Wanderers fall 2-1 to interim head coach Mauro Eustáquio and York United, their fifth loss of the season

The Halifax Wanderers' woes continued on Friday night, their latest loss in a campaign that has quickly going from bad to worse coming at the hands of a shaky York United. Head coach Patrice Gheisar's side has now lost five league matches out of a possible six and when you consider this squad only lost eight times — and never twice in a row — all last year, there's little doubt that something has gone terribly awry for a club that had title aspirations.

Although the 2-1 score line at York Lions Stadium may seem like it was competitive, anyone who watched the first half will know the Wanderers failed to start with any urgency and were down 2-0 by halftime as a result of mental lapses and defensive miscues. But what's maybe even more frustrating is that from the 70-minute mark onwards, the Wanderers flipped a switch to play some of the best attacking football we've seen from them this season. If anything, the sharp passing and fluidity only worked to highlight Halifax's sluggish start.

When asked by reporters about the difference between the two halves, Gheisar spoke for over a minute, citing players rounding into form following a pre-season that saw almost every attacking player injured.

"If I was to summarize it, number one, I'm really happy to see Vitor Dias get on the field. I think, where we are, we're starting to really push and find our confidence. You give up two early goals, you're struggling but you've got to find the belief," he said.

"We made some adjustments at half and I thought we came out right from the get go to get going. Listen, part of some of the things we did well was because York started to get tired and they had a really good setup. We needed to wear them out. I think, if I'm going to take the positives, there were some great sequences. Lorenzo (Callegari), it was good to have him back with us. You could see the fluidity we had with him and Tiago (Coimbra) and Massimo (Ferrin) are continuing to get sharper. I thought Giorgio Probo had a lot of bright spots. We just have to push for a full 90-minutes together if we want what we're looking for. It's not just for one game, it's for the long stretch. That's the challenge for next week and that's what we're going to aim for and that's what we want."

Speaking about their poor start, Gheisar attributed the Wanderers' mistakes to a lack of concentration. That was certainly apparent on the first goal as York United worked their way up to the top of Halifax's 18-yard box. The ball found attacker Austin Ricci with space and he carried it in, looking at his options with several York players making runs. However, despite having Wanderers captain Andre Rampersad and Wesley Timoteo in his proximity, neither challenged Ricci and he was allowed to take the time to perfectly place a shot off the goalpost and in to give his side the early lead in the 20th minute.

Roughly 10-minutes later, York broke on the counterattack to catch several Wanderers flatfooted. A beautiful through ball sent striker Brian Wright into the box with Dennis Salanovic streaking on his left. Although Wanderers defenders Julian Dunn and Dan Nimick worked hard to get back, they were unable to stop Wright's pass to Salanovic, who smashed the ball into the back of the net to give them a 2-0 lead.

Gheisar was the first to make substitutions in the second half, bringing on former-York player Ryan Telfer and Riley Ferrazzo in the 60th minute. Later, pushing to get on the board, Zachary Fernandez was subbed off for Vitor Dias, who had been out with injury for all but 12-minutes this season.

The Wanderers grew as the second half progressed, finding space between York's lines. They capitalized on that space in the 81st minute as Ferrin slipped a ball to Telfer, who battled through two defenders and beat York keeper Thomas Vincensini for his first in league play.

It looked like the Wanderers might have been able to equalize in extra time but York ultimately held on for the win, their first since head coach Martin Nash was fired earlier in the week.

Speaking to reporters post-match, York interim head coach Mauro Eustáquio was all smiles and credited his players for following the game plan given the circumstances.

"We did what we had to do," he said. "I think overall, it was a very positive performance and the third one at home. Brick by brick, we want to make sure (York Lions Stadium) is a fortress. At the end of the day, I think the guys understood the message. We wanted to make sure that the processes were simple, I wanted to make sure that they knew where to explore and how to defend, and I think we showed that quite well. It was new, it was good, and I think it’s something that not only myself but this club can build on.”

Moving forward, Gheisar said it comes down to putting in a complete 90-minute effort.

"Unfortunately, it's the same story we experienced in some of the games. We just need to have a higher level of concentration and commitment. It's all we can do," he said.

The Wanderers finished the match with more of the ball, registering three big chances to York's one, 14 shots to five, and had an impressive 11 shots inside the box. As it has all season, their lack of finish cost them again as they looked the better squad in the second half.

Halifax continues their road trip and plays against Atlético Ottawa on June 2 before hosting Pacific at the Wanderers Grounds on June 8. The Wanderers currently sit last in the standings with one point, two behind seventh placed Valour FC.

