After a gutless loss in Colorado on Saturday, Portland came home needing to find its heart to beat the best team in the land on Tuesday. Luckily, the boys in green have rarely struggled to find heart at home, and Tuesday was no exeception.

The same Timbers team that would have struggled to get a point from a USL road match on Saturday had no problem giving the Quakes everything they could handle at Jeld-Wen Field. With the team’s two best players suspended, Portland got big contributions from unusual places to pull out a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes.

Nobody stepped up more than Franck Songo’o. In the seventh minute, Songo’o picked the ball up thirty yards from goal, dribbled through the Quakes defense, and unleashed a shot that sailed just wide of the far post.

Just eight minutes later, Songo’o’s cross would skip off Victor Bernardez and land for Eirc Alexander at the top of the box. Alexander cut the ball back and pulled a shot past Quakes keeper David Bingham, only to be turned away by the near post.

In the 28^th minute, the Timbers defense would make one of its few messes on the day. After gaps in the defense allowed Justin Morrow to play Rafael Baca into the box, Baca’s shot was deflected by Troy Perkins. Alan Gordon tried to poke at the airborne rebound, but ultimately it fell to Shea Salinas at the far post. That far post, however, was well covered by Steven Smith, who cleared the danger.

After the ensuing corner, Songo’o undressed Baca on San Jose’s left wing and laid the ball off for Alexander to get out on the break. Alexander returned the ball to Songo’o on the right wing as he crossed midfield. All the while, Danny Mwanga was making a massive run toward the box. At the top of the area, the hometown boy hesitated for a moment, causing Steve Beitashour to slow with him. Just as Songo’o lined up his cross, Mwanga hit the gas again, crossing up Beitashour and directing Songo’o’s near post cross into the net first time.

Absolutely picture perfect from the Timbers. A textbook counterattack leading to a well-deserved goal.

Portland almost had another before the smoke cleared. Just as he had done ten days before, David Horst – despite being football-tackled from behind – got himself on the end of a Songo’o corner. This time, however, Baca had his near post covered and cleared the ball off the line.

After dominating the first half, the Timbers came out in the second half looking for another goal. After Khari Stephenson and Lovel Palmer traded on-frame shots from distance, Songo’o got loose on the right wing again and picked Mwanga out in the box. Mwanga’s touch this time was denied by the bar, although the linesman had incorrectly flagged Danny for offside in any event.

There would be no salvation from the linesman or the bar three minutes later, however, as Songo’o – who else – sent a dangerous set piece in from just shy of the center circle. Bingham indecisively came out to collect the ball, but after a collision with Futty, the ball squirted to Jack Jewsbury who facilitated its nestling into the back of the net.

San Jose wasn’t going away, however. Sixty-three minutes in, Alan Gordon laid the ball off for the newly introduced Steven Lenhart. Lenhart had nothing but net to look at from seven yards out, but managed to find a way to send the ball wide.

In the 74^th minute, San Jose wouldn’t make quite such a mess of things. After Lovel Palmer cleared out a Justin Morrow cross, Marvin Chavez cracked it back into the box. Of course, San Jose would need a former Timber to polish things off, as Alan Gordon deflected the ball into the back of the net to pull one back for the Quakes.

As they did against Seattle, however, the Timbers reacted well to the concession. Portland looked like they might find themselves a goal to kill of the match in the 79^th minute, as Mwanga found himself on the ball near the byline. Kris Boyd – aided by a boot to the back of the head – couldn’t steer Mwanga’s cross goalward, however, and the ball sailed wide.

Once again, however, while San Jose enjoyed plenty of possession in the Timbers’ half, the Portland defense had answers for every question the Quakes had left to ask. Three minutes into stoppage time San Jose saw their best chance, but Gordon couldn’t steer his header on frame in the face of well-placed Mike Chabala defense.

The Timbers’ plague, then, is still isolated to the road. Here at home, Portland looks every bit of a playoff team – even without three of its best, most consistent players. If the postseason is in Portland’s destiny – and again they stand just three points outside the final spot – the Timbers will have to find some heart away from home. As they’ve shown over the last three months, however, they have plenty of it at Jeld-Wen Field.

Match Observations

• This will come through in the grades, but the central defense – which includes for Tuesday’s purposes Lovel Palmer – was fantastic. They absolutely marked Chris Wondolowski, the midseason league MVP, out of the match. Wondo’s one shot was the fewest he has had in his last 27 matches; a 2-0 loss to the Galaxy on August 20, 2011.
• When Songo’o and Kalif Alhassan return from their respective hamstring injuries, John Spencer will have a decision to make. Both can play on the left wing, but – as Songo’o showed on Tuesday – both are better on the right. I think Spencer will move Songo’o back to the left, but the way Franck looked on Tuesday he should consider seeing if those sorts of results on the right are typical.
• With three points in hand from Tuesday, the Timbers probably need to get another three points out of the next two games to stay afloat. If they can do that, however, there is some hay to be made in late July and early August – with a set of home-and-homes with Chivas and Dallas and a visit to Toronto. None of those teams are very good, and all struggle at home. If there is a five-match stretch of the season where it looks like the Timbers could rack up some points, that’s it. From there, it’s a rough road to the finish line.

