Lessons in adversity: Wanderers beat Valour 3-1, showcasing how they've grown since beginning of the season

It's a tableau that was a hallmark throughout Halifax's horrid start to the 2024 season: down early, making unforced errors, and unable to find any space in the final third. When Valour scored first early on Thursday night, the match seemed destined to follow a script that Wanderers fans were all too familiar with: they had seen this show before.

But this is not the same Wanderers squad that stumbled to start the season. They've learned through adversity, brought in new faces, and lost players to injuries or loan. They've fought to keep their playoff hopes alive after a historically bad beginning. And on Thursday night, in front of their fans, they responded to Valour's first strike by wrestling the lead back and scoring twice within a 10-minute span. A 53rd minute penalty goal by defender Dan Nimick — his second on the night — all but sealed the comeback.

Speaking post-match, when asked about his side's response, Nimick said the Wanderers have grown to be able to overcome adversity.

“It just shows how the character of this team has developed over the season,” he said. “I think at the start of the year, that would have ruffled our feathers a little bit, we’d have become a little nervous and tried to force things, but now we really believe in the talent we have, and we know we’re going to create chances for the game.”

Although they retained their core from last year, the start of the season saw the arrival of several new Wanderers who had to find their place. They were also terribly injured, with a half-dozen players nursing knocks. Now, be it Ryan Telfer or Giorgio Probo, most of the new arrivals have found their role with head coach Patrice Gheisar's system and the offence — which sputtered to start the year — is coming. The Wanderers scored three goals versus Valour but easily could have pocketed two or three more, such was the quality of their chances. They finished the night with 19 shots and four big chances. They also received three penalty kicks, which didn't hurt.

Gheisar told reporters that their season is going to boil down to how they handle adversity.

“What our season is going to be about is how we respond after mistakes, how we respond after losses,” Gheisar said. “The beginning of the season was a real difficult period. Right now what it’s done for us is made us stronger than every before. Long answer short, I think all the trials and errors and the bumps and bruises we’ve had have prepared us to say, ‘No problem, we’ll come back from this.'”

Unlike last year, the Wanderers first few matches at home were marked by losses and heartbreak. Their loss to CS Saint-Laurent in the Canadian Championship especially felt like a blow to a group whose confidence was waning. But Halifax's form has improved of late at the Wanderers Grounds, giving them two wins and two draws in their last five matches. Nine of their 13 points have come at home.

“We felt like we kind of deserved more from the first half of the season, but now we’ve got a good little undefeated stretch at home going and turned it back into a fortress,” Nimick said.

The Wanderers Grounds will need to remain a fortress if the Wanderers have any chance of getting back into the playoff race. Following their win over Valour, they now sit six points back of Pacific and that all important last playoff spot with a match in hand. If they play like they did on Thursday, and they've truly learned from the mental errors which cost them so dearly early on, this Wanderers group has the talent to shoot up the table and into the playoffs.

But if they lose concentration or their cohesion as a group, and squander the lessons they've learned, the Wanderers could quickly end up back in the basement. Their margin for error is small. Now, they'll have to prove this recent run of form — which ranks with the best clubs in the league — isn't a fluke.

From the Notebook:

