AFC Toronto and Halifax Tides FC played to a 1-1 draw on Sunday afternoon in front of a packed York Lions Stadium.
Both goals came in the first half as Tiffany Cameron scored for Halifax and Esther Okoronkwo answered for Toronto 11 minutes later.
After piling on the scoresheet in their last home match, AFC Toronto weren’t able to create many chances against Halifax in a tightly contested affair.
- Photo gallery: AFC Toronto and Halifax Tides draw in Northern Super League
“We had some ideas how to break [Halifax’s organization] down, but we didn’t always execute,” said Toronto head coach Marko Milanovic. “Even the final ball was a little off, or the timing of the run wasn’t as good as it could have been. It’s definitely a lesson for us – if we consider ourselves a top team, we think a lot more teams will come here and play that way… We expected a top game where we knew that it wasn’t gonna be easy, and that’s what we got.”
Goals for either side in the first half
In the opening stages, Toronto had two opportunities in tight on either side from Kaylee Hunter and Nikayla Small, but Halifax goalkeeper Anika Tóth stood her ground to deny the pair.
In the 23rd minute, Okoronkwo had a great chance, lifting a looping volley towards goal, but Tóth made a brilliant save to tip the shot off the crossbar and out of danger.
In the 28th minute, Halifax found the opening goal of the match. A long ball from Kiley Norkus sailed over the head of Toronto defender Croix Soto and landed at the feet of Tiffany Cameron, who controlled the pass and sent a shot towards goal that trickled past Sierra Cota-Yarde into the back of the net.
Toronto responded 11 minutes later through their first penalty of the season. Stepping up to the spot, Okoronkwo buried the shot into the bottom left corner to level the tie at 1-1.
After the first half, the second half was a battle in the midfield, with few chances on goal for either side.
In the 78th minute, Sarah Taylor had a shot from distance that narrowly went over the bar. In the first minute of added time, Jade Kovacevic had a great opportunity around the penalty spot, but she sent her half-volley over the bar.
Toronto finished its season series against Halifax, winning four times and drawing once.
Commenting on the team’s performance, captain Emma Regan and Milanovic spoke post-game.
“As you’re probably tired of hearing from us, every game is the same, and we treat it the same,” said Regan. “We’ve talked a lot recently about peaking at the right time and us going into these last couple of games in very good form. There’s been ups and downs through the whole season, but we’ve been kind of steadily moving our way up.”
“It’s getting little marginal improvements in all areas, that’s something that we try to do every week. Whether it’s attacking or defending in transition or whether it’s set pieces – we put a huge emphasis on set pieces because we haven’t scored too many this year. That’s something that maybe we emphasize a little more than the other areas, but we try to make those marginal gains weekly,” said Milanovic.
AFC Toronto’s next match will be away in Ottawa when they face Ottawa Rapid FC on Friday, September 26. Halifax Tides FC’s next match will be at home when they host Vancouver Rise FC on Saturday, September 27.