Timbers Grades

Troy Perkins, 6 – Nothing to complain about from Troy. Wasn’t called upon very often and can’t be faulted for the goal in any way whatsoever.

Steven Smith, 5 – With Songo’o’s dynamism on the right, things were a little quieter on the left side than they have been. Still, did nicely in defense to keep the Quakes offense in check.

Futty, 8 – Created the second goal and, as mentioned above, was huge in keeping San Jose quiet. Gordon and Wondolowski have scored 20 goals between them, so to limit their opportunities is a herculean accomplishment.

David Horst, 8 – See Futty.

Jack Jewsbury, 7 – Baca was about as effective as anybody for San Jose on Tuesday, but Jack and Franck did a more than serviceable job defensively on the right side. Must have had at least a half dozen interceptions. Oh, and that second goal came in handy, too.

Eric Alexander, 6 – Nice outing for Eric. Was unlucky to be denied by the post, but had a couple other efforts he probably should have steered on frame. While Songo’o was shredding San Jose on the right, Eric did enough to pose a legitimate threat on the left.

Lovel Palmer, 7.5 – This guy has taken – and deserved – a lot of knocks this year. He gets high praise for his effort last night. Solid defensively and disciplined on the ball. He even managed to steer a couple shots on frame.

Darlington Nagbe, 5 – Had a golden opportunity that he sent well high and wide in the first half. We need Darlington to keep taking those shots, however, so hopefully that won’t stick in his head. That said, he picked up a good chunk of the sidling slack with Diego out.

Franck Songo’o, 9 – I feel like the entire match report was about him, so I guess just see above. Absolutely fantastic. Hopefully his hamstring isn’t too bad.

Danny Mwanga, 8 – If this is the guy we traded Jorge Perlaza for, somebody needs to buy Gavin a case of beer. Good beer.

Kris Boyd, 5.5 – Didn’t get a goal – or many great chances, really – but put in a workmanlike effort off the ball.  If he and Mwanga can get it going at the same time the Timbers could be very dangerous up front.

Mike Chabala, 6 – Very good effort from Chewy to spell Smith for half an hour. Found himself matched up against late-game hero Gordon quite a bit and more than held his own.

Sal Zizzo, 4 – The only guy really guilty of not closing out crosses on Tuesday. Did have a couple moments where he relieved pressure nicely, but on the whole not his best substitute outing.

Freddie Braun, 5 – Came on late for Palmer and fit in nicely in the midfield.

Preseason Prediction: Timbers 2, Quakes 0. Boyd brace.

Actual Result: Timbers 2, Quakes 1. Mwanga, Jewsbury.

Onward, Rose City!

—by Jeremy Wright

Bumped from the archives for today's match - originally posted in May 2011

Today Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl tweeted his joy at discovering this image from 2004:

Alan Gordon Completes his Chainsaw Massacre

 This picture captured the moment that a rookie out of Oregon State named Alan Gordon scored his 3rd goal to complete a hat trick.  It was early June in the 2004 season and the opponent was the now defunct Milwaukee Rampage.  We were down 2-0 with 20 minutes to go and suddenly Alan Gordon scored twice in those final 20 minutes to send it to overtime and OT was sudden death in those days (along with bizarre rules like 4 points for a win if you scored more than 3 goals).  In the first period of OT he shrugged off a defender on a breakaway and scored right in front of us. When he grabbed the chainsaw I immediately looked at then manager Bobby Howe and he looked like he was going to have a heart attack with his star player sawing away.

At that game was an Oregonian writer by the name INARA VERZEMNIEKS.  She had just happened to embed with the Army for that game to write about this growing phenomenon in the North End.   This article appeared in the Living section of the Sunday paper and was a big reason for the growth of the Timbers Army.  Grant Wahl's tweet inspired me to share it with everyone again.

No pity in Rose City The passionate soccer fans of Section 107 have enlisted in the Timbers Army

Sunday, June 10, 2004 INARA VERZEMNIEKS

Blood oozed from a dime-sized wound on the top of Eben Crawford's shaved head. He fingered the bristly mess, wiping away a sticky stew of cells to reveal two puncture wounds that looked suspiciously like the handiwork of a misdirected vampire. "I got bit in the head," he kept repeating, his voice full of awe. "I got bit in the head."

Crawford, a 21-year-old nanotechnology worker from Southeast Portland, had just attended his first Portland Timbers soccer game, where he had elected to hang out in Section 107, home, he'd heard, to only the most passionate of fans, where confetti and expletives fell like rain and the goal celebrations resembled a crazed bacchanalia. He had come away from his first visit with this souvenir.

