'Our attack looks really explosive': Wanderers win 3-2 over Vancouver FC in Natal Day clash

It seems head coach Patrice Gheisar and the Halifax Wanderers have got Vancouver FC's number.

Aside from an early season loss, Halifax has now won the last two contests (outscoring Vancouver 7-2) versus the British Columbian club, including a 3-2 thriller on Natal Day in front of a sold out Wanderers Grounds.

But things didn't start according to plan for the Wanderers as they conceded early off a poorly judged header from defender Dan Nimick, which was put into the net by Vancouver attacker Miki Cantave to give the visitors a 1-0 lead only four-minutes in.

Undeterred, the Wanderers responded with grit, equalizing off a set-piece goal by striker Tiago Coimbra — who was returning after missing several matches — and then took the lead shortly into the second half thanks to captain Andre Rampersad's volley past Vancouver keeper Callum Irving.

Halifax continued to push in the second half, buoyed by marquee signing Sean Rea, who made his debut for the club following a transfer window sweepstakes. Rea went to work immediately, giving Vancouver's defenders trouble with his sleek dribbling and technical skill. The 22-year old Montréaler finished the match with 38 touches, one big chance created and two blocked shots through his 34-minute cameo.

A penalty goal from Nimick, his second goal contribution of the match, added to his side's lead in the 63rd minute. However, with the Wanderers moments away from closing out the match, Nimick again made a costly error, allowing Alejandro ‘Wero’ Díaz to pick off a weak pass and neatly lob it over Halifax keeper Yann Fillion in the dying seconds.

Post-match, Gheisar praised his squad's resiliency following the early goal.

"It's not the start we wanted, the two goals we gave up are not ideal goals," he said. "But you could see there was a strong belief in the group and they turned around and, I thought, all the goals we scored we created. Perhaps you could say, on a luckier day, we get one or two more. Our attack looks really explosive."

The Wanderers finished the night with the lion's share of possession (57 per cent), 14 shots to Vancouver's 9 and 439 passes. In their quest to reclaim the ball, Ghotbi's men found themselves taking a disproportionate number of fouls (19 in total), including three yellow cards in the first half alone.

Asked about his thoughts, Ghotbi said he never felt like his side had control of the match.

"That's an area we have to improve on," he said.

"I'm not sure how much of it was the gravity of the game, how much of it was losing (Olivier Rommens) and having to change our whole plan. For me, what was positive was the reaction. Down 3-1, they didn't give up, we kept fighting, we kept looking for a goal. We got one but it came a little too late."

With their loss, Vancouver has only one win in their last 10 matches. Meanwhile, the Wanderers continue to trend in the right direction following a historically bad start which has them last on the table. Vancouver and Pacific currently stand tied at 20 points, with Valour at 17 and, with their win, Halifax has crept up to 16. They currently have two matches in hand over most of the league.

From the Notebook

1. As someone who continues to deal with the impacts of multiple concussions, I was concerned for Vancouver's Olivier Rommens when he went down following a collision with Massimo Ferrin. He displayed all of the telltale signs of a potential concussion, looking very shaky as he made his way to the sidelines and ended up being subbed out. Instances of concussion and head injury are prevalent throughout world football; in Monday's match alone, there were a handful of players who were struck in the head. That's why its so important that the CPL, in alignment with the International Football Association Board's (IFAB) decision, has made concussion substitutes a permanent part of the league's rules. Speaking post-match, Ghotbi confirmed that Rommens is doing okay but will be monitored over the coming days.
2. On the topic of Ghotbi, he made some interesting comments on the broadcast ahead of the match with OneSoccer's Gareth Wheeler and Jordan Wilson. Discussing his squad, Ghotbi mentioned that the week had been spent mending relationships within the dressing room. Here's his full quote: "I think we had a great week of training. A lot of conversations, individually, and trying to mend relationships between players and understanding between each line. As you saw, there's some changes in the lineup also. I'm hoping the message is very clear: we want to play our football, we want to control games and we want points out of these games." Now, I've heard from sources previously that there may be some discontent in Vancouver, which has sometimes reared its head, but was surprised to hear Ghotbi address it so openly. Benedict Rhodes of CanPL.ca asked Cantave, who spoke on behalf of the players post-match, about his coach's comments and unsurprisingly, he largely avoided the issue: “I think we’ve got great leaders, everybody tries to do the best they can to help out the side,” said Cantave. “It’s a new team, so we’re just focused on being the best that we can be individually and also helping the guy beside us. We just focus on what we can control and we keep moving.”
3. Gheisar said that Cale Loughrey was sick this week, opening the door for Jefferson Alphonse to make his first start for the Wanderers. Well, Alphonse certainly made the most of his opportunity as he played a full 90 minutes and looked like a player who had been playing professional football for years, not weeks. His poise and decision making, be it on or off the ball, were good and aside from some communication work — to be expected with a new centre-back partner — I thought he excelled. By the end of the night, Alphonse was undefeated, having won all six of his duels, and earned the praise of his coach. And Alphonse's emergence as a starting option can't be overlooked: the Wanderers still sit last in the U-21 minutes department after Monday and need 113 minutes per match for the rest of the season. Having another option other than Coimbra, who has struggled with injury (more on that later) is vital. Gheisar had this to say following my question on Alphonse: "Listen, I got into a lot of fun conversations last year about U-21 minutes. For me, I judge the players — and I said this last year — based on their ability. I don't say, let's play a younger or older player. If we have signed you, we have a commitment to develop you, work with you, and what I love about Jefferson is he's been waiting patiently, he's had cameos in every game. Coming in today at a big game at home, I thought he was fantastic. Couldn't have asked more. Now, we have a great environment because Cale (Loughrey) has to fight with him, Dan (Nimick) and Kareem (Sow) and I'm really happy to see that."
4. If you focus only on his offensive contributions, Nimick was the difference maker in Halifax's victory. His vision to play the ball across goal to Rampersad for the go ahead marker was elite. And, with the opportunity to put the match away on his shoulders, he made no mistake in the penalty spot, scoring his sixth — and team leading — goal of the season. It'd be hard to ask for more from your centre-back in attack. Where he erred was defensively: both of Vancouver's goals came directly off plays Nimick made as the last man back. Now, you could argue he was put into difficult situations but at the end of the day, more is expected of Nimick because, since signing in Halifax, he's been nearly error free. It's not fair to hold players to such expectations but as a player the club has decided to retain instead of selling, with his contract winding down, the Wanderers need Nimick to excel for the small amount of time he has left on the East Coast. They need to make the playoffs. And Nimick will be a key player in getting them there. I expect he'll have his best match of the season on Saturday.
5. I asked Coimbra post-match what it meant to get the start and win at the Wanderers Grounds. His answer, and goal celebration, left little to the imagination: "I can't even start to describe what I'm feeling right now. It's been a tough year for me with a lot of injuries, three injuries to my hamstring, one injury to my knee and coming back and being able to help my team with the win, it's unreal." Moving forward, Gheisar added he hopes to give Coimbra more minutes — as I believe was their plan at the beginning of the season — but noted they need to be cautious given his injury history these last two years. In fact, Gheisar said he would have liked to have played the young striker more on Monday but their sports science team said 50 to 55 minutes would be the sweet spot.
6. Speaking of strikers, Rea made his debut as a false nine, which I'm sure everyone had on their bingo card (I certainly didn't). He dazzled with the ball, leaving a trail of nutmegged victims in his wake, and wasn't shy about pulling the trigger. Gheisar revealed after that the coaching staff opted to have Rea play as a false nine due to both Ryan Telfer and Christian Volesky being unavailable due to injury. When asked during his presser, Coimbra joked that you could have made a pretty good highlight reel just from Rea's first 30 minutes as a Wanderer.
7. Rampersad's goal on Monday could be felt throughout the stadium. Supporters, who have watched him grow from young man to veteran before their eyes, stood on their feet and cheered Halifax's longest tenured player. It's a goal, Rampersad included, that people will remember for a long time.
8. The next three matches, which will see the Wanderers fly to Calgary, Hamilton and then back out West to Winnipeg, could make or break their season. It'll be a gruelling trip, the kind that will test the squad's depth, and will effectively wipe out their matches in hand. At the end of it, the Wanderers' spot on the table will be a true reflection of where they stand. It'll be interesting to see some of the player personnel decisions; if the coaching staff chooses wrong, and fails to collect at least four points to keep pace with Vancouver and Pacific, it could put a second consecutive playoff berth out of reach.

Cover Photo Credit: Trevor MacMillan / Halifax Wanderers FC