Final Score: Forge FC 2-1 Halifax Wanderers FC |
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Match in a minute or less
Forge FC are now unbeaten in their first nine matches of the season, after beating the Halifax Wanderers 2-1 at Hamilton Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The star of the show for Forge was 19-year-old Hoce Massunda, who scored with a wonderful finish in the first half before assisting a Brian Wright headed goal in the second, leading the Hammers to an important victory.
Jason Bahamboula got one back for the Wanderers late in the game, as a Wesley Timoteo cross hit the back post and landed at his feet, but it wasn't enough for Halifax as they continue searching for a first ever win in Hamilton.
Three Observations
Massunda takes the spotlight again in brilliant attacking display
It can often be difficult for a young player at Forge to find his way into the starting XI ahead of some of the club's veterans, and even more difficult to hold onto that spot.
However, it seems that Hoce Massunda is making a strong case for himself to be a week-in, week-out starter on the right wing for Forge. In this, just his second start for the club, he was excellent, scoring the opening goal with a superb finish but also demonstrating a clear willingness to do the work off the ball that Bobby Smyrniotis asks of him.
The 19-year-old had his real introduction to the CPL two weeks ago when he came off the bench to score a winner at Pacific, and he was rewarded with a start the following week. In that, his first professional start, he was effective again, with a phenomenal touch and overhead pass to set up Nana Ampomah's 17th-minute goal.
With Ampomah suspended this week and David Choinière not quite fit to start, Massunda had another opportunity to make an impression in the starting XI, and he delivered his best performance yet.
He scored the first goal with an excellent volleyed finish, and played provider on Forge's second, where he did very well to shrug off Wesley Timoteo and open space for himself, then found Brian Wright with a fantastic cross.
What's most impressive about Massunda, though, was how much energy he brought to the Forge attack. His workrate is high, and he did a lot of intelligent defensive work; although Forge didn't press the Wanderers very aggressively in this match, Massunda still managed to lead his team with four tackles and nine duels won. He consistently went searching for the ball, and often found it, leading to his 14 touches in the box.
Massunda will undoubtedly have heavy competition for minutes from teammates once Ampomah is back and Choinière is fully fit, but at the moment it's hard to imagine Smyrniotis taking him out of the lineup. His start to life at Forge is somewhat reminiscent of Kwasi Poku's breakout after moving to the number nine spot last year; when a young player breaks through at Forge, they often do so in style.
Halifax taking positives from performance despite missing final ball
The Halifax Wanderers have been unable to beat Forge in any of the three games they've played against them this year, and with two straight losses now, it would be easy to hang their heads after Saturday's game.
This was a frustrating game, though the Wanderers did well to limit Forge's lead to one in the first half and gave themselves a chance to adjust at halftime. They finally looked like they'd found a rhythm just before the hour mark, when they started probing deeper into Forge's penalty area and had a string of chances and shots — just before Brian Wright scored the Hammers' second and effectively doomed Halifax.
Still, head coach Patrice Gheisar was quick to point out postmatch that the Wanderers had actually limited Forge's attacking chances fairly well, especially in the second half. The visitors had 62 per cent of possession in the latter 45 minutes, and on the whole outshot their opponents 11 to eight, as well as nearly doubling Forge's final third entries (80 to 46).
The problem, though, was Halifax's efficiency — or lack thereof. They didn't make good use of their visits to the attacking third, resulting in just 21 touches in the box (while Forge had 31, with far fewer final third entries).
In both of the last two games, the Wanderers have struggled to generate high-quality scoring chances; last week in Québec, that was partly down to a combination of a rainstorm, a narrow pitch and York United sitting back after scoring first, but this week Halifax had trouble stretching Forge to make space for themselves.
Gheisar opted this week to play Ryan Telfer just behind Tiago Coimbra, in an attacking combination that hasn't really been seen much this year. Both players might have been able to pin Forge's backline and press high, but Halifax did seem to be missing the creativity of Sean Rea, who was on the bench in this game.
Among the other positives for Halifax from Saturday, though, was the return of Nassim Mekideche, who started at centre-back in his first appearance of 2025.
Forge show new midfield combination as Achinioti-Jönsson moves forward with Hojabrpour's return
Lately, Alex Achinioti-Jönsson has found himself playing in his natural central midfield position more often than usual; with Alessandro Hojabrpour picking up an injury in early May, Achinioti-Jönsson played Forge's last three games in the number six role Hojabrpour usually occupies.
The biggest surprise on Sunday, however, was that Hojabrpour returned to the lineup, and Achinioti-Jönsson did not revert to playing centre-back as he typically does when Hojabrpour plays. In fact, Achinioti-Jönsson played much of this game in front of Hojabrpour, a box-to-box number eight parallel to Kyle Bekker.
Achinioti-Jönsson's distribution lends itself to the role well, but this match required him to tap into a more attacking skillset, which he hasn't often done in his seven years at Forge.
"We've been tinkering a little bit with players higher up the field," Bobby Smyrniotis explained postmatch. "As teams press more, it's allowing our four to build, even under extreme pressure; we try to take advantage of the spaces there. Alex is an excellent midfielder, it doesn't matter where you put him in there. He's got a good ability, not only on the ball but off the ball, to allow us to be a team off the ball that presses a bit higher. I thought he did an excellent job between the lines, spinning, playing and then entering the penalty area."
Smyrniotis did point out that Achinioti-Jönsson perhaps should've scored just three minutes into the game, where he was in good position to take a crack at goal in the box but instead let the ball roll past him to Brian Wright. Still, the Swedish midfielder did show that he has attacking instincts with some of his incisive passes into the Wanderers' half.
It's also interesting that Smyrniotis mentioned Achinioti-Jönsson's defensive abilities being useful in applying pressure further up the pitch. He did a good job receiving the ball and turning into pressing opponents, often either progressing it forward or winning a foul (he drew six in this match).
Once Noah Jensen and Tristan Borges come back to full fitness, Achinioti-Jönsson will probably be seen more frequently in the back four, but games like this are a good reminder of how well-rounded he is as a player, who can fill almost any role on the pitch.
What They Said
“An excellent first half and a little bit of a different second half, where both teams were a little bit more involved in the play. We want a little bit more consistency in our play, we show sometimes 10 to 15 minutes of dips in games; it's fine to do that, and it's part of the plan against Halifax to allow them to be on the ball at some points to create some space. We just weren't doing a good job, when we got the ball, finding the rhythm.” — Forge FC head coach Bobby Smyrniotis
“In a 28-game season, there's a shift. When you play the same team four times, every time it presents like a brand new game, because they know everything about you and you know everything about them. When you go through the first round and you're successful, the second round will present a lot of different challenges. Now we go to round three, and we're going to give them different problems.” — Halifax Wanderers head coach Patrice Gheisar
CanPL.ca Player of the Match
Hoce Massunda, Forge FC
With a goal and an assist in this one, Massunda was the most effective part of Forge's attack and has now either scored or assisted each of his team's last four goals. He also led his team in passes in the final third (18), touches in the box (14), duels won (nine) and tackles won (four).
What’s next?
Halifax return home to play Cavalry FC at the Wanderers Grounds next Saturday, June 14 (3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT). Forge, meanwhile, head on the road to B.C., and will take on Vancouver FC on Sunday, June 15 (4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT).
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