Well, ‘The Chase’ is over, and the Canadian Premier League play-offs field is now a known quantity… minus York’s deficit of U-21 minutes.

York entered into what was an unseasonably warm day in North York holding an 11-point lead over their opponents on the day, Valour. With four matches left to play, dropped points for Valour would knock the Winnipeg club out of contention.

Julian Altobelli got the party started for York right before the end of the first half. Altobelli’s tenth goal of the season, the only at York Lions Stadium today, came at great timing for both player and club, with York’s talisman still regaining fitness from a recent injury amidst their play-off preparations and their objective to score a home match in the postseason.

On account of Oswaldo León’s now 13-match suspension, cumulative of his initial three-match ban and a ten-match ban levied by the Canada Soccer Incident Review Body earlier this week, the Nine Stripes hit the pitch with a back four, rather than the back three we’ve been accustomed to this season.

Mauro Eustáquio and Julian Altobelli both commented on the look after the match, with the latter admitting that the 4-3-3 was an option that they were less familiar with, despite drilling it in pre-season.

Eustáquio, especially, was happy with how the team looked, as Ferrin cut in to turn receiver and provider on two York chances in the first half, the latter of which resulted in the lone goal. It, in his words, allowed the team to open up valuable space and mitigate Valour skipper Raphael Ohin’s influence in midfield.

With it, and Valour deploying a low block, that brought a more patient and possession-based home side, one that came to roost on their first goal, capped off by Altobelli. The big development? The build-up before the finish.

And sure, the eight- or nine-pass sequence that led up to it wasn’t the tiki-taka heights of prime Barcelona. But, from Max Ferrari’s throw-in, the hosts strung together more passes on a single goal than it’s ever felt like they have — contrasting with the second half, which seemed to later devolve into incomplete attempts everywhere.

In fact, the match started much more in Valour’s favour after Jordan Faria was released down the Winnipeggers’ left flank. Kris Twardek, who connected with Faria’s lofted cross at the back post, was offside in the end but still called Diego Urtiaga into action. Diego Konincks also headed yet another corner into the turf, though this time, Urtiaga was wise to the bounce.

The hosts would eventually start to turn the tide by halfway through the first half, though had to wait until Altobelli’s opener to solve former Nine Stripes goalkeeper Eleias Himaras. Himaras stood on his head, picking up Save of the Match honours for denying a powerful Massimo Ferrin strike to start the second half.

Phil Dos Santos was glowing, post-match, speaking about Himaras, saying that he believes Himaras “is a number one [goalkeeper] in this league.” Dos Santos gave even more glowing credit to his new number one, adding that it “was about giving him games and making sure that he would get the opportunity" — and he sure did today.

As for the second half… it certainly left something wanting. Valour mustered just one shot in the second half, compared to nine in the first, while York did only marginally better, putting two on target compared to three in their first 45 minutes. The on-field quality seemed to set, in tandem with the sun behind the woodlot that borders York Lions Stadium.

Valour’s season marches on next weekend at home to Ottawa, in the desperate hopes that they’ll be rescued by York falling short of the U-21 minutes mark, currently sitting at 153 minutes left to go. York’s next match comes with a crucial Thursday bout in that play-off race, against their neighbours in the table, Halifax.