July 28, 2023...Preview: York United vs. Halifax Wanderers - 2023 Match #69 (from canpl.ca)
PREVIEW: York United vs. Halifax Wanderers — 2023 Match #69
2023-07-28
by CHARLIE O’CONNOR-CLARKE, DIGITAL CONTENT EDITOR (@CHARLIEJCLARKE)
2023 CPL Regular Season — Match #69
York United vs. Halifax Wanderers
July 30, 2023 at 2 p.m. ET
York Lions Stadium in Toronto, Ontario
Watch Live: OneSoccer //
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The weekend wraps up in the Canadian Premier League at York Lions Stadium, where York United will welcome Halifax Wanderers
to their building for the second time this year (actually, technically the third, but the second to play against York).
Martin Nash and the Nine Stripes return home on a high, having taken a hard-won three points from Winnipeg last weekend
with a 2-1 win over Valour FC, where both Osaze De Rosario and Austin Ricci scored within the first 10 minutes to put
York in front for good.
In the ever-so-tight CPL standings, York now find themselves in fourth place with a 7-3-7 record, but just three points off
the top entering matchweek 15. It’s been an up-and-down few months for them, with July so far punctuated by two away wins
(at Vancouver and Valour) and no goals at home in a 4-0 loss to Forge and 0-0 draw with Pacific.
The Wanderers, on the other hand, seem to be brimming with confidence at the moment, even though they actually sit two
points behind York in the table at 5-7-4 and 22 points (but a game in hand). They won 1-0 last weekend at home against
Atlético Ottawa but they’re 2-0-2 in July, as Patrice Gheisar’s men look for some consistency away from home.
These two sides have met in some entertaining clashes so far this year, with a dominant 3-0 win at the Wanderers Grounds
for York and a feisty 2-2 draw at York Lions Stadium that saw Halifax come from behind twice — including in the 86th minute
thanks to a long-range strike by Aidan Daniels.
Both managers will have a relatively full group to draw on this week, the most significant absence being York’s
Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé who sits out with suspension — although they’ll get Paris Gee back after his one-match ban last week,
and Mo Babouli after he sat for two games. The Wanderers, meanwhile, are fully healthy according to Gheisar, with recent
additions to the mix João Morelli and Doneil Henry continuing to build fitness and hopefully able to play some sort
of role this week.
OneSoccer is also available as a linear channel on Optik TV (Ch. 980), the pay-TV service operated by Telus, one of Canada’s
‘big three’ telecoms companies, as well as on streaming service fuboTV Canada.
3 THINGS TO WATCH
Wanderers seek road form: The Wanderers Grounds are a special place in the CPL, and that’s been especially true this season.
Halifax are 5-1-1 at home this year, which gives them the best home record in the league. The inverse of that, however,
is that they have yet to win on the road in 2023; in fact, their six points away from home are tied for second-worst. A game
at York, who have won two of their eight home matches, might be an opportunity for the Wanderers to break their away slump.
“We’ve done well, just maybe come short,” Gheisar said. “The York game 2-2, the Pacific game 1-1 and it was coming, the Cavalry
game an unfortunate incident with a penalty. The travel is really challenging; obviously the home advantage tells the tale
on the opposite end because you get here and you’re exhausted. But it’s been something we’re all learning about.”
York attack finding its footing? After going scoreless in two straight home games, York’s attack sprung to life in Winnipeg
with Ricci and De Rosario scoring so early. Those kinds of aggressive, vertical goals have been trademarks of some big wins
for York, including their 3-0 triumph in Halifax earlier this year. Martin Nash continuously says that he wants his team coming
out on the front foot, and Sunday will be no different; it would be ideal for York to have De Rosario continue to put the ball
in the net and go on a run of form now. “We want to be vertical at times because teams that possess the ball well will
be vulnerable at times in transition, so you want to be vertical and quick with it,” Nash said. “But you’ve got to manage
those moments with keeping possession as well. You can be vertical all you want but you can’t be vertical every single time
because you’ll be chasing a lot and you’ll tire down.”
Halifax boosted by new experience: Patrice Gheisar says his goal is for João Morelli and Doneil Henry to hit their peak fitness
in mid-August ahead of the Fall run-in, but already the two veterans are having an impact on the extremely young group in Halifax.
“We’re the second youngest team in the league by a small margin, which I’m proud of. What they’ve done is there’s a lot of things
they do in the changeroom to set the standard by the way you should train, managing your emotions, balancing head and heart,”
Gheisar said. “All of those things we can’t do as a staff because the changeroom is sacred to them. … They’ve been setting
a high standard; we can do something more, even when we win.”
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
York United: Giantsopoulos; Gee, Mourdoukoutas, Thompson, Ferrari; Baldisimo, Soumaoro; Bayiha, Babouli, Petrasso; De Rosario
Halifax Wanderers: Fillion; Fernandez, Nimick, Campagna, Ferrazzo; Callegari, Watson, Rampersad; Daniels, Coimbra, Ferrin
ALL-TIME SERIES
York United wins: 4 || Halifax Wanderers wins: 4 || Draws: 9
Last meeting:
June 21, 2023 — York United 2-2 Halifax Wanderers
KEY QUOTES
“They’re a dangerous team. We’ve got to come, bring everything and all be on the same page — singing from the same hymn sheet,
so to speak. Every game in this league is tough, you don’t know what you’re gonna get sometimes. … We haven’t had
a full 90 minute performance in a while so I think that’s the challenge for the guys this week.” — York United head
coach Martin Nash
“The key is to go in an get a lead. They had the lead both times, we were chasing the game, and I thought the morale was
amazing to chase it. But for us it’s about striking first, it’s about holding onto the game and not letting go until the last
play in the entire game.” — Halifax Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar
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