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That took out a vital cog in the team’s defence against a fierce Forge attack, and the home side finally made a Wheeldon-less Cavalry pay with the game’s only goal in the 79th minute by Jonathan Grant.

The Forge defender found himself in traffic on the edge of the penalty area but somehow wheeled around to blast a perfect shot far side past Cavs goalkeeper Marco Carducci, who otherwise made four saves on the afternoon.

The visitors just didn’t have the firepower to reply — thanks in part to offensive threats Camargo (hamstring) and Brown (ankle) being hurt — as they were handed their first loss of the CPL’s fall season.

“It was a game decided on details,” said Wheeldon Jr. “As good as we were in the first half with our play and tactical execution, we lacked the cutting edge and quality we had Wednesday (in the 3-1 home win) vs. York9 in our attack to turn that momentum into goals.

“In the second half, Forge responded and began attacking our spaces in transition with their pace, and our defensive details let us down on their goal.

“We responded well but didn’t have enough time to find the late equalizer. We have to have short memories as we go again Wednesday at home to Pacific FC.”

Early on, it was attacker Dominique Malonga with a top chance for Cavalry, as he was gifted a ball on an errant pass from a Forge defender and immediately tried to beat ‘keeper Quillan Roberts. But the man who scored a brace against York9 was stymied when Roberts came way out — almost to the top of the penalty box — to deflect away the quick shot.