York United one win and one draw, sit fifth in the league

Alvaro Rivero's lightning struck twice as York United earned a disappointing draw against HFX Wanderers and an exhilarating victory against Forge FC.

In a tale of the good, the bad and the ugly, York, who have just one win in their last five CPL matches, were left without a choice but to defeat Forge following their last-minute collapse in Halifax.

Diyyaedine Abzi got the lads on the board thanks to a crafty set-piece and a goalkeeping error that had York looking confident.

Just 12 minutes after scoring the opening goal, German forward Julian Ulbricht finished tucked in the second goal thanks to a neat through ball from Michael Petrasso.

Subsequently, York United found themselves in horror as defender Jordan Wilson conceded what looked like two weak penalties that put HFX back into the game in the final ten minutes.

In the 90th minute, a deflected kick from goalkeeper Christian Oxner fell to the feet of Spanish forward Alvaro Rivero and the Madrid native fired it home from half to give The Nine Stripes the lead ahead of the final whistle.

But a strong surge from HFX in the end and an own goal from Abzi led to York's demise as the lads ended in a 3-3 draw.

When asked post game on closing out games, head coach Jimmy Brennan said they have been working on it.

“We did work at it. To concede two penalties that quick, the first one Jordan doesn't need to go in. Player is going away from goal. The second one I don't feel it was a penalty. Didn't look like it was a penalty from where we were. Then you get one back you're up 3-2. Abzi's got to clear to the stands there they get a corner. Ball comes in, big scramble, I think Ozzy flicks it on, not that he meant to and they have a free header,” Brennan said.

“This is what we talked about. We worked this week on closing out games. I thought we were good going forward at times and got our goals. But to concede two penalties like that, it's not good enough.”

In the next match against Forge at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, a little bit of karma was served in favour of The Nine Stripes.

In the 17^th minute, Abzi was brought down in the penalty area but Forge keeper Triston Henry kept the ball out.

But, in the 60^th minute, one of the hardest working players in the league in Max Ferrari reminds us all why hard work pays off.

Ferrari plunged through Forge defenders on the right side of the 18-yard box and just when everyone thought the angle was too tight, he found a whole and knocked the ball off the side of the post and into the net.

“Noah just gave me the ball at the top of the box, I took a big touch and I kind of just hit it. Luckily, it went in off the post and I'll claim it as a shot,” Ferrari said post game.

Two minutes later, Ferrari fed the ball to Isaiah Johnston. The young midfielder had his effort saved but the rebound fell to Rivero's feet to make it 2-0.

“Huge three points for us. We battled the whole 90. Especially that result we had last week, I'd say as a group we were pretty disappointed and to come here on the road, it's very tough team and a good crowd. To get the three points is massive,” Ferrari said.

York United took on Atletico Ottawa Tuesday night in Student Night at York Lions Stadium. The lads also take on HFX Wanderers this Saturday. Kick-off is at 2 p.m.

By Robert Belardi