Canada Day wasn’t all smiles for York United

July 7, 2022 · 0 Comments

By Robert Belardi

To put it bluntly, York United didn’t have a great Canada Day this year.

The Nine Stripes were out on the road to take on last-place team FC Edmonton last Friday and York United suffered a 3-0 defeat.

Haitian international Bicou Bissainthe opened the scoring in the 24-minute off a corner kick and and FC Edmonton, could have easily made it 2-0 after being awarded a penalty in the 29-minute.

York United reserve goalkeeper Gianluca Catalano came to the rescue to prevent that from happening.

In the 48th minute Max Ferrari found himself on the edge of the six-yard box thanks to a nice pass from Osaze De Rosario but Ferrari, unfortunately, skied the ball over the crossbar.

That was by-far York United’s best chance to get level. From here it was all downhill.

Mamadi Camara made it 2-0 in the 57-minute left all alone in the box from a cross sent in by Marcus Simmons.

Then two minutes later, Jordan Wilson – indecisive on what to do with the ball in his own penalty box – was stripped off the ball by Wesley Timoteo.

Timoteo passed it across to Gabriel Bitar who made no mistake and the game was over from there.

In what were a disastrous three minutes for York United, it summarized what has been a tough stretch for the York Region based club.

In the last 10 matches in all competitions, York United have scored only four goals, and earned just one win, which came against Pacific FC in the Canadian Championship and in penalties to boot.

Finding offence has been seldom for York United and it seems when it comes down to big games the boys come out to play.

Especially against the Vancouver Whitecaps, for instance. It was a great game minus the result.

However, the bulk of the season has been trying to understand why the offence can’t seem to get it going. Yes, there are a lot of new names in the squad this year and chemistry ultimately takes time.

But chances have been scarce per game and the shots just aren’t coming. This year might just be a bit of a learning curve for most of the players in the locker room. We’ll see as the season continues to roll along if something will give.

York United currently sit in seventh place with a 2-5-6 record. They are six points outside of a playoff spot.

Friday night will be a tough test. The Nine Stripes take on Forge FC at York Lions Stadium. Kick-off is at 7:30p.m.