A big clash looms at the Wanderers Grounds Saturday, as the Halifax Wanderers host Forge FC in a battle of two of the three remaining undefeated sides in the Canadian Premier League to start 2025, making it a fitting clash for this week's nationally-televised matchup on TSN.
Both off to good starts to 2025, this will be a true statement match for each team, for different reasons, as they look to continue their positive momentum as the calendar flips to May. The first of two matches between the teams over the next week, as Forge will then host Halifax in the preliminary round of the Canadian Championship on Wednesday, May 7th, this also feels like a chance for both to build some momentum ahead of that key match, too.
Their first matchup since Forge visited the Grounds last September, this also marks the return of former Wanderers standout, Dan Nimick, to Halifax for the first time since he joined Forge this offseason.
On his return, he’ll be welcomed by a different Wanderers team than the one he left, however.
After missing the playoffs last year, the Wanderers have gotten off to a flying start to 2025, winning three and drawing one of their first four games, pushing them to the top of the table, where they're tied with Atlético Ottawa.
Given that they didn’t win their first game of 2024 until week #10, and their first game of 2023 until week #9, this hot start is a nice change for the Wanderers, as it felt like last year’s slow start played a big role in them missing the playoffs, in particular.
Yet, that’s just one of the many changes with this team. Another is that their road record has been much improved - they’ve already bested their 2024 totals of one win and six points in just three road games, accumulating two wins and one draw for a total of seven road points already.
Because of that, look for them to continue this strong start at the one place where they’ve been consistently able to accumulate points over the past few years, and that’s the Wanderers Grounds. Having won their first match of the season here against Pacific FC two weeks ago, they’d love nothing more than to build off that result in this one.
"The way I look at it is like we're literally studying during the week for an exam, and now in these 90 minutes, we'll show how much we studied and how prepared we are," Wanderers' head coach, Patrice Gheisar, said this week. "We sweat, we leave everything on the field, and now a big part of our job is that we want to display all the work we've been doing all week to our fans, and we want to make them proud."
As for Forge, they’ll have plenty to prove, as their last visit to Halifax didn’t go so well. When they made the trek out to the Wanderers Grounds in September, they lost 3-0, never looking up to the task on the day.
Fortunately for them, that loss didn’t prove costly in terms of their regular season title ambitions, as they still claimed the CPL Shield a few weeks later, but it was the first sign of a potential wobble in their group. Given that Forge then went on to lose to Cavalry in the playoff qualifying semi-final, and then fell to that same Cavalry side in the final after getting past Atlético Ottawa in the second semi-final, perhaps some might say that Wanderers' loss was a subtle bit of foreshadowing.
Now, of course, it’s worth noting that this Forge team is much different. Armed with several new players, they’ve so far been off to a decent start to the year - after opening the year with wins over Cavalry and Pacific, they’ve drawn their last two matches against Valour and York United, but remain undefeated, sitting just two points behind first.
Eager to defend their CPL Shield crown and lift their fifth North Star Cup this fall, they’ll want to start rounding into form soon, having yet to play at their best so far. Often a team that seems to hit their best level when the summer approaches, look for them to start turning up the gears in the weeks to come, especially with their Canadian Championship preliminary round clash looming.
"We just have to focus on ourselves," Forge's head coach, Bobby Smyrniotis, offered. "We have to focus on being better in the execution phases of the game, making sure that when we've got a solid start to the game in the first 10-15 minutes, and that we keep up that pace."
In terms of player availability, the Wanderers have no major absences to note, although Nassim Mekidèche and Julian Dunn are still working up to full fitness according to Gheisar, while Forge will be without Elimane Cissé, who continues to return from an injury.
3 THINGS TO WATCH
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Wanderers looking to continue good form vs. Forge: Ever since Patrice Gheisar was hired as Wanderers' manager at the beginning of 2023, this fixture has changed significantly. Before his arrival, this matchup always favoured Forge, who had a record of 8W-7D-1L in the 16 games they played against the Wanderers before 2023. Now, however, the Wanderers have a record of 3W-3D-2L in their last eight matches against Forge, as they’ve proven to be a tough side for Forge to take care of. In particular, Forge have struggled against the Wanderers at Wanderers Grounds - since Gheisar’s arrival, Forge have lost three and drawn one of their four visits to Halifax. Because of that, look for the Wanderers to continue that strong home form vs. Forge, allowing them to keep the momentum going from their strong start to 2025. Having seemingly figured out their road woes, they know that they could potentially be a title contender if they can keep up their strong home record, which has been one of their strengths under Gheisar. On the flipside, while the Wanderers have done well against Forge in this fixture, don’t count out this Hammers side. In fact, stats like this might prove to be good motivation for Forge, who would love to change this narrative. Especially given how their last visit to Halifax went, that could lead to a fired-up showing from Forge, which will force the Wanderers to rise to the challenge. Plus, don’t discount the role the looming Canadian Championship clash could play in this matchup - both teams will be happy to set the tone in this match, knowing that it could give them an edge ahead of Wednesday.
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Can subs continue to make a difference for Wanderers? For a while, it looked like the Wanderers' visit to Winnipeg last weekend might finish in a draw, as they and Valour were just unable to find much of a cutting edge in the attack. Sensing that, however, Gheisar made some aggressive changes, bringing in Tiago Coimbra and Vitor Dias off the bench to give his team a late spark. That move ended up paying off perfectly, too, as Dias scored in the 90th minute after a great Coimbra assist thanks to some nice combination play between the pair, allowing the Wanderers to snatch a late victory. In a game where the xG was just 0.75 to 0.67 in the Wanderers' favour, as both teams were unable to really break each other down, it proved to be a pivotal moment. Yet, this is something these Wanderers now have up their sleeve. Armed with a deeper bench than ever, at least from Gheisar’s perspective, he knows that he has players who can come in and change a game if needed. Against a Forge team littered with difference-makers on the bench, that could be key in this one, as it feels like the Wanderers will need contributions from their entire squad, including those who come off the bench, something they’ve done a great job of getting so far through four games.
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Is Wright rounding into form for Forge? After failing to score in his first four Forge games in all competitions, Brian Wright has quietly started to find some form, as he’s now scored in back-to-back games. That’s a worry for opposing defences, as Wright was getting chances before, but wasn’t taking them with the ruthless efficiency he often did in 2024, where he scored nine goals and added six assists en route to winning the CPL’s Players Player of the Year award. Given that he can be a streaky scorer, often finding his goals in bunches, he’ll have to feel he’s about to turn a corner, giving Forge a key outlet to rely upon up front. Yet, that’s why Forge signed him, as they’re looking for some consistency at that position after the prolific Woobens Pacius moved on at the end of 2023 and Kwasi Poku moved last summer, as they lacked a dangerous #9 in the playoffs last year. In Wright, they hope they’ve found someone who can step up in those big moments, and after his slow start, they’ll feel these recent matches are a sign that he’s going to round into form and fill that role going forward. That’s huge, as the more dangerous Wright can be, the more than can open up space for his teammates, which could lead to more output for the likes of Tristan Borges, David Choinière, Mo Babouli, Kyle Bekker, Noah Jensen and others, who will gladly capitalize on the space an in-form Wright might open up for them if he keeps scoring and starts drawing extra attention from opposing defences.
PROJECTED STARTING XIs
Halifax Wanderers FC: Yesli; Pearlman, Meilleur-Giguère, Sow, Timóteo; Callegari, Johnston; Bahamboula, Probo, Rea; Telfer
Forge FC: Koleilat; Rama, Nimick, Achinioti-Jönsson, Paton; Hojabrpour, Bekker; Choinière, Borges, Babouli; Wright
ALL-TIME SERIES
Halifax Wanderers FC wins: 4 || Forge FC wins: 10 || Draws: 10
Last meeting:
Sept. 14, 2024 — Halifax Wanderers FC 3-0 Forge FC
KEY QUOTES
"The team spirit is high, and there are a lot of good things that are happening. There are areas that we want to improve on, and having an elite team like Forge visit is a good test for us to see where we stand in what we've been doing. I think what has been working for our group is to focus on us and to manage our energy the way we want to. Now you're playing in a big team, and emotions will sometimes push you one way or another, but we just need to focus on ourselves and keep this energy going in front of our home fans." — Halifax Wanderers FC head coach Patrice Gheisar
"I think we're trending in the right direction, we're doing the right things, and I'm happy with where the team is is at. I think our last two performances can be better, but when you're not at your best or close to your best, and you're still bringing points in the bank, I think that's always a positive thing. Apart from last season, which was our best start to a season, we've usually not been good early, so from our points total in these first few games, I think we're in the right spot. " — Forge FC head coach Bobby Smyrniotis
