With road losses piling up, the Wanderers now look to a lengthy homestand to right their season

It's say to say the Halifax Wanderers flew back to the East Coast with a few road regrets.

Their swing west was always going to be difficult, especially given the club was tasked with playing three matches in seven days, a dizzying prospect when you consider the distance and short turnaround between fixtures. For some perspective, the Wanderers travelled more than 10,000 kilometres in the span of a week — the equivalent of flying the length of Canada twice.

Despite the difficult conditions, more was needed for a club that continues to occupy last place on the table. The Wanderers have had two matches in hand for a while, a trompe l'œil of sorts for anyone musing their spot in the standings. But they have mostly burned through their leeway. Three straight losses — versus Cavalry, Forge and Valour respectively — deeply hurts their playoff chances and the coaching staff and players know it.

Speaking post-match in Winnipeg and sporting a black eye, Wanderers winger Massimo Ferrin voiced the group's bitterness, while still looking ahead.

“There’s going to be that feeling of disappointment and failure kind of over the past 10 days,” said Ferrin, who scored Halifax's lone goal on Saturday versus Valour. “We know that games come quick, and next weekend we need to be ready, and mathematically we’re not out. So we have to find the belief that we can get on a roll, use our own field as maybe a little bit of a momentum boost, that it’s definitely still possible.”

Disappointment is a good word for the Wanderers road form and their match against Valour is a microcosm for issues which have plagued the club over the last two seasons. Looked at objectively, the Wanderers put in a good showing versus Valour and arguably deserved a better result: they held the bulk of possession at 62 per cent, tripled their opponents shots, and scored that crucial first goal on the road. But like they have previously this season, their match at TD Place being a prime example, Halifax let their opponents into the match through mental errors.

Many will look at defender Dan Nimick's own goal and blame him for making a miscue at a crucial moment but the reality is the Wanderers' assistant captain was put into an impossible position as Valour's Themi Antonoglou — who leads the league in assists this season and is a deadly crosser — was allowed to exploit far too much space on the right and left essentially unmarked in a dangerous area. A single moment of hesitation or contentment is enough for the ball to end up in the back of your net; Nimick was merely the last man in a chain of poor decisions.

Mental errors have cost the Wanderers dearly this year, something coach Jorden Feliciano, who was filling in for a suspended Patrice Gheisar, mentioned in his availability.

“The stats are par for the course for most of our games,” he said. “To be fair, we want to be the protagonists. We want to be the aggressors, we want to be the team that’s on the front foot. And to be those kinds of teams, you’ve got to limit individual errors. And unfortunately, we saw two today that led to the result swinging the other way.”

There's no doubt Halifax aims to play as Feliciano described but it only seems to work at the Wanderers Grounds, something he acknowledged when asked by reporters.

Make no mistake: over the course of the last two seasons, the Wanderers have the least amount of road points in the league. This year, in particular, it is sinking their playoff hopes as their record stands at 1W-1D-8L for a paltry four points. Last year, the Wanderers managed to eek out some crucial draws, going 2W-8D-4L for 14 points out of a possible 42. Over the course of 2023 and 2024, Halifax has earned 18 out of a possible 72 points away from the Wanderers Grounds. The next lowest is Valour, with 21 points.

Now, with their season on the line, the Wanderers are preparing for a stretch which will see them play four of their next five matches at home. Although there've been some hiccups this year, the Wanderers Grounds have remained a haven for Gheisar's squad as they've picked up 12 of their 16 points in front of home fans. They're relying on good showings at home to salvage their year.

To keep their playoff hopes alive, Halifax will need to eliminate some of the errors which cost them so dearly on their road trip. Their leaders— be it Lorenzo Callegari, Nimick, Andre Rampersad or Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé will need to step up. Going back to his pre-match call before Valour, this is something Gheisar has already raised: the Wanderers need their senior players to do their part. And although he's specifically referring to Gagnon-Laparé's red card in this quote, Gheisar might as well be talking about any of the players who have erred this year.

"We have to look at ourselves and our senior players to be the most responsible guys," Gheisar told reporters. "We just made mistakes, that could have been anyone and I think it's important to recognize that as a group and take that learning and keep our heads in check. Where we are, and given the road trip and the goal we had set for ourselves, we were unhappy with the outcome and result in Calgary. We really wanted to make a statement for ourselves in Hamilton and sometimes having that adrenaline can take the better of you."

Clearly, the Wanderers aren't satisfied. They have and continue to expect more from a talented group of players. As Ferrin pointed out, mathematically, the playoffs — and the club's only shot at a trophy this year — are still within the realm of possibility.

To find their way into the playoffs, the club will need to deliver at least a couple of wins at the Wanderers Grounds in the coming weeks. They'll need to execute and pull teams apart with their ball movement. They'll need to be clinical in front of goal. And most importantly, they'll need to avoid the individual errors which have cost them collectively.

With their next match against Atlético Ottawa only a few days away, the Wanderers are preparing to fight for their season.

Cover Photo Credit: Trevor MacMillan / Halifax Wanderers FC