York United FC and Halifax Wanderers split the points on Wednesday night at York Lions Stadium, as a late Aidan Daniels equalizer meant the two sides finished with a 2-2 draw.
York, being in the midst of a difficult stretch of games (at Pacific on Sunday, home on Wednesday, and at Cavalry the following Saturday), rotated the squad for this game, and coach Martin Nash saw an opportunity to bank some U-21 minutes by starting both goalkeeper Eleias Himaras and young winger Markiyan Voytsekhovskyy.
That plan didn’t quite pan out, though — Voytsekhovskyy pulled up with an injury just 10 minutes in, which meant Michael Petrasso had to replace him for what would end up being his longest shift of the season so far.
Nonetheless, York were undeterred by the early changes and pushed forward, and they were rewarded for it in short order. Kevin Dos Santos beat a defender cutting in from the right and sent his cross over the box to Petrasso, whose centring ball took an odd bounce off Osaze De Rosario’s attempted header and the Wanderers failed to clear it. Mo Babouli, unmarked in the box, got his head to the loose ball and put it in the open goal.
It would then be the Wanderers’ turn for a similar sequence of events. Left-back Ryan James seemed to pick up a knock somehow and he, too, couldn’t continue, prompting Halifax coach Patrice Gheisar to send out Cristian Campagna in his place.
Less than a minute later, Halifax surged into the attacking third with quick passing and Tomas Giraldo flicked it to Aidan Daniels on the right side of the box. Daniels whipped in a perfect cross around a York defender to where Tiago Coimbra was running at the back post. Coimbra picked the ball out of the air beautifully with a jumping volley to make it 1-1.
Looking to quell some momentum, Nash made another substitution at halftime, as former Wanderer Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé came in to replace an injured Tass Mourdoukoutas and Brem Soumaoro moved into the backline.
It didn’t take long into the half for York to find another moment of attacking magic. Just over 10 minutes into the second frame, Kevin Dos Santos won a tough duel and found a few feet of space in the right half-space, and he chose to fizz a gorgeous shot directly into the top right corner pass Yann Fillion, putting the hosts back in front.
The Wanderers would throw what they could at York in the final half-hour, and certainly found a number of opportunities.
With just five minutes of the 90 to spare, the moment came for Halifax. The ball came to Daniels high at the top of the box, and with a lane opening up as he stepped around a defender he unleashed a shot that found its way through and in to level the score.
So, the two sides ultimately could not be separated, as two confident teams left with a hard-fought draw.
BOX SCORE
Goals
14′ — Mo Babouli (York United)
35′ — Tiago Coimbra (Halifax Wanderers)
56′ — Kevin Dos Santos (York United)
86′ — Aidan Daniels (Halifax Wanderers)
Discipline
31′ — Yellow: Aidan Daniels (Halifax Wanderers)
43′ — Yellow: Paris Gee (York United)
48′ — Yellow: Tiago Coimbra (Halifax Wanderers)
57′ — Yellow: Kevin Dos Santos (York United)
90+1’ — Yellow: Cristian Campagna (Halifax Wanderers)
90+2’ — Yellow: Lorenzo Callegari (Halifax Wanderers)
90+2’ — Yellow: Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé (York United)
