Written by: Mitchell Tierney
This year's Labour Day Classic in Halifax comes with big stakes, as the Wanderers host York United on Monday afternoon.
The two sides come into Monday's match deadlocked on 29 points, with identical records of 8-5-7. York sits one spot higher, in fourth, at the moment because they hold the better goal differential (+10 to Halifax's +3). But the match will be a critical one in what is expected to be a hotly contested race for playoff seeding, and the crucial right to host a playoff match.
It is the fourth time the Wanderers have hosted the Nine Stripes on Labour Day -- and the series is perfectly even. Halifax won 2-1 last year, York 2-1 in 2023, while the first Labour Day classic between the two sides was full of fireworks in a 3-3 affair back on September 6, 2021.
This is York's first trip of the season to Halifax. The teams split their first two meetings of the season, with Halifax defeating York 2-1 at York Lions Stadium in April, before the Nine Stripes handed them a 2-0 loss in Québec City in the CPL on Tour game.
The all-time series? You guessed it, that's tied as well. Both sides have won eight times, and the other nine meetings between the two clubs have ended in a draw.
Halifax are looking to build on a huge 4-1 win over Valour FC, courtesy of the club's first hat-trick from Tiago Coimbra, which snapped a six game winless skid. York, meanwhile, had their own impressive home performance in a 5-1 victory over Pacific FC -- with Shaan Hundal tying the league record.
York's victory benefited both clubs to some degree, as it created a ten-point cushion between them and the playoff line heading into this weekend.
The match will be a return to the Wanderers Ground for York attacker Massimo Ferrin, who spent two seasons with Halifax in 2023 and 2024. In fact, he opened the scoring for the Wanderers in last year's 2-1 Labour Day victory over York.
After struggling away from home to start the season, losing four of their first five road matches, York have started to find ways to pick up more points on the road. They are unbeaten in their past five away matches, and haven't conceded a goal on the road in three straight.
York United will be without a bit of their attacking firepower on Monday. Adonijah Reid is suspended for yellow card accumulation, while Shola Jimoh is in Spain with the Canadian U-17 national team.
In positive selection news, though, York leading goalscorer Julian Altobelli is once again available.
3 THINGS TO WATCH
- Hundal vs. Coimbra in a battle of the league's hottest strikers: When Tiago Coimbra scored the first-ever hat-trick in Halifax Wanderers' history this past Friday, he surely thought he would have been the highest scoring player of the matchweek. Not so. Just two days later, Shaan Hundal tied a CPL record by scoring four goals in a 5-1 win over Pacific FC at York Lions Stadium. On Monday, the league's two hottest strikers will go head-to-head, looking to maintain their red-hot form. Coimbra, in particular, has been vital to the Halifax attack lately, scoring eight of their past 15 goals himself and assisting on another.
- What does York do in attack?: Mauro Eustáquio will have some interesting decisions to make in attack this week, owing to a few absences and players in form. With Adonijah Reid and Shola Jimoh unavailable, but Julian Altobelli returning, there is the potential to line up a little bit differently with their front line than they have throughout the season. "That gives us a little bit of a mix to potentially play with two strikers up top," said Eustáquio. "You have that double threat up in there and it's something that we've looked at, something that we've trained". He said they haven't quite had the opportunity to use it in a game just yet because Hundal was still getting up to speed tactically, but now with both back and available, it becomes an intriguing option.
- A vital game in Halifax's quest for a third-placed finish: Asked last week where he wants his team to finish the season, Patrice Gheisar didn't shy away from the question. He said that while his goal coming into the season was to finish in the top two, a position that the Wanderers spent several weeks in early on in the campaign, "still to get third place and have a home advantage, and bringing a home playoff game to our fans would be a must hit, we have to hit that because our fans deserve it". Being able to bypass the midweek knockout match, and getting a crucial playoff home match, would make all the difference, he said. Currently in fifth place, with just a single point separating them and third-place Cavalry, with York in between in fourth, Monday's game is huge for those ambitions. Halifax still travel to Calgary on September 13, and host York at home again on October 4, so their fate is still very much in their hands.
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
Halifax Wanderers: Yesli; Alphonse, Meilleur-Giguère, Sow; Pearlman, Callegari, Johnston, Telfer; Dias, Rea, Coimbra
York United: Urtiaga; Sturing, Adekugbe, León; Ferrari, López, Yeates, Botello; Altobelli, Hundal, Ferrin
ALL-TIME SERIES
Halifax wins: 8 || York wins: 8 || Draws: 9
Last meeting:
May 31, 2025 — York United 2-0 Halifax Wanderers
KEY QUOTES
"Pressure is a privilege, and to be able to play in these meaningful games is something that we want to do. So we know how important this game is. They're a direct opponent, and we want to go out there and obviously win the game. " – York United head coach Mauro Eustáquio
"It's going to be incredible. It's going to be a unique experience, obviously, being on the other end of it, but I know that it'll be packed out and the fans will be loud, and it'll be a cool environment. So I'm looking forward to it. Obviously, good times there while I was there and I enjoyed my time. It'll be fun." – York United attacker Massimo Ferrin