 1-0 to HFX Wanderers at York Lions Stadium.

A Joao Morelli penalty was the winning goal for HFX Wanderers on Thursday night, as they opened 
the 2022 Canadian Premier League season with a 1-0 win over York United at a rainy York Lions Stadium.

The visitors would open the scoring in the 53rd minute, as York’s Roger Thompson bowled over Cory Bent 
in the penalty area which prompted referee Yusri Rudolf to point to the spot. Morelli stepped up 
to place the ball off the right goalpost and in, handing his side a 1-0 lead they would not relinquish.

The pace of the game picked up a bit after the opener, with York desperate to get back into the game, 
and the Nine Stripes thought that they deserved a penalty as well midway through the second half. 
After Lowell Wright struck the post with a low shot from close range, the ball was cycled back 
into the box, where a shot from Isaiah Johnston seemingly struck the arm of Wanderers midfielder 
Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé.

The referee waved away the protests, and a very animated Johnston was booked for dissent.

York spent a lot of time on the front foot after conceding, but Halifax held firm entirely.

The visitors had a chance to double the lead in the 86th minute, as they broke up the pitch 
on a counter attack, but a first-time shot from Ryan Robinson struck the outside of the post. The last 
action of the match was also down in York’s end of the pitch, as Morelli seemed to be nearly away 
on his own in space with only Mateo Hernandez to beat — but Morelli’s touch put the ball off Hernandez’s 
arm, which drew a red card for handball in denial of goalscoring opportunity as the Argentine went down 
the tunnel early in his brief York debut.

So, it was the Wanderers who drew first blood in the 2022 CPL season, banking three crucial road points 
before moving on to next weekend’s test in Ottawa.

Benedict Rhodes, CanPL.ca

York United FC: Giantsopoulos, C. N'sa, Zator, Thompson (c), Eduardo (Hernandez, 86'), Wilson, Verhoeven, 
Kane (Abzi, 62'), Gutierrez (Johnston, 62'), Petrasso (De Rosario, 76'), Wright (Minatel, 86').

HFX Wanderers: Oxner, Fernandez, Tabi (Schaale, 81'), Santos, Restrepo, Daniels, Gagnon-Lapare, Rampersad, 
Bent (Robinson, 77'), Marshall (Salter, 62'), Morelli.

BOX SCORE

Goals
53' — João Morelli (HFX Wanderers)

Discipline
65' — Yellow: Isaiah Johnston (York United)
71' — Yellow: Obeng Tabi (HFX Wanderers)
87' — Yellow: Mateo Restrepo (HFX Wanderers)
90+5' — Red: Mateo Hernandez (York United)

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