By the end of 90 minutes, and arguably much earlier, it had become a sometimes-bitter soccer game between two neighbouring teams whose paths are destined to frequently cross.

It had become real.

No longer a concept gradually emerging from the theoretical mist, no longer just a vision without numbers and names or shots and saves.

"Once we started singing that national anthem we knew it was now a Canadian league," said national soccer legend Jim Brennan after coaching his York9 FC side to a 1-1 draw with hometown Forge FC in the first-ever Canadian Premier League game Saturday afternoon at Tim Hortons Field.

"We all looked at each other and knew we were finally making a statement here."

And a pretty entertaining statement it was.

Forge and the CPL accomplished what they needed to accomplish amid the cold and the wind — and, yes, the sunshine — on Opening Day, which was to firmly plant the seeds of belief, then water and fertilize them.

In the stands and in front of a national TV audience on CBC.

Fan association, that symbiotic relationship between field and stands that's so important in professional sport, has begun now that thousands have witnessed the kits on humans in motion, and can start to put faces to styles and names.

Names such as York9's Ryan Telfer, who stunned Forge with the CPL's inaugural goal just three minutes in.

And Kadell Thomas, who accepted Emery Walshman's threaded cross in the 78th minute to walk into franchise history with Forge's first score.

And Forge's Welshman whose early bicycle strike skidded agonizingly wide, Tristan Borges with his thunderous stroke, or collected but feisty captain Kyle Bekker.

True, the turnstile count of 17,611 fell short of the sports-event attendance stadium record (24,512) Forge had hoped to break by waiving admission fees for Game One.

But attracting that many, even with gratis tickets, for a soccer game between two freshly-minted teams with only a couple of recognizable names on each side, especially when the day dawned so meteorologically miserable?

The interest is clearly there, and after a good show Saturday it's ready to be mined.

"It was a bit windy and cold but it's a great crowd," said CPL commissioner David Clanachan, who added that the CBC people indicated they were very happy with the product on the field.

Off it too, you'd assume.

The 500-strong Barton Street Battalion Forge supporters never sat down, nor rested their tortured vocal chords.

Neither did their opposite numbers in Generation9, who were part of a caravan of 23 buses York9 owners dispatched to the game.

They established the raucous tone that fans will come to expect at every home game and it was not only infectious, it was good visuals.

It was clear that the CPL's discussions with its on-field officials around a non-diving, liquid game were heard. Referee David Gantar had control but let the marginal roughness go so the flow of play could continue.

The league's stated long-term goal, besides financial and competitive health, is to develop Canadian players and eventually funnel them toward the national team.

With men's head coach John Herdman in attendance, the early signs of that were evident.

Nine of Hamilton's 11 starters were Canadian, as were both of the goal-scorers.

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The 22-year-old Thomas, who played at a couple of U.S. junior colleges then waited with hope in Ontario's League1 for the new league to materialize, is the quintessential CPL player who 'fell through the cracks.'

"It's an amazing feeling," he said of scoring the historic goal after subbing in for Chris Nanco.

"You wouldn't want anything else to happen when you're coming off the bench in your first professional game."

That entire scoring play was pure eye candy, as were several other chances at both ends, and that's what this league must be able to sell.

Fans won't repeatedly purchase tickets just to support distantly-future national teams.

But they will come back to see pace, offence, and ball control, and competitive teams that play polar-opposite styles as more-defensive York and attacking Forge did Saturday.

After the first 15 minutes of adjusting to the excitement and the wind, both sides showed an attractive sense of team awareness, which was unanticipated with all-new players who'd begun training together less than eight weeks ago.

"Overall it's what everyone hoped it was going to be," Forge coach Bobby Smyrniotis said.

"It's a great festival for the game. A great starting point for what we're going to build for the future.

"We wanted the three points for the win, but we also wanted to have an entertaining game to show that Canadians can really play this game. I think we really showed that out there."

It was hard to disagree with him. It might have been only the beginning, but it was a promising one.

smilton@thespec.com

905-526-3268 | @miltonatthespec

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