Cavalry FC stands proud despite falling short — again — of CPL crown CavsFC CanPL
when it plays Forge FC, which, on Sunday, eliminated — once again — the Calgary professional footie side in its bid for elusive CPL supremacy.
And now this one — a 3-2 aggregate loss — to Forge in a two-legged semi, which looked a whole lot like the 2019 championship in Hamilton that still sits heavy in Cavalry’s heart with a timely penalty kick, all the fireworks, two controversial red cards and post-game questions about those calls. The red card to Forge captain Bekker — a dangerous kick that was clearly unintentional — burns the Hamilton side because he won’t be available for the final because of it.
“Then it’s an interesting play, right? Because his foot is obviously high and is in contact ,” continued Smyrniotis. “But the one thing is it’s not intentional. Becker’s not facing that way, and Adekugbe is coming from the back of him, so, of course, it’s a foul. I think it’s a yellow card. Red’s a little harsh, especially since up until that point, the referee had let a lot of things go. There was some obvious yellow cards that we’d seen throughout the season that he wasn’t calling.
Sunday’s officiating certainly altered the game plan of Cavalry in trying to finally find playoff success against Forge. And from it comes more hurt for the head coach and his crew once again, although they insist on standing proud — and standing their ground — after another solid CPL season that saw them finish top three in the standings — for the fourth straight year — with a 14-5-9 record.