Forge FC and Cavalry FC kicked off their 2024 Canadian Premier League campaigns in dramatic fashion on Saturday, with the hosts coming back to grab a 2-1 win against their Alberta rivals at Tim Hortons Field.

In a rematch of the 2023 CPL Final, which Forge won in extra time at the same venue, Forge again outscored Cavalry, this time through the same two goal-scorers who secured Hamilton’s silverware last October.

Forge FC
Courtesy: Canadian Premier League

After Sergio Camargo silenced the Hamilton crowd with a header off a corner kick on the hour mark, goals from Tristan Borges and Béni Badibanga brought Forge into the lead. The win means Forge is now undefeated in the past four meetings with their Calgary rivals, having only lost once in the last 10 matchups.

Before a ball was kicked, Forge unveiled the newest of their four championship banners, highlighting the dominance they have brought to the CPL since the league began in 2019. Head coach Bobby Smyrniotis’ team was unable to get through a stout Cavalry backline in the first half, with neither side able to create clear-cut scoring chances in the first 45 minutes, instead settling for long-range efforts.

Forge defender Malik Owolabi-Belewu made a number of crucial stops to ensure a goalless first half. The 21-year-old did well to block a shot attempt by Tobias Warchewski before later making a crucial slide tackle on Camargo. After captain Kyle Bekker highlighted his teammate as someone who would have to step up into a big role this season, Smyrniotis praised the young centre-back’s performance on day one of the season.

“He loves defending,” said Smyrniotis during the post-game press conference. “In today’s world of football … we like all defenders to be able to play, to pass and to look good and attack but we forget that they are defenders. He’s one of those guys that really takes pride in doing that defensive work.”

Camargo’s 60th-minute header opened the game as Forge searched for a response. Ten minutes later, Borges came up big for his team, like he did when he netted the match-winner in the last battle between Forge and Cavalry.

Borges was pivotal in the go-ahead goal as well, finding Badibanga in space, who fired a deflected shot past Carducci to make it 2-1.

Despite their best efforts, especially in the first half, Cavalry was unable to get anything from a game in which they looked comfortable for large parts. Manager Tommy Wheeldon Jr. pushed his team to show more of a killer edge in future games.

“They kicked up another gear, and we could have done better to respond,” he told the media following the match. “With the number of bodies in our box we would want those goals back. Good performance, but it’s not great. If we want to be successful again we have to raise that edge.”

Even though it was each side’s first league outing of the year, both Forge and Cavalry had their hands full earlier in the year during their Champions Cup ties. As the CPL’s two representatives in the continental competition, Forge and Cavalry fell to Chivas and Orlando City respectively in the two-leg affairs.

Both clubs entered the match missing key figures due to personal reasons. The visiting Cavs were without the joint winner of last year’s Golden Boot, forward Myer Bevan. Meanwhile, two-time Golden Glove winner Triston Henry is still away from Forge as he tries to secure a transfer.

Forge’s victory was the second match of the CPL’s opening-day triple-header. Atlético Ottawa drew first blood in the afternoon’s opening game, defeating York United 2-1 at home. Pacific beat HFX Wanderers 1-0 in the day’s final contest. Vancouver FC welcomes Valour FC to Langley to finish off the opening weekend.