Pacific FC’s form continues to slide in loss to Halifax

Pacific FC’s dire run of form continued as the champions lost 3-0 to the visiting Halifax Wanderers in front of a dismayed Langford crowd on June 25.

The loss means the team has picked up just two points from their last five game. PFC currently sits second in the Canadian Premier League table, but that position is in jeopardy. PFC has more games than everyone around them, meaning they could drop out of the playoff positions depending on how other teams fare.

The home team started off slowly as PFC’s defence was caught out with less than a minute on the clock by a chipped through ball, but Kunle Dada-Luke came to the rescue, challenging hard as Halifax attacker Sam Salter tried to square to a teammate. Halifax got in behind again just a few minutes later after PFC’s Abdou Samake slipped and Halifax striker Aidan Daniels fired wide.

The away team was knocking on the door and found the breakthrough not much later, through the gloves of PFC keeper Callum Irving. Thomas Meilleur-Giguere failed to clear a cross and the ball fell to Mour Samb, who controlled and shot near post. Irving appeared to have it covered, but the ball squirmed through his hands to make the score 1-0 to Halifax.

The east coast team doubled their lead 10 minutes later as Daniels made up for his earlier miss with a cool finish after running in behind Amer Didic and leaving the big defender on the deck, leaving the score 2-0 at halftime.

PFC looked reenergized after changing ends and managed to create several chances, with Matteo Polisi and Marco Bustos combining well on PFC’s right. The best chance fell to Bustos on 50 minutes, who headed onto the bar and missed from a yard out after Polisi’s cross wasn’t cleared. Polisi had fans cheering a few minutes later after it looked like he’d found the top corner with a sharp shot from inside the penalty box, but the ball bounced off the post behind the goal and hit the side netting.

Despite PFC piling on the pressure, it was Halifax who scored next, Salter converting a penalty after a clumsy challenge from PFC’s Sean Young in the box. The game finished with a 3-0 scoreline.

The one bright spot for PFC was the reappearance of Manny Aparicio on the bench for the first time – he didn’t make it onto the field – since he was injured against York United on May 20.

PFC will hope to halt their slide against Cavalry FC on June 30.

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