Now this is bound to heighten the intensity of something that hasn't needed any extra help in that department.

When Forge FC ultra-scorer Tristan Borges was reinstated for Saturday's final game of the Canadian Premier League's championship series, while Cavalry FC's important defender Joel Waterman was not, it just added another pearl to the necklace of bitter controversy the heat-hardened rivals have been threading since June.

Borges and Waterman were each red-carded and automatically ejected from Hamilton's 1-0 victory in the first game of the two-league final at Tim Hortons Field last Saturday. Waterman got the thumb for a handball near the goal in the 37th minute, and Borges was run off 32 minutes later for violent conduct in reacting to a hard tackle from Cavalry's Jonathan Wheeldon.

The dismissals had made them ineligible for Saturday afternoon's second game in Calgary.

Both teams appealed to Canada Soccer's disciplinary committee, which ruled Thursday morning that Waterman had been guilty of the handball infraction, so will be out Saturday but that the referee had erred in his disciplinary decision against Borges. According to the decision, Borges "did not use excessive force or brutality against his opponent and therefore did not meet the threshold of a violent conduct offence" and can play Saturday.

There was a lot of happiness, bordering on glee, around the Forge headquarters Thursday before the team departed for Calgary. But their public face was more subdued.

"He's obviously an important player for our team. He's got 13 goals and I think he's been the best player in the league, across the season," Hamilton head coach Bobby Smyrniotis said. "We thought there was a lot there for the disciplinary committee to look at. When you look at things from a neutral perspective, it was the right decision. Reversals like this happen in all leagues around the world."

Borges was not available for comment Thursday but the team and the league will put him in front of the media Friday afternoon in Calgary.

A large crowd was anticipated for Saturday at the 6,000-seat at Spruce Meadows' ATCO Field, but Cavalry losing a player while Forge keeps its feisty shooter should make it larger and, more cantankerous.

"It could be," Smyrniotis said. "It depends on how the other side makes it look. It may put an extra target on Borges by the crowd. But I think that would happen anyways. A home crowd will do that to a visiting player who is very important.

"We know there is going to be extra energy in the stadium for a final game, the same as there was here Saturday. The atmosphere was fantastic and I thought that made it difficult for Calgary. We've been out there in a packed house before, and have heard it loud and came away with a result (1-0 June win)."

In a statement to the Calgary Herald, Cavalry FC said it had no comment and the "focus remains on the task at hand."

That task is to score at least two goals and prevent the Forge from netting an all-important away goal, because away goals are the first tiebreaker in an aggregate draw.

With Borges reinstated, Johnny Grant back from injury and defenders Dominic Samuel and Bertrand Owundi returning from one-game suspensions for accumulated yellow cards, Forge FC will have its full roster, a rarity for them. The defenders know they'll be facing a concerted attack from the indefatigable Cavalry front.

"I'm assuming the pressure's going to come," said Samuel, whose physicality will be needed on the back line. "They're going to press a lot more than they did in the first game. But they're also trying to prevent us from scoring

"I know that the atmosphere is going to be outrageous, just like it was here."

smilton@thespec.com

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- Steve Milton: Forge downs Cavalry, but loses top scorer for second half of CPL final