With a dominant 4-1 road victory over Inter Toronto that kept them two points in the CPL lead, Forge FC has a short week and one more homework assignment before 21 days off to recharge and ride the wave of World Cup mania which celebrates the Beautiful Game, the global phenomenon they’ve all loved since they were little boys.
The Hammers will welcome Halifax Wanderers for a Wednesday night encounter on the eve of the Men’s World Cup’s opening kickoff and they’ll toast the feverish footy festival in several major ways on Wednesday night (7 p.m. kickoff).
It’s International Night, which recognizes the Canadiana of Forge players and also their heritage, whether it’s first generation or ancestral, through food and music. Fans are encouraged to wear colours of their representative nations.
And, in response to men’s team head coach Jesse Marsch’s recent appeal for a coast-to-coast-to-coast “Red Out” to flood a sea of red clothing into the stands during the World Cup, CPL clubs are hosting coordinated “Red and White Out” matches, so Wednesday’s game will feature Canada flag giveaways, special pre-match warm-up kits, co-branded digital and social content and opportunities for supporters to win Canada Soccer prizes throughout the game.
Forge comes into the game on a roll, with just one loss in nine matches, along with six wins and two draws, and they have yet to surrender a goal at home, a streak they’ll look to continue against Halifax, whom they’ve beaten 3-1 on the east coast in league play and 4-0 seven days later at home in the first round of the Canadian Championship. The Wanderers were beaten 2-0 in Calgary over the weekend, allowing the Cavs to stay two back of Hamilton as Cavalry and Forge have distanced themselves from the next tier of teams: Forge has 22 points, Cavalry 20 and third-place Inter has 12, to pace a five-team logjam that has just four points separating third and seventh place. The Wanderers are wedged in there at nine points.
“It’s a short recovery period but I’m looking forward to that game,” said versatile Hamilton midfielder Ben Paton, who scored his second goal of the season on a 70th-minute header off Tristan Borges’ textbook corner delivery to conclude Sunday’s scoring in Toronto.
“It’s always good to pick up points early on in the season and hopefully separate yourself from the rest of the pack: just keep going and every week try to get three points. We know what Halifax are about: we know what they can bring and they’ve still got some quality and you can’t take your foot off the gas against them.”
It’s a set of patriotic bookends for Forge as they’ll double-salute Canada and the World Cup with the “Red and White Out” and International Night against the Wanderers and then have 21 days off the competitive pitch before returning to host Vancouver FC on Canada Day. Can’t get much more Canuck than that.
In Toronto, the Hammers had more than two dozen potential opportunities in Inter’s end—and launched 26 shots, most in the league this season—scoring off set-pieces and a bolt of lightning.
The home side had some hopeful forays in the very early going but Forge was relentless, cracking into the opening game of the 905 Derby off a free kick from 15 yards outside the box, struck perfectly by left back Marko Jevremović. It soared over the Toronto wall and curved away through keeper Diego Urtiaga and nestled, unstoppable, into the upper corner to his right. It was the Serbian’s first goal of his Forge career, which began last season.
Just nine minutes later, Hoce Massunda hard-scrabbled the ball through a confused scrum at the Toronto goal line for a 2-0 lead and although Inter Toronto scored on a nice ball to the back post that Max Ferrari knocked in two minutes into the second half, Forge replied within three minutes to mute the brief rally. Anthony Aromatario intercepted a lazy Toronto pass and Borges didn’t get everything on it but it slithered through Urtiaga’s misplayed reach.
Then Paton signed, sealed and delivered it with his header off Borges’ corner. The veteran Borges was everywhere on this night with a goal, a true assist, the drop into the box on the Massunda goal, six shots and seven chance creations.
“It was the game where we created the most chances this year,” said Paton, whose having an exemplary season. “We had a game plan going in. It was more direct and it worked very well, especially against them. We were able to isolate Max (striker Filion) up top, making it like a 1 v 1 and he was just kind of bullying their centre backs.
“I was a bit annoyed because I had so many chances but I was also happy to get the goal to be able to just flick on from the corner and hit the scoresheet.
“Defensively we were strong and all around, it was just a good performance.”
If we were to get picky, there were a couple of good Toronto crosses dropped into the area outside the far post where no Forge player noticed opposition players, one requiring a highlight-reel reaction save by Dmitry Bertaud, the other resulting in Bertaud’s clean sheet bid being denied.
“I think we could have been a bit more clinical too,” Paton said. “Even though we scored four it felt like the way the game was going we should have scored more.”
The Forge mentality of wanting more continues Wednesday night as they try to extend their home winning streak to five straight to open the season and—secondarily but still importantly—stretch their home shutout streak to the same five straight.
Then it’s 21 days between games, which will necessitate finding a way not to let any of the current flintiness get coated in any rust.
“It gives us a chance to rest up and recover,” Paton says. “You work hard until the break, get your rest in and go again.”
HAMMERS AND NAILS
- Forward Nana Ampomah, whose work visa from Ghana had been delayed, got into his first action of the season, coming off the bench in the 79th minute and soon firing a shot off the crossbar after an elusive penetration to the top of the box. “It just felt great to be back on the pitch with my teammates,” he said. “Still have to get to full game fitness but I’m in shape and it felt good."
- Mo Babouli opened the game with a near-miss to the goalkeeper’s right post and was dominant in and around the box
- Dmitry Bertaud’s six clean sheets lead the CPL by one over Cavalry’s Nathan Ingham
- Halifax’s Marco Carducci has 26 saves, second-most in the league and 12 back of leader Diego Urtiaga
- Halifax’s Isaiah Johnston is tied for the league lead with four goals and also has two assists...Forge’s Brian Wright, who subbed in vs Toronto, has three goals
- Former Forge centre back Malik Olowabi-Belewu, who played 67 games here from 2022 through 2025, has been working out with Forge as his English Football League 2 team Chesterfield is on the summer break. He played 10 games and started six for the club, located a few minutes south of Sheffield. “It’s nice to be back where I spent so much time, where we won so often, it’s a real sense of home,” he said. “Players over there have more experience, but player for player, this team matches up in skill level.”