Steve Milton: Great Forge FC goals ... but only a draw
A couple of pure strikers' goals by Forge FC. One at the beginning, one at the end.
In between? Well, Cavalry FC will gladly take that part.
Two of the Canadian Premier League's premier franchises put on an entertaining display for 3,688 fans at Hamilton's home opener Saturday afternoon, with each team getting some, but not all, of what it wanted. The Forge exerted their patented attack game and Cavalry came away with a point on the road.
It was a great game," said Cavalry head coach, Tommy Wheeldon Jr., I've got a lot of respect for Bobby (Smyrniotis) and his coaching staff. They're never down and out. They've been to CONCACAF and had all those tough games. I'm pleased to come here and get something out of it but I'm sorry it wasn't all three points. They scored a couple of worldies."
Meaning world-class goals. The first came from new Forge striker Alessandro Hojabrpour who rifled one home in the first three minutes to the left of Julian Roloff in the only few inches where the Calvary goalkeeper couldn't reach it. Hojabrpour had played in Mexico City when Hamilton lost to Cruz Azul in the Champions League in January but this was his debut here after coming over from Pacific FC, for whom he scored the winning goal in the CPL title game last December over, yes, the Forge at, yes, Tim Hortons Field.
The other Forge score came in the game's 90th minute as Hamilton pressed relentlessly and after some very physical work in the box by Kyle Bekker, David Choiniere drilled an absolutely unstoppable shot to square it.
Hamilton controlled the ball, as is their wont, much of the way but after about half an hour Cavalry found its legs, particularly those of fleet Ali Musse. He put the visitors up 2-1 in the 39th minute, just eight minutes after Joe Mason had tied it.
It felt really nice to score in my first game at Tim Hortons Field," said Hojabrpour. It was a tough game. The first 30 minutes were good but after that we got a little complacent."
Both teams have yet to win, losing on the road last weekend. But neither is worried. Wheeldon points out that his team has played in two home openers for other teams. He did speak in general terms to his club being assessed four yellow cards to Forge's one, but you could tell he was holding his tongue.
If you look at Forge's last three seasons, they don't necessarily start that well but they certainly finish well," said Hojabrpour, who was the CPL's under-21 player of the year last season. It takes some time. The team has had some turnover and we'll be there at the end."
Steve Milton is a Hamilton-based sports columnist at The Spectator. Reach him via email: smilton@thespec.com