1. When Valour last came to the Wanderers Grounds, they were in a very similar position to Halifax (and we all know how that ended). Again, in a resetting of the table, they arrived in Nova Scotia down on their luck and hungry for points. But as mentioned, this is not the same Wanderers squad they encountered; they've found their scoring touch, are tighter defensively and aren't afraid to play free. Like it does so often, I though the Wanderers were able to win the midfield battle and created space for their attackers, springing players with little slip passes or working the ball up the flanks as a group. But make no mistake: this is a different match if Dante Campbell, arguably the most important player on this Valour squad, isn't sitting in the pressbox with a suspension. They missed him and without his voice, they crumbled under Halifax's pressure. Watching Valour's collapse — and the mistakes they made which led to three penalty calls — was like re-watching the Wanderers first matches of the year.
2. All of this is to say Valour head coach Phil Dos Santos and forward Shaan Hundal were properly angry when they reported to their post-match press conference. They felt Valour wilted under pressure and instead of responding, handed the match to the Wanderers on a platter with undisciplined and messy challenges in their box. Needless to say, they didn't agree with all of the penalty calls. “This has to be better,” Hundal said. “There’s nothing really else we can say about it; giving up that many penalties, and Nimick’s almost getting a hat trick from penalty shots, that’s happened very rarely. It might not happen in some people’s careers, getting given three penalties in a game. We’ve just got to be clean at the back — the whole team has to be clean, keeping the ball up front, then we don’t get the pressure on the opposite side on our backline. I think everyone just has to be better.” Watching the replays, I think there's an argument to be made that Halifax's second penalty was harsh as Haris Chantzopoulos looked to have his arms tucked as tightly as possible but the case could also be made that the Wanderers deserved at least one more penalty call. Sometimes, it's just your day.
3. Speaking of penalties, I asked Nimick post-match if he'd ever been in the position where he had taken three penalties versus the same keeper in one match. He replied that he hadn't, the closest example being when the Wanderers played CS Saint-Laurent and he had a penalty during the match and then it went to shoutout. Delving into the weeds, I asked about his mentality when he'd gone left on the first and right on the second; did he think about trying to shoot down the middle or did he always know he wanted to try one of the corners again? Nimick credited Jonathan Viscosi for saving the third attempt and said, in hindsight, that some of his teammates said he should have gone down the middle. I wonder, moving forward, if Gheisar would change up the penalty shooter if he's ever in the situation again where he's got three penalties in a match.
4. With Viscosi's save, he ended the Wanderers' penalty scoring streak. As pointed out by OneSoccer's Oliver Platt, it took a whopping 1,908 days and stretched all the way back to 2019. They remain nearly perfect at 34 out of 35 attempts.
5. Gheisar noted after the match that it's been a year of highs and lows. Losing Julian Dunn, he said, was an incredible loss to the group. However, he continued to say that a lot of Halifax's earlier struggles came with French midfielder Lorenzo Callegari suspended. His return, and rounding into form, is one of the things Gheisar credits the Wanderers' improved play on. "I announced to the group that the man of the match for me was Lorenzo Callegari. You talk about positives, the amount of running he did, the amount of tackling he did, is unmeasured. He really is the heart and soul of this team," he said. It wasn't Callegari's most impressive match statistically — we've seen the man top well over 100 touches and nearly the same amount of attempted passes — but it was one where he played a near perfect 90-minutes. There's always a moment or two whenever Callegari plays where I'm flabbergasted by his confidence and calm to try a flick, to neatly sew a pass between the legs of an opposing player and that was on full display Thursday. Although he hasn't directly been credited on the scoresheet, everyone knows Callegari continues to be the straw that stirs the drink.
6. But this match wasn't all sunshine and rainbows for the Wanderers. Valour, for all their warts, had some golden opportunities and Yann Fillion stood tall when called upon. His crowning achievement this match was in the 62nd minute as former CS Saint-Laurent man Loïc Kwemi stole the ball from Nimick and cut towards goal. Fillion charged out to meet Kwemi, literally putting himself in harm's way to make the stop. To note, Fillion's passing was exceptional this match, completing 91 percent of his attempted passes. He also went four for six on long balls.
7. I don't think there was a fan in the stands who wasn't supremely happy for Cale Loughrey to score his first professional goal. It came at an important time for the Wanderers, surely, but is the type of reward spectators like to see players get for their hard work. And Loughrey's worked hard to improve, putting in the time over the last two years to earn his place with players like Doneil Henry and Julian Dunn threatening his position. His decision making has improved. His passing has improved. And on Thursday, he got his first professional goal. It'll be something he never forgets.
8. Just a small thing but it was mentioned in the match notes that Tiago Coimbra, Christian Volesky and Massimo Ferrin would miss the match due to injury. From the pressbox, it looked like Volesky had a small cast / some type of guard on one of his arms, which is news. Ferrin, I'm told, was out because of a small knock. Hopefully all three are fully fit soon.

Cover Photo Credit: Trevor MacMillan / Halifax Wanderers FC