Baldisimo Shoulder Injury Not Cause For Concern, Says Nash

This weekend saw York United hand Cavalry its first loss of the season, with the hosts rising to a one-nil victory through a classy finish from Clement Bayiha and a solid defensive effort to see out a sizzling summer game at York Lions Stadium.

Martin Nash was able to keep the same starting eleven for two consecutive league matches, something his injury-beleaguered team had yet to manage.

Halfway through eight minutes of added time, however, there was cause for concern after Matthew Baldisimo landed badly following his tackle on Roberto Alarcon. After a pause in play, the midfielder looked to be in significant discomfort, clutching his shoulder and being walked off by two physios.

The Nine Stripes held firm for the win despite being a man down against Calvary (again), but there were some immediate question marks on the extent of Baldisimo’s injury, particularly given Kadin Chung’s recent collarbone injury and how things looked on camera.

Martin Nash cleared the air to reveal the knock doesn’t appear significant.

“It’s just a shoulder issue, so it’s fine now – just that he might need rest for ten days or so.”

That timeline means that while Baldisimo is expected to miss the midweek 905 Derby and a weekend trip to Winnipeg, he’s unlikely to miss more than two matches overall.

The 25-year-old has featured in all but one of York United’s matches this season, scoring his first-ever CPL goal against Halifax two weeks ago.

With players like Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare, Jonathan Grant, and Molham Babouli coming back from injury and both getting minutes off the bench yesterday, Martin hinted that we’ll see more significant rotation for the midweek match against Forge.

“We’ve a lot of quality that was on the bench, and some of those guys will get a chance to show what they can do,” stated the gaffer.

“You want that competition for places in your group. We’ve not really had that yet this year, and maybe it will be a wake-up call for some guys: you need to be on it and play well every time you get a chance to play.”

The Nine Stripes have proven to be a bogey team for clubs who had been undefeated at this stage of the season: they’ve handed Halifax and Cavalry their first losses in the last two matches, and will hope to do the same against league-leaders Forge FC on Wednesday.

Header Image Photo Credit: John Jacques