July 14, 2021...A hard-fought battle as York United dig deep to pick up a deserved point against Cavalry
(from York United FC website)

  
A hard-fought battle as York United dig deep to pick up a deserved point against Cavalry
JULY 14, 2021
Canadian Premier League
by CHARLIE O’CONNOR-CLARKE, CANPL.CA

York United and Cavalry FC met for the second time this year on Wednesday night, but unlike their 
last contest, this one didn’t see either side find the scoresheet as they played out a gruelling 
0-0 match at IG Field.

Jimmy Brennan’s York entered the match a fairly battered side; with usual centre-backs Roger Thompson 
and Dominick Zator out with injury, midfielder Jordan Wilson and fullback Chrisnovic N’sa stepped 
in for the second straight game to anchor the defence while winger Max Ferrari tried his hand 
at right-back. Cavalry, meanwhile, rolled out a lineup with Anthony Novak leading the line alongside 
international wingers José Escalante and Richard Luca.

The first half, though not necessarily cagey, saw both sides fail to test the opposing ‘keeper with 
a shot on target. Novak had an excellent chance all alone at one end but couldn’t beat Nathan Ingham, 
while a flurry of York chances were defended capably by the Cavalry backline. Ultimately, the Cavs had 
the lion’s share of the ball, but more of the first 45 minutes were played in their half than in York’s.

The contest was a feisty one, similar to the previous meetings between York and Cavalry. A number 
of crunching challenges drew serious hostility at times, as the physicality began to take a bit 
of a toll on sides that grew increasingly frustrated in attack as the match wore on. Ultimately, 
Cavalry took up the most space in the referee’s book, with four players seeing a yellow card 
on the night — as opposed to one for York.

Perhaps the closest either side came to scoring was around the 80th minute, when Cavalry’s Mo Farsi 
found himself in alone after putting it past a defender by himself, but his attempt on goal took 
a deflection off Ingham and over the net. Still, it was the Cavs who turned the pressure up more 
in the second half, with their substitutions adding some life to a challenging contest, but they weren’t 
able to make much of their opportunities. In fact, one of those substitutes — Ali Musse — nearly won 
it for the Cavs right at the brink of full-time with a free kick that Ingham just managed to tip over 
the bar.

York, without an abundance of match-fit players, waited until much later to begin introducing 
substitutes, but at that point they were more content to grind out the point in what was surely 
a taxing 0-0 game.

BOX SCORE

Goals
None

Discipline
40' — Yellow: Isaiah Johnston (York United)
40' — Yellow: David Norman Jr. (Cavalry FC)
53' — Yellow: Anthony Novak (Cavalry FC)
57' — Yellow: Nik Ledgerwood (Cavalry FC)
76' — Yellow: Victor Loturi (Cavalry FC)

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