From the Notebook:

1. Make no mistake: the Wanderers are on a historically bad run. In fact, it's hard to fathom how poorly they've started — especially with all of the optimism and potential that existed just a few, short months ago — and they've  earned the indignity of owning the CPL's worst ever starting record. Their one point through six matches is worse than FC Edmonton's start in 2022, their last ever. And the Wanderers start is worse than Valour's this year. It's gut wrenching stuff for a club that had title aspirations following their first ever playoff match and tied for a second-place finish last year. But as bad as this season has been, I think it's important not to paint the coaches and players with a broad brush; even in historically bad runs, there's moments of good, gems amongst the rubble. It's integral to talk about both so as to provide nuance and context and to not cheapen the work of people who care about what they're doing but who are literally at a historic low. I may be accused of being overly optimistic (and I'm typically a glass half full kind of fella) but reporters and journalists must be careful not to get swept up in hysteria. The facts are this Wanderers squad is on a very, very bad run but deserves better than to finish the season with the Wooden Spoon so far. The good news is there's still 22 leagues matches left.
2. And the players haven't given up. Ferrin made that incredibly clear in his post-match availability, marking only the second time this year one of the captain's didn't come out to address the media. I thought Ferrin was composed and thoughtful in his answers and carried a clear message on behalf of his teammates: "We 100 per cent as a team believe we're going to be in the playoffs. We're going to make it. There's belief there. I don't think any guy is hanging their head thinking this season is over. We know it needs to start soon but we're confident it's going to." Only time will tell if Ferrin's declaration comes true.
3. Speaking of Ferrin, Friday marked his first goal contribution this season, a sweet little slip pass that fed Telfer for his goal. Overall, I think Ferrin has been steadily improving the past few games; he's winning his duels (8/14), passing effectively (32/35 passes complete) and creating chances. In many ways, Ferrin's a microcosm of the Wanderers' attackers: injured in pre-season and working to find his form. He revealed in his presser that he was frustrated by his pre-season as he accumulated several injuries, meaning he missed large chunks of time and — like a sailboat failing to trim its lines before the start — wasn't able to come into 2024 with any momentum. The good news is he's rounding into form.
4. An interesting note on Gheisar's selections: he spoke at length following Halifax's defeat against Valour about Giorgio Probo and bringing him on as a substitute. Well, he opted to give the 24-year old Italian the start and also swapped steady Cale Loughrey for the more deft Timoteo, fielding a starting XI more geared towards creativity. But what stood out to me is that striker Christian Volesky was left out of the squad entirely at a time where the Wanderers need goals. I asked Gheisar post-match about Volesky and if there was anything he could tells us about dropping the American: "Nothing that I can talk about right now, Josh. We needed to give Vitor Dias a run with the team. We just need to make some decisions based on the game that we're given." I don't know if there's more here to the story but I will be following up.
5. Speaking of Dias, Friday marked his first action since he made a 10-minute cameo versus Vancouver FC on April 18. He got slightly more time against York United, hopefully marking the beginning of his return to the squad. Like Ferrin, Dias has been slowed by a tumultuous pre-season which started brightly but turned sour. The coaching staff has been taking it slow with him and I expect he'll continue to be spoon fed minutes as he finds his game. Sadly, the creativity he showed in pre-season is something the Wanderers are desperately in need of now.
6. It's hard to believe I got this far down the Notebook without touching on Lorenzo Callegari but the Frenchman was in fine form in his return following a two-match suspension. Looking at his heat map, the 26-year old showed few signs of rust and dominated midfield with his habitual passing (87/93) and touches (105!). I'd argue this was Callegari's best performance of the season, which is a bit strange considering his lack of action, but I felt he was what the Wanderers needed. His ability to control the ball or to switch play (9/11 on long balls) is unparalleled on this team. Although this is a crutch, I also think it's important to note the Wanderers have essentially played half of their league matches without Callegari. Would they have avoided the worst start in CPL history with him in the lineup? I think so.
7. A note on substitutions: Gheisar was much earlier this match in shuffling the deck, bringing on Ferrazzo and Telfer in the 60th minute. Some of the criticism this season has been that Gheisar has been waiting to long to see a spark from his players or given them too long a leash. I thought his subs were spot on at York Lions Stadium as Ferrazzo added some much needed buzz to the right side of the pitch and Telfer ultimately scored Halifax's lone goal. I also thought bringing off Zachary Fernandez was timely as, already on a yellow, he seemed frustrated and at risk of costing his team. It'll be interesting to see if this continues to be a trend or if Fernandez can find himself in what has been an uncharacteristically quiet start for him.
8. This is just a funny aside but Salanovic was the last person to speak at the press conference and rolled in with a rockstar nonchalance: muscle shirt, sunglasses on, chain on display. I haven't really dealt with him before but it was hard not to admire him gumption. He also spoke really well about battling adversity in pre-season (sound familiar?) and finding a way to win in a trying week. The Wanderers will want to take a page out of Salanovic's playbook.

Cover Photo Credit:  Denys Rudenko / York United FC