Tomas Giraldo plays hero as HFX Wanderers batter Atlético Ottawa for dramatic 3-2 win

Wanderers jump to fourth on the table with 36 points, outpacing Ottawa and York

To say the Halifax Wanderers came out flat at home would be an understatement.

Through the first 45 minutes of play, the Wanderers were outshot, outworked and seemingly, outmatched at the Wanderers Grounds by a hungry Atlético Ottawa side who had travelled to the East Coast eager to earn a crucial three points in their playoff race.

Contrary to their regular tactics, Carlos Gonzalez's squad were playing an extremely aggressive road match, pressing high and taking away all the time and space from Halifax's backline and midfielders. Ottawa's 10 shots and 30 won duels in the first half were testament to their resolve.

And their one goal lead — thanks to ex-Wanderer Sam Salter — could have easily been more.

Halifax took halftime to compose themselves and reset for what would be a rollercoaster finish and ultimately, an electrifying 3-2 victory.

When asked post-match about what was said at the break, Wanderers winger Massimo Ferrin said the coaching staff and players zeroed in on their need to play for a win.

“At halftime we spoke that we’re not here to just grab a goal and get a point. We want to go and score two, or if it takes three, four, whatever; we want to go win this game," he told reporters.

For his part, Halifax head coach Patrice Gheisar said his message to the players was to play their game versus worrying about what Ottawa was doing.

"We've been training a lot and a lot of our things are basically about adjusting tactically and how to take advantage of our opponents," said Gheisar. "But we just said, let's go back to our roots. Let's forget who we're playing, it's about us."

The results speak for themselves as the Wanderers came out a much more relaxed group and settled into their footballing groove. Slowly, the pitch opened up and midfielder Aidan Daniels kickstarted Halifax's offence by slipping a perfect ball to Ferrin, who made no mistake just outside of Ottawa's six-yard box, beating keeper Nathan Ingham and slotting the ball gently into the far left post in the 49th minute.

Less than 10 minutes later, the Wanderers struck again, this time thanks to an incredible chip pass from Lorenzo Callegari who found a streaking Jordan Perruzza in the box. Perruzza was able to head the ball in, earning him his second goal in eight matches.

The Wanderers continued to play well, bringing on captain Andre Rampersad, Tomas Giraldo and Doneil Henry to close out the match.

However, Ottawa wasn't done as Salter scored again, banking a shot off Wanderers defender Cale Loughrey in the dying minutes to tie things at 2-2.

But as was discussed at halftime, the Wanderers were playing for a win and quickly advanced the ball up the pitch seconds after Salter's goal. Midfielder Armaan Wilson layed the ball off to Zachary Fernandez, who was playing as a left-back, and he made a run towards the box. A deft touch skirted the ball around a challenging Atlético defender and suddenly Fernandez had space inside.

Fernandez crossed the ball to a waiting Giraldo, who tucked it short side on Ingham, sending the Wanderers Grounds into a frenzy and sealing a stunning 3-2 victory.

The implications stemming from the win are huge as Halifax jumped Ottawa in the standings to fourth, giving them some breathing room and a game in hand over York United. They now sit with 36 points — a three point lead on Gonzalez's squad and four points ahead of sixth placed York.

"It's massive," said Ferrin of the win. "We would have liked to have picked up a couple more points in the past few games. Obviously, this was a big one and with Ottawa being close to us in the standings, it was a big (win) for us."

When asked about his impressions of the match, Gonzalez pointed to the first 10 minutes of the second half as the moment when Ottawa lost control of the result; their upcoming match against Valour now has significant implications for their playoff hopes.

“We did a good first half, but in the second half we disconnected,” he said post-match. “We made big mistakes in situations that we corrected in halftime, that we were speaking about, because the only threats we were having from Halifax were those situations, inside passes and diagonal runs. If you don’t give steps forward it’s very difficult.”

The Wanderers finished the night with 60 per cent possession, 11 shots to Ottawa's 18 and won just over half of their duels on the night with 53 out of 105.

Resiliency, said Gheisar, is something this Wanderers squad has in spades.

"I just feel like the message has been (never) too high, too low. It's disappointing, obviously, the results we have had (recently) but I question you to find a team with a more resilient attitude this season," he said. "I'm proud of the guys for playing football and showing the adversity and fight they have."

The Wanderers are slated to travel to British Columbia to play Vancouver FC this Saturday before returning to cap off their series against Forge FC at the Wanderers Grounds on September 30.

Their last match of the season is on October 6 versus Valour.

From the Notebook:

