HFX WANDERERS 3 - PACIFIC FC 0
The table, well at least the pitch, was set.
The crowd of 3,339 arrived enthusiastic on a rare-for-this-year glorious June afternoon. Then kick-off happened. And it all went downhill from there Saturday for the home side at Starlight Stadium.
Pacific FC suffered the worst home loss in its four-season Canadian Premier League franchise history in going down 3-0 to an HFX Wanderers team that had travelled 5,832 kilometres from Halifax in the third- longest trek in the world between soccer teams for a domestic Premiership fixture.
The host Tridents, the defending CPL champions, seemed at a loss for answers.
“I don’t understand the performance. There are no excuses at home in front of our fans, who were again excellent,” said PFC head coach James Merriman.
“The preparation was very good all week. If the preparation wasn’t there, I would have felt different.
“But we felt strong and confident coming in. There is no reason for this after we put in the work in training and were confident with a good feeling and good energy.”
But none of that translated to the pitch Saturday.
“Both goals in the first half [by former Lille trainee-signed Mour Samb and sa国际传媒 Under-23 player and former MLS TFC-signed Aidan Daniels] were poor on our part,” said Merriman.
“We didn’t even get to play in the game today [as a result].”
The third goal, on a glaring turnover that led to a penalty kick, was nothing to brag about either, as HFX played a perfect road game by taking their chances when offered by the obliging hosts.
PFC goalkeeper Callum Irving kicked his goal post in disgust after the third goal, a penalty by Samuel Salter.
The fans felt his pain, although they remained amazingly loyal to the end, lining up hundreds deep for PFC player autographs at the end of the game.
“It was about managing the game after that [2-0 first-half lead],” said HFX head coach Stephen Hart, who has coached both sa国际传媒 and Trinidad and Tobago in World Cup qualifying.
“This result is big for us.”
Especially after HFX (5-5-2 in wins, losses, draws) came in following a 3-0 home loss to Forge FC before more than 6,000 fans last weekend on the other coast.
“We had a hard time getting here but this made up for it,” said Hart.
“That’s the nature of the league. We’re on the East Coast and we have to travel. We’re happy to have a [domestic Canadian pro] league and happy to be playing.”
PFC fell to 5-4-4 in failing to score for a third consecutive game. The Tridents had four clear scoring opportunities in the second half with one stopped on a tremendous save by Chris Oxner, the other hitting the side of the net, one just going over the crossbar and another missing by inches with Oxner caught out of position.
Maybe what PFC needs is something akin to what they describe in hockey a “greasy” goal to open the floodgates.
Merriman shrugged — more finishing was needed — when asked if he took the second-half close chances as an encouraging sign. A better sign, he said, is that his players have opted to forego their usual after-game day off to train today in preparation for Thursday’s fixture at Starlight Stadium against league-leading Cavalry FC of Calgary.
CORNER KICKS: PFC striker Kamron Habibullah is among the six CPL players with sa国际传媒 in the CONCACAF U-20 qualifier in Honduras for four berths into the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia and two berths into the 2024 Paris Olympics. sa国际传媒 went 1-1-1 in group play and has advanced to the playoff round, where it will play Guatemala today in the Sweet Sixteen.
