Pacific FC win Canadian Premier League title

December 9, 2021 · 0 Comments

By Robert Belardi

Pacific FC brought home their first ever Canadian Premier League title after silencing all of Tim Hortons Field last Sunday.

Pacific ended up winning the match 1-0 in a shut-down performance and did-so while only controlling 30 per cent possession of the ball.

The first real opportunity came almost 20 minutes into the game when a cross from Kwame Awuah found the head of Kyle Bekker but the 31-year-old Oakville native sailed it wide.

Almost ten minutes later, a ball whipped into the danger area found an open Omar Browne.

Acrobatically, he tossed the ball on target with an overhead kick and upon the blocked effort, plenty of Forge FC put their hands in the air protesting for a hand-ball. No hand-ball was given.

For the majority of the first half it was all Forge FC.

Molham Babouli, Emery Welshman and Bekker, for a second chance, should have had a goal each but the half ended at 0-0.

At the beginning of the second half, Browne scuffed a left-footed effort wide as he dragged the ball across the top of the box before hitting it.

But in the 59th minute, the moment of magic arrived. A free-kick whipped in by Gianni Dos Santos was headed home by Alessandro Hojabrpour at the near post to give Pacific FC the lead.

Just a minute later, Tristan Borges found himself open at the penalty mark and skyed the ball above the net, summarizing Forge FC’s day.

Pacific could have had a second goal as Josh Heard smacked the ball off the post.

That one goal proved to be enough as Pacific FC held on to defeat Forge FC 1-0 and give the Langford, B.C. club their first ever title.

This was also the first title for their manager Pa-Modou Kah.

The Banjul, The Gambia native came over to manage Pacific FC after being an assistant the year before with FC Cincinnati in the MLS.

Surely the right move to bring him over and what a start to his CPL career.

This was also the first championship for former York United midfielder Manny Aparicio.

The free-kick magician last year in the Island Games for The Nine Stripes played an integral role in Kah’s midfield to help capture the title.

Keep an eye out for more news as there could be more exciting stuff following this recent championship. Commissioner David Clanachan hinted at the possibility of more expansion clubs to come earlier last week.

Stay tuned.