—by Chris Rifer

If John Spencer thought the questions about whether his side could perform on the road were annoying before, he’ll find them downright oppressive now.

With everything set up for the Timbers to take their first road win of 2012, Portland laid an absolute egg in Foxborough. The match started—and ended—in the first minute, as Chris Tierney casually sent a ball from the left wing into the box, where Saer Sene casually nodded it in.

After a week of emphasis on starting strong, the Timbers did exactly the opposite, practically escorting New England to the opener and winner.

The Timbers’ response was anemic. Portland looked to create a chance in the 13^th minute when Eric Alexander squared the ball for Diego Chara 10 yards out, but Chara sent his promising opportunity wide. Control + C.

If missing promising chances in front of goal is cool, consider Kris Boyd Miles Davis.[1] After Shalrie Joseph popped up a 32^nd minute clearance to Boyd, the heretofore fox lined up a free header and screwed the pooch. Control + V.

In the 43^rd minute Revs rookie Kelyn Rowe looked to make it two after beating Eric Brunner and getting out on the break. Troy Perkins did well to cut down the angle, however, and Eric Brunner recovered just in time to poke the ball away.

One would think Portland would come out of halftime with their ears pinned back looking to find an early equalizer. One would think wrong. The Timbers came out of intermission looking as flat as they went into it, with the Timbers nearly conceding again when Troy Perkins spilled Tierney’s 58^th minute free kick.

Moments later Kalif Alhassan mustered a beautiful cross into an unmarked Boyd at the top of the six. Control + V.

In the 60^th minute Franck Songo’o made his Timbers debut, and, for the first time in the match, injected some life into Portland. After inadvertently kicking Kevin Alston in the face[2] on a bicycle attempt, Songo’o showed flashes of what Timbers fans have been waiting for by keeping possession, combining well, and looking dangerous with an eye toward goal.

Kris Boyd wasn’t done, though. Alhassan’s 77^th minute corner again found Boyd at the top of the six, but again, Control + V.

The Timbers last best chance came in the 85^th minute when Songo’o gathered a cleared corner, took a touch, and absolutely blasted the ball on frame from 20 yards out. Matt Reis, however, was right in the ball’s path and easily deflected clear.

After opening weekend enthusiasm, two mediocre to poor performances on the road have Timbers supporters wondering if 2012 will be a repeat of 2011. Points like Saturday’s are crucial in the hyper-competitive Western Conference. Portland deserved none, and got none.

Match Observations

• That was awful. Just miserable, miserable stuff.[3]
• From one team the Timbers didn’t lose to in 2011 to another next week. Let’s hope it turns out better the second time around.

Timbers Grades

Troy Perkins, 3.5 Wasn’t at fault on the concession, but was unusually dodgy between the sticks. Spilled a couple balls that would typically be routine.

Rodney Wallace, 3 The guy looked like he had turned a corner. He really did. Looks can be deceiving. Helloooo, Mike Chabala.

Eric Brunner, 4 Guilty for giving Sene so much room to work on the goal, and otherwise captained a poor backline. To be honest, New England really didn’t look that dangerous; after the initial goal their best opportunities came off of some three stooges defending.

Hanyer Mosquera, 5 Looked fine until he took a shot to the nose. Hope it’s not broken.

Lovel Palmer, 4 Looked slightly—slightly—better than Wallace in defense and at least had some nice moments combining with Kalif going forward.

Eric Alexander, 4.5 Wasn’t awful on the left, but was far from great. A little bit slow on some of his passing, but was at least engaged enough to get a few crosses off. Still, Songo’o’s performance shows he’s living on borrowed time in the Starting XI.

Jack Jewsbury, 4.5 Was anonymous in the midfield, where Portland struggled to establish itself all day. Still, Jack had some crucial emergency defending that kept Portland in the match.

Diego Chara, 3.5 Diego’s struggles on the road was one of the underreported stories of mid last season. He righted the ship a bit toward the end of last year, and last week seemed to be a promising continuation of that progress. Today was a step back. For the Timbers’ sake, it better only be a temporary step back. As goes Diego, so go the Timbers.

Kalif Alhassan, 4 Very tough grade because, as always, Kalif had some nice moments. He was partially at fault for the early concession, though, by giving Tierney acres to work with, and wasted two late chances by sending hopeless shots from distance way off target.

Darlington Nagbe, 6 Man of the Match. Showed why he belonged in the Starting XI with some fantastic holdup and combination play.

Kris Boyd, 3 The only reason he gets a 3 is because I like the fact that he made himself available so much in the box. With no fewer than three golden[4] opportunities to equalize with his head, however, coming away within nothing on target it an absolute disaster.

Andrew Jean-Baptiste, 6 Another nice outing for AJB. Had a couple scuffed headers, but otherwise looked pretty controlled in back. This is looking more and more like a shrewd pick.

Franck Songo’o, 7 As long as his ankle is okay after taking a late knock, it might not be too long before we see him in the XI. For his 30 minute spell he was the best player on the field by a pretty wide margin.

Jorge Perlaza, 5 Inherited a mess and really couldn’t do anything to clean it up.

Preseason Prediction – Timbers 3, Revs 3. Boyd, Songo’o, Brunner, Rowe, Feilhaber, Sene.

Actual – Revs 1, Timbers 0. Sene.

Onward, Rose City!