He could not wait, he told me afterwards, his eyes glazed and wild, as he wiped the wetness from his head onto his pants, to go back to that section again. "I'm probably going to buy a season ticket at this point," he said. I told him he should probably also consider a tetanus shot.

But it was already too late. He was rabid. I could see it clearly. Eben Crawford had met the Timbers Army.

For four years now, perfectly normal men and women -- techies and writers and artists and lobbyists and political fund-raisers -- had entered Section 107 to watch a Timbers game, and emerged raving lunatics. There, in the shadow of the north goal, they had discovered an enclave of people just like themselves -- people who shared the same lonely obsession: They were soccer fans, living in the United States.

Before long, as many as 200 people were regularly showing up to sit in 107, known among the fans as the Woodshed. They were a diverse group, spanning all ages and backgrounds, even nationalities. Expat Serbs and Croats and Brits and Latinos had discovered the section and claimed it as their own, too.

Really, it had become like a fix -- a fix for the most hopeless of addicts. Not only were the residents of 107 soccer fans, but they had chosen to throw their lot in with a struggling A-League side, temporarily owned by a baseball team. They knew what it was like to love, and love hopelessly. For a time, a sign hung in the Woodshed that said, "So what if we suck?"

And then, improbably, the Timbers began to win this year. They won, and won, and won until they had gone their first four games undefeated. On a recent Saturday night, I accompanied several members of the Timbers Army to the team's fifth game, curious to see whether the streak would hold, and whether victory had in any way softened their fanaticism.

"This is not adult day care," Jeremy Wright, a lobbyist for OSPIRG, had explained to me before the game. Wright, who is 31 and has a charming gap-toothed smile and a raspy voice, , had once driven nearly 2,000 miles with several other Timbers fans just to see a game in Calgary.

I caught up with Wright and a few other Timbers Army members at McFadden's, a bar in downtown Portland, where they had gathered to kill a few hops before the match.

Despite the fact that they refer to themselves as an army and wear what basically amounts to a uniform (green team jersey and knit scarves), it was immediately apparent that the group is quite informal. There is no leadership, no membership requirement. In fact they pride themselves on being egalitarian.

One man, I noticed, was conspicuously without a beer in his hand. "That's Pong," someone explained. "He doesn't drink -- at least not alcohol." From his bag, Pong, who declined to give me any other name ("Outside of the cops and work, that's how everyone knows me," he said) removed a plastic bottle of a brown liquid the consistency of motor oil and offered me a swig. I must confess that my suspicious reporter's instincts clearly were not working on this particular night. I had known these people only five minutes. A strange man had just offered me a mysterious elixir. And I responded by unscrewing the cap and taking a big gulp.

"Homemade root beer," Pong explained. "Lots and lots of caffeine." I learned later that everyone else simply called it Rootcrack.

The group stormed over to the park just before kickoff. Almost immediately the chanting started. Much of it was crude. Some of it was poetic. The Timbers were playing a team called the Milwaukee Wave United on this particular night, and unfortunately for the Wave's keeper, he was beginning the game in the goal directly in front of the Woodshed.

"You call that Milwaukee's Best?" someone trilled. Soon the whole section had picked up the heckling. "You call that Milwaukee's Best?"

"Your beer is . . .," someone called out, and the reporter had to delete expletive here. "And so is your team."

It was around this time that one of the Timbers' mascots, a furry thing that is rumored to be a sasquatch but which looks suspiciously like an albino orangutan, made the unfortunate mistake of wandering too close to the Woodshed.

"We hate you, monkey," a man hissed. The monkey-thing waved, apparently trying to make peace.

"Chain-saw the monkey!" someone screamed. Soon 200 voices had joined in: "Chain-saw the monkey! Chain-saw the monkey!" The monkey carefully backed away.

The mood remained confident, cocky even. "You're going home in a Portland ambulance," they jeered when a Milwaukee player went down. And then in the 14th minute Milwaukee scored. And then they scored again. Suddenly, the Woodshed was dead silent. It remained silent for a long time.

A man who was visiting the section from Minnesota and whose face was now bright red with drink, began to repeat "Di -ving head-er!" "Di-ving head-er!" over and over again, until the man next to me threatened to take a diving header off the dugout if he didn't stop. Things were looking hopeless.

And then in the second half, in the 65th minute, a young player named Alan Gordon headed the ball into Milwaukee's net. Diving header man looked smug. I was trying to write this development down in my notebook when all of a sudden I went blind. A thick, lung-searing cloud of smoke had enveloped the section. I looked down and, amid the dancing feet, spotted a smoke bomb fizzing in a tin pail filled with sand. At least they are practicing responsible hooliganism, I thought. Then I heard the fire alarm go off.

Fifteen minutes later, