York United storm back to defeat FC Edmonton 3-2

Jordan Wilson's late header off of Andreas Vaikla's error gave York United the late goal that proved to be the difference in the 3-2 defeat over FC Edmonton.

FC Edmonton entered York Lions Stadium on Sunday not having won a single match since July 1.

Edmonton, have not won a match since July 1, when the club defeated The Nine Stripes 3-0.

York came into this match 2-2 in their last four games, looking to improve their home record which sat at 2-2-6 prior to this match.

Less than 10 minutes into the match, York United broke the deadlock. Ronan Kratt, the 18-year-old from Ottawa, broke free in behind the defence thanks to a nice pass from Osaze De Rosario.

Kratt finished off his chance to score his second goal of the season.

Skipping over into the second half, FC Edmonton finally managed to get on the scoresheet.

Gabriel Bitar and Tobias Warchewski played a nice one-two at the top of the 18-yard-box and Bitar fired it home past 20-year-old goalkeeper Eleias Himaras to tie it up.

In the 78^th minute, FC Edmonton scored once again. Warchewski whipped in a glorious cross to Azriel Gonzalez and the midfielder finished his chance with a wonderful diving header to take the lead.

With just 12 minutes left in the match, York United came together in spectacular fashion to rewrite the script in the club's favour.

Lisandro Cabrera equalized two minutes later and in the 84^th minute Vaikla mishandled the ball off a corner kick and Jordan Wilson headed it home to give United the victory.

“I thought we started well. Got an early goal, got into some good areas. They made a tactical change and an early sub and it caused us some problems. I thought we came out a bit slow in the second half, almost in the mindset to see the game out, which wasn't the plan. Poor goals to give away from a coaching perspective. A couple of weeks ago we might have given up at that point, but these guys battled and fought and it was great to back into the game initially and to grab a winner late, it's something this group needed,” said York United Head Coach Martin Nash after the victory.

After Nash's take on the victory, Wilson came to the stand to share his thoughts on the win.

“Two months ago, that would have been a game that we tied or lost. So, we just have to take the good with the bad. So, today, you don't want to concede two goals but we still scored more than the other team, so we've got to give credit to the boys for that,” Wilson said in the post-match press conference.

“I think being in the middle and being an older player on the team, when I find myself doing other things that I shouldn't be doing I'm upset and I'm the hardest person on myself. Coming into the second half, we knew we were up one-nil and we knew we had to take it to them. We knew we didn't have a lot of energy. Myself included, I took my foot off the gas a bit. I'm the hardest on myself and that should just resonate with the team.”

This Saturday, York United head out on the road to take on Forge FC at Tim Hortons Field. Kick-off is at 7.00 p.m.

By Robert Belardi