With just two weeks left in the regular season for the Timbers Army football clubs, there was plenty of excitement going into the November 5 and 6 fixtures.  Rose City Athletic played a rare Saturday date in the afternoon, while FC Portlandia and North End United were playing for potential berths in their respective division championship matches.  TAFC, meanwhile, had some players saddled with injuries return to play for their match in the hopes from rebounding from their last match out inWashington County. 

For FC Portlandia, their Sunday match against Por Que No had plenty of importance associated with the result.  A win for the lads in purple would almost guarantee them into the GPSD Division 2 championship match.  Under the lights at Oregon City HS, FC Portlandia debuted their new sky blue look sponsored by Cartlandia and used a lone goal by Nabil Zerizef in the first half to earn a 1 to 0 victory in an extremely competitive match.  Por Que No put the Portlandia defense under pressure the entire match, but FCP held them off to earn an advantage in the berth for the championship.  They finish their regular season on November 13 against Sporting Commando atColumbiaPark inNorth Portland at 2 PM.  A win in that match not only assures the championship match berth but it would secure them promotion to Division 1 for next season.

I had to read about North End United’s match versus Mayday a few times to make sure that I caught all the nuances, and apparently the match report doesn’t even begin to underscore the craziness of their 2 all draw.  Apparently, the match featured some trash talking, great passing, and a bizarre penalty kick situation.  The contentious chatter continued after the final whistle apparently as there was some spirited banter amongst the participants that I’m sure wasn’t for the faint of ear.  It was a great result for NEU, however, as they fell behind 2 to 0 in the first half, but used second half goals from Marcus Nelson and Shiloh Rodriguez to earn the point.  If NEU wins this weekend against Oregon National Guard FC at Delta Park Strasser Field at 6 PM, they will assure themselves second place in Division 4 GPSD and play in the title game the following weekend.

Rose City Athletic played the rare Saturday at Glenhaven Park against long time Division 4 participants the Onetouchables, and the boys in red came out firing.  Bryan Boen continued his torrid goal scoring pace in getting his eleventh of the year, but he was outpaced by a hat trick for Eduardo Ramirez and a brace for Jose Lopez as RCA beat the Onetouchables 6 to 1.  Apparently the cold and windy conditions didn’t stall the RCA offense while they held the Onetouchables’ offense in check.  RCA will finish their fall campaign in Sherwood atSnyderPark on November 13 at 2:30 PM when they meet the Fiji Islanders.  A word of warning for RCA – theFiji guys might be big, but they are really quick as well.

TAFC was excited to welcome the return of midfielders Jesse Wagner and Eben Crawford back to the team, and they actually had available subs for the match against Sasquatch Gang FC at Columbia Park on November 6.  The pre-match festivities were highlighted by a pre-match kit switch for Sasquatch from their green to white, and a colorful discussion between TAFC manager Jerry Makare and the center official about clock management.  Once the match got started, TAFC held their ground for most of the first half but gave up 2 goals on great individual efforts.  Whether it was the lingering effects of the previous match or the sloppy conditions that made passing difficult, TAFC started to falter as the score tally rose for Sasquatch.  They did earn some redemption when Chris Tschirley scored in the second half, putting him officially in the top 10 of all time TAFC goal scorers over his career.  TAFC finishes the Fall Session this weekend against BDFC at Gladstone HS at 4 PM on November 13; while TAFC beat BDFC during the Spring 2010 season, BDFC is a much improved side.

The weekend also marked the first ever practice for the newest Timbers Army FC club, Old Growth FC.  Slated to join one of the over 40 divisions in GPSD for the Spring 2012 season, team founder Todd Diskin welcomed 12 participants to a rainy, drizzly practice on Saturday but everyone was smiles as they worked through various drills and a short scrimmage.  The motto on this day was just having fun and work on getting better, but knowing the participants on this club, I’m sure the competitive juices will start flowing once the fixtures begin in March.