1. I've said it a few times now but yesterday's match wrapped up perhaps the most important two week period in Wanderers history. Over that span, the club played four matches across the country (ending with 4 out of a possible 12 points), saw João Morelli hurt and club owner Derek Martin pitch his vision for the future in the form of a $40-million stadium. Like the match against Ottawa, we've seen the very best this club has to offer over this span but also seen them tested, and at times, bend amid a grueling schedule and tough opponents. I'd argue that the narrative around the club's performance on the pitch had been underwhelming through the first three matches of this segment and felt soured by the injury to Morelli. For my part, I feel terrible for Morelli, who as per my last report, is still undergoing tests and will be out for an undetermined amount of time. Gheisar didn't say that Morelli was done for the year in his pre-match availability but it was implied. Martin's stadium reveal was the perfect bit of news to turn the page, injecting a much needed shot of excitement back into the club ahead of their tilt against Atlético. Sitting on the other side of it, the Wanderers players showed up big when it mattered most and should be proud of their form. Their Herculean effort in the second half showed their supporters just how much this iteration of the Wanderers has to give and, for what feels like the first time in a long time, given them a degree of certainty in their playoff push.
2. I asked Gheisar if the win tasted a little bit sweeter given the last minute heroics from Fernandez and Giraldo. His response surprised me as he took the opportunity to talk about expectations. Specifically, I think he wanted to remind everybody (including me) that the results, be it a win or loss, are only part of the process as this club nears the end of a rebuilding season. "Everybody in the city, on the East Coast wants us to win every game. But I think, you know, we kind of need to slow down and go through the process. We have 18 new players. We are well, well, well ahead of our schedule. Knock on wood, we're in playoff contention. We want to grow and win every game but there's going to be bumps and bruises. I'm happy with the win, of course, but I'm happy with the style of play which I think sometimes goes unnoticed with the fight the guys have," he said. "The thing that makes me happy is the way we play, the constant fight. I thought Mass scored a great goal, I thought Tommy scored a great goal and I thought Perruzza scored a good goal and he's been under pressure from the fans, which I think is a bit sad. These boys will die for the city."
3. I wrote in my notes at halftime that Perruzza was playing on an island by himself. For context, the Wanderers weren't clicking and the result was their striker was isolated to the point that he was a non-threat. Matt and Martin of the Coast discussed Ottawa's press on the Wanderer Grounds podcast and it was an impressive thing to behold; the Wanderers had no space to build up, meaning they were making mistakes. Callegari and Nimick — normally the club's two best distributors — missed a half-dozen passes between them in the first 45 minutes. The balls that made it to Perruzza's area were all long, meaning he was dueling Ottawa defender Luke Singh and losing handedly; he only won one of five duels and was emblematic of the Wanderers writ large. However, in the second half, Halifax found their legs and were able to play closer and support each other. Like any good striker, much of Perruzza's best work was off the ball. His run in the 49th minute dragged an Ottawa defender with him, meaning Ferrin was able to sneak past unmarked and tie the match. Later, as Callegari dazzled, Perruzza made eye contact with the Frenchman and immediately cut towards goal so he was in the perfect spot for the incoming chip pass for a header. Overall, I thought Perruzza redeemed himself from a very poor performance versus Cavalry. (To note, Matt and Martin actually had the chance to interview Perruzza post-match. The most interesting thing for me is that Perruzza says in the interview he wanted to challenge himself by playing in Halifax away from the familiar surroundings in Toronto. The episode is well worth a listen.)
4. Ferrin had himself a match and, like he has been all season, is a player who drags Halifax into the fight with his work ethic and determination. He now leads the Wanderers with six goals in all competitions. Here he describes the play which led to his game-tying goal: "I saw Aidan centrally in the pitch and I know he's good at playing little slip balls in behind. I saw Jordan check to feet and the centre-back followed him so it just opened up a little bit of space behind and I made the run hoping Aidan would see me and I'd have enough space and it was a perfect ball and I got on it."
5. Compared to the steadiness of Ferrin, Fernandez is a spark plug, or as I once described, a Tasmanian devil with a French Canadian accent. He was determined from the moment Ottawa equalized to get one back and did the lion's share of the work with his magnificent run and clever footwork. Once Giraldo scored, Fernandez took off by himself and did a fly-by of Ottawa's coaching staff and was as pumped up as I've ever seen anyone. Gheisar said in his availability that Fernandez relishes being challenged because he's so competitive. By asking him to play as a left-back and mark Ottawa's Jean-Aniel Assi, Gheisar tasked Fernandez to bring his game up a level. It's the sort of dynamic between player and coach that is learned over the course of the season and something Gheisar's worked on. "Listen, Zach is a super competitive guy. At the beginning (of the season) we had our up and downs," he said. "I think when you have two guys who are so competitive, we need to learn things from each other. Zach took a step back, I took a step back. He's been so competitive and I think for me, in defending, he's one of the best defending full-backs. You look at key match ups with attackers, he does such a good job."
6. I have a short note marveling at Callegari's technical skill leading to Perruzza's goal; although I've watched him for months now, I am still blown away by the finesse and vision of this elite footballer. Callegari is well outside Ottawa's 18-yard box and is able to one-touch an airborne ball to regain control. Atlético Ottawa midfielder Gabriel Antinoro immediately closes the gap on the Frenchman but Callegari jukes left and then cuts right faster than some sort of super computer. He then delivers a perfect aerial chip to open space which Perruzza fills. Sometimes, football is art.
7. I'll skip all the math and cut to the chase: the Wanderers are set up so that they will need to load two of their remaining three matches with U-21 players. They need 547 minutes. Originally, Gheisar said keeper Aiden Rushenas would get a start during the last stretch but expect him to start versus Vancouver or Valour (or maybe both).
8. Suspensions will also play a big part in Gheisar's starting XI versus Vancouver. Andre Rampersad collected a yellow on Monday, meaning he'll be out one match for yellow card accumulation. Callum Watson will also miss time, having earned a red card from the bench. The match sheet says it was for argument but anyone paying attention will have noticed Watson took the time during Halifax's celebration to really tell Ottawa's bench how he feels about them. It's hard not to admire his gumption.

Photo Cover Credit: Trevor MacMillan / HFX Wanderers FC