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Photo Credit: Jojo Yanjiao Qian
Forge 1-0 Cavalry: Batisse Heads Hammers Home
By It was back to winning ways for Forge, who handed Cavalry their first loss of 2026. The Hammers got a second half goal from Antoine Batisse to defeat the Cavs 1-0 at home.
Bobby Smyrniotis’ side fell 2-1 away to Atletico Ottawa last Sunday, suffering their first domestic defeat of the year. There were two changes to the 11 from that game, as Mo Babouli and Maxime Filion started in place of Brian Wright and Noah Jensen.
As for Tommy Wheeldon Jr. and the Cavs, who came into the match in first spot, they enjoyed a 3-0 home win over Pacific. Just one adjustment was made to the team who kicked off that match with Harry Paton returning to the starting lineup for Caniggia Elva.
It was a chaotic start at Hamilton Stadium as Cavalry had a couple of chances to score in the opening 70 seconds. Yet, despite a couple of defensive errors from Forge, the away side failed to capitalize.
The first serious chance for the home side came in the 17th minute. After winning the ball back in the midfield, Tristan Borges played in Babouli, who tried to slide it past Nate Ingham’s post. He just missed the target though, to the relief of the Cavs.
A couple of minutes later, Hoce Massunda stood up a deep cross that picked out Filion. It was quite the leap from the striker, but his header sailed over the bar.
There were not a lot of major opportunities for either side in the opening half, which saw some intense battles in the middle of the park.
With that said, the Cavs nearly went into the half with the lead. Tobias Warschewski received the ball with space to run. Holding off an opponent, the German went for goal, with his effort smashing off the crossbar.
Shortly after the restart, Babouli had another chance as he got his head on Marko Jevremovic’s cross. This time, he could only head the ball over the bar.
Forge looked the more adventurous of the two in the first 15 minutes of the second half. Massunda had a crack from just outside of the box, but he curled his attempt wide.
Midway through the half, Cavalry once again had a meaningful chance to open the scoring. Warschewski flicked the ball over to Elva, who had came on a few minutes prior. The St. Lucian international could only head high, missing the target altogether.
Two minutes later, the visitors had their best chance of the game. Off a corner, Goteh Ntignee stood up a cross that found Daan Klomp. The centre back got a strong head on the ball, but was kept out by Dmitry Bertaud.
It did not take long for Forge to punish their rivals. Borges’ deep corner picked out Dan Nimick, who headed it back into the middle. He found his centre back partner Antoine Batisse, who nodded it home from close range.
Cavalry failed to create a serious chance in the final 20 minutes after going behind, as Forge managed to hold on and keep another clean sheet – their sixth in eight league games.
The Hammers go back on top a week after being displaced by the Calgarians. Next for them is a trip down the road to York University to face Inter Toronto. It will be the first 905 Derby of the year, and thus, the first time the sides will meet since The Nine Stripes changed their name and branding, with Beni Badibanga having crossed 905 battle lines.
As for the Cavs, they sit two points off the top. They will return home to take on the HFX Wanderers, who had defeated Vancouver FC 1-0 on Saturday.
Header Image Photo Credit: Jojo Yanjiao Qian
