HIGHLIGHTS: Valour FC vs. HFX Wanderers FC (July 10, 2022)

Valour FC capped off the weekend in the Canadian Premier League by defeating HFX Wanderers FC 1-0 at IG Field on Sunday, as they banked their third straight win to climb into fifth place in the league table.

Wanderers boss Stephen Hart made three changes to his lineup from the previous match, as Akeem Garcia, Alex Marshall, and Marcello Polisi all slotted into the attack with forward Sam Salter suspended. Valour coach Phillip Dos Santos, meanwhile, made two changes, handing a CPL debut to Colombian midfielder Kevin Rendón and also bringing Rocco Romeo back into the fold at centre-back.

The game started with an up-tempo, back-and-forth pace as both sides tried to strike at the other in transition, though neither team generated much in the first 15 minutes. Just before the 20-minute mark, though, Valour seemed to have found the opening goal: a good run into the box from Alessandro Riggi led to the ball trickling through goalkeeper Christian Oxner, but just as it appeared to be crossing the line, Valour forward William Akio arrived and bizarrely kicked the ball away from the goal to leave the score knotted at zero.

Undeterred, the home side continued to play on the front foot, with a couple more very dangerous chances in the next 20 minutes that would have been goals were it not for excellent saves by Christian Oxner. Valour also hit the crossbar with a chance from a set-piece around the 35-minute mark, as they peppered the Halifax net with shots. Still, the Wanderers’ defence held firm for the opening frame, and the sides went into halftime scoreless.

After just a few minutes of play in the second half, Dos Santos opted to turn to his bench in hopes of finding a goal, as he brought in Daryl Fordyce and Daniel Ascanio — the latter making his debut for Valour. Not long after, Stephen Hart countered by deploying Ryan Robinson and Cory Bent as his side sought a goal of their own.

As the final half-hour progressed, the Wanderers actually seemed to grow into the match more and began troubling the Valour penalty area more consistently — indeed, the visitors had a handful of dangerous touches in the box, but they too were unable to break through and score.

With 10 minutes to go, HFX came inches from scoring, as Alex Marshall struck a good shot from outside the box, but a diving Jonathan Sirois just barely got his fingertips to the ball to steer it aside.

Finally, though, it was the hosts who found their way through. In the 84th minute, Ascanio found a pocket of space on the right flank and sent a perfect cross into the box, where Moses Dyer was in perfect position to redirect it into the net to put Valour ahead with just minutes to play.

From there, Valour saw out the match well, defending a few late set-piece opportunities for the Wanderers to hang on for the narrow win at home.

BOX SCORE

Goals

84′ — Moses Dyer (Valour FC)

Discipline

52′ — Yellow: Alessandro Riggi (Valour FC)
78′ — Yellow: Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé (HFX Wanderers FC)
87′ — Yellow: Marcello Polisi (HFX Wanderers FC)
89′ — Yellow: Daniel Ascanio (Valour FC)