Gameweek 4 Recap and Preview of Gameweek 5

Story of the Last Few Games

A shorter recap today for arguably the most compelling gameweek of the Island Games so far, at least for the neutrals. We wrote last time about only 3 teams having wins halfway into the tournament, and 4 more teams added to the W column this gameweek (it’ll happen someday, Eddies!).

Pacific kicked it off on Tuesday with a professional 2-0 win over Valour (predicted by yours truly), courtesy of goals from Alejandro Díaz (his first in CPL, after a great low cross by Kadin Chung) and Victor Blasco. After their late heartbreak against Forge on the weekend, this was an impressive performance by Pa-Modou Kah’s side, although they’re still looking for last year’s star man Terran Campbell to round into form. On the other side, Valour have struggled offensively since their win over Ottawa and this continued against Pacific - including a missed penalty and follow-up chance by Dylan Carreiro. Add in a couple of defensive miscues, and it was a bad day at the office for Rob Gale’s squad, but they do have FC Edmonton coming up next!

On Wednesday, York9 and Forge played out the year’s highest scoring game so far, with York coming out on top, 3-2, after letting a 2 goal lead slip away. Set pieces were the name of the game for York, and aside for a 10-minute stretch at the start of the second half (after a triple sub by Smyrniotis to start the half), they were fairly in control throughout the game. It was Forge’s first loss in PEI, and it’d be easy to pin on fatigue - Bekker for example had played every minute before being pulled off at halftime. York were without Petrasso and Mannella, and still haven’t gotten Ryan Telfer going, so it was an even more impressive result for them. They’re starting to justify many folks’ preseason prediction of the club joining Cavs and Forge at the top of the league.

Wednesday evening’s game was a bottom-of-the-table clash between Edmonton and Halifax, and to few people’s surprise the East Coast club came out with a dominating 3-1 win, which could have been more. WIth Morelli and Garcia, Halifax have arguably the strongest striker duo in the league, and that’s in front of the best midfield trio, in our opinion. With Christian Oxner back between the pipes, they’re strong everywhere. The Eddies went with Tomi Ameobi up front again, which we criticised last week, and it just doesn’t work (not to mention the missed penalty). The team was lifeless until late on, and youngster Marcus Velado-Tsegaye’s great strike flattered them, to be honest. Disappointing, after the late comeback in their last outing.

On Thursday, Ottawa secured the first win in their history in a surprising but deserved 2-0 win over leaders Cavalry. With their defensive leader Milovan Kapor back in the lineup, they were organized, kept Cavs’ chances to a minimum, and made their chances on the counter count. Toss in some rough Nathan Mavila misses - especially one where he was wide open on a perfect ball from Nico Pasquotti - and it was a great day for Ottawa. Captain Fisk was solid throughout and scored the first after a great ball by Acuña, with help from a slight deflection off Zator. Just a few moments later, striker Malcolm Shaw scored one of the best at the Island Games so far, and the result was sealed. Cavs winger Nico Pasquotti fashioned some great chances in a substitute appearance - his best of the season - but it wasn’t enough.

At the end of the gameweek, Cavalry and Forge remain on top, but everyone bar Edmonton is still in it at some level. And who woulda thought, *York* is the last unbeaten team!

Team of the Gameweek

FW - Malcolm Shaw (Ottawa)

Two gameweeks in a row for Shaw! We’ll keep reminding folks we were pumping his tires before the season, but he’s no longer under the radar in CanPL. His long-range strike against Cavalry made the highlight reels, and sealed the capital club’s first-ever win, but his intelligent movement creating space for Acuña, Fisk and Kourouma is an underrated part of any success Ottawa has had.

FW - João Morelli (Halifax)

Of all the new international forward arrivals to the league this offseason, Morelli came with the best goal-scoring pedigree, with 27 goals in 2 years in Estonia. He’d shown glimpses so far in PEI, but against the Eddies he was unstoppable, with clever runs and pinpoint finishing. He ended up with 2 goals, and with more performances like that, should end up among the league leaders in this category.

FW - Akeem Garcia (Halifax)

We’ve maybe overlooked Garcia so far at the Island Games, but along with Morelli he was great throughout the match with the Eddies. The two forwards seem to link up well together, perhaps better than any other pair in the league. He opened the scoring for Halifax with a great run and composed finish of a Rampersad pass.

MF - Ben Fisk (Ottawa)

Fisk’s passing was excellent throughout, but of course it was his goal midway through the second half that gave Ottawa the lead that stands out. He did well to find space and take a great ball from Acuña, and slot home with a slight deflection. As Cavalry piled on the pressure late, Fisk tracked back well to help his teammates out defensively.

MF - Andre Rampersad (Halifax)

Our star man again this gameweek, we maintain that Rampersad is the best midfielder in the league. He was everywhere against Edmonton - both defensively, and offensively. The Trinidadian created the first goal by pouncing on a poor touch and threading a ball between Eddies defenders to Akeem Garcia. He also hit the crossbar with a strong header off a corner, before again providing the assist, this time for Morelli’s second goal. As usual, his passing was accurate (and positive), and in normal times he would have received a standing ovation from the supporters when brought off for young Scott Firth late on.

MF - Joseph di Chiara (York)

Normally a defensive stalwart in midfield, di Chiara makes the team after an offensive performance with 2 goals against rivals Forge - one off a corner, and a second from the penalty spot. Beyond his contribution on the scoresheet, di Chiara was composed in a side suffering through some major injuries, against one of the most dangerous sides in the league.

MF - Matthew Baldisimo (Pacific)

Much has been made about the Baldisimo brothers both starting for west coast clubs on Tuesday, and by all accounts both were among their respective team’s best players. The elder Baldisimo has been ever-present for Pacific this year, and has maybe flown under the radar with his impact on the club. Against Valour, he excelled in his defensive mid role - breaking up attacks and quickly moving the ball forward - and was a key part in Pacific’s first win of the year.

DF - Thomas Meilleur-Giguère (Pacific)

TMG has been one of the league’s best centrebacks so far in Charlottetown, and his performance against Valour exemplified this. Defensively, he provided a number of blocks and recoveries, but his passing out of the back was also effective throughout. He and MacNaughton have developed a strong partnership so far, in one of the league’s best defensive lines.

DF - Milovan Kapor (Ottawa)

The impact of having Kapor back in the lineup for Ottawa was immediately apparent against the league leaders. He barely gave Cavs’ strikers a sniff - especially impressive given Brown and Haber’s performances so far this year. He offers a more traditional approach to the CB position than a lot of defenders in the league, and that makes him a good compliment to Brandon John. If he can stay out of the box, as they say, it’ll be to Ottawa’s benefit.

DF - Kadin Chung (Pacific)

This makes for three in a row for Chung, who has established himself as the league’s best rightback by far. At this point, there’s no need to re-hash the fact that he offers a unique combination of defensive reliability and offensive presence, but his perfect low cross that Pantemis just couldn’t handle, which resulted in Pacific’s opening goal, was a just reward for Chung’s performances in PEI so far.

GK - Callum Irving (Pacific)

A penalty save, and 7 saves overall? Listen, we’ve been calling for Irving to start since game one, and it looks like Kah finally listened to us after Wirth’s howler in the last game. It makes you wonder how many more points Pacific would have, if Irving had been #1 to begin with. We’ve got a feeling he’ll be in this spot to stay now.

Honourable mentions: Christian Oxner (Pacific), Jems Geffrard (Halifax), Nico Pasquotti (Cavalry), Marcus Velado-Tsegaye (Edmonton).

Predictions

Nailed-on Result of the Next Few Days: Halifax - York9 draw

We finally hit on our nailed-on result last week, so we’re 1 for 3 so far. This week, we’re looking at Halifax and York to play out an even draw today. Both teams are coming off huge results, but York is still suffering through some injury problems, and Halifax might find a tougher time offensively against Brennan’s side than they had with the Eddies. This result is going at 3.10 odds on bet365.

Cheeky Punt of the Next Few Days: Cavalry - Pacific - Pacific to win

Of course, we’d hate for this result to come off, but we can’t ignore those odds after both team’s performances earlier this week. LIke York, Cavalry are playing through some injury problems of their own which particularly limit their options off the bench. Pacific, meanwhile, are growing into the tournament, and don’t have any glaring weaknesses. We caveat this pick with the requirement that Irving starts for Pacific - if not, stay away!! Bet365 is offering *5.75* odds on Pacific right now - how could that not be worth a cheeky punt??

Thanks again for reading, and as always check back with us after the next set of games to see how our predictions went!