A scorching Sunday heated up the fiercest rivalry in the Canadian Premier League.
Cavalry FC and Forge FC traded second half goals to play to a 1-1 draw in a CPL match that featured a penalty kick save, dozens of scoring chances and a first goal of the season for a prolific defender on July 21 at Spruce Meadows’ ATCO Field.
“That was entertaining and a crazy game, to be honest, I’m sweating and I’m not sure how the boys survived that one,” said Cavalry FC head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. “That was very hot and I think both teams were not at our fullest strength, but went toe to toe.
“They probably were better than us first half and hence why we made our changes at halftime and I think we finished stronger. I thought we were the better side and disappointed not to get a win in the end, but that’s football.”
Forge had several opportunities to open the scoring in a dominant opening half.
Kwasi Poku saw a clean header in the box go over the bar, Opoku Ampomah was denied by an outstretched Marco Carducci in goal and captain Kyle Bekker saw his powerful strike from distance take a touch off the keeper and the post to be denied.
“They (these games) always mean a little bit more, especially as you push into the season,” said Forge midfielder Noah Jensen. “They’re always ready to play us, we’re always ready to play them.”
In the second half, Cavalry substitutes Camargo and attacking midfielder Maël Henry made big impacts on the offensive end to switch the momentum.
Cavalry was awarded a penalty inside 40 seconds of the half when Camargo was brought down in the box. Tobias Warschewski, Cavalry's top scorer, was then denied from the spot by Forge's Christopher Kalongo to keep it goalless.
But not for long.
Daan Klomp, the reigning CPL Player of the Year and a threat on set pieces, notched his first goal of the season in his 15th game on a trademark header from the Flying Dutchman.
Camargo had time and space on the right flank to pick out the centreback for the breakthrough tally in the 57th minute.
Forge answered almost immediately with a touch of fortune. On a Bekker corner, Cavs defender Tom Field tripped and in the process of recovering inadvertently headed the ball into his own goal.
“To be fair, it is something we’re definitely looking at, how we’re managing momentum right after we score,” said Klomp. “It’s unacceptable to concede a minute after we scored ourselves, it’s a problem we haven’t sorted yet, so we’re going to look at it.
“All the fans, and especially us players, we always get up for this game and it seems to be always entertaining.”
HIGHLIGHTS: @CPLCavalryFC vs. @ForgeFCHamilton 🎥
— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) July 22, 2024
After a chaotic match, the points were shared in Calgary 🔥#CanPL I 📺 @onesoccer pic.twitter.com/bStotkMG1c
Cavalry FC moved to 3-9-3, remaining in sixth place with just four points separating third from sixth. The season series with Forge is now even at 1-1-1.
Wheeldon Jr. stressed process over results with a lot of season left to play.
“We’re missing those attacking pieces,” Wheeldon Jr. said. “It can go two ways. We can change the way we want to play the game and be more pragmatic and be more direct or we can actually play the way we think will actually put us in the conversation to be competing for trophies.
“That’s what you saw, especially in the second half. We’ll do our best to put points on the board and try to finish as high as we can in the league, but there’s a playoff you have to be good in a couple of games for.
“Once we get our players back and ready, we’ll be back to our winning ways.”
Cavalry FC takes its show on the road for the next two fixtures with stops in Vancouver on July 26 and Ottawa on Aug. 3. The next home date is Aug. 10 versus Halifax.
For more information, go to cavsfc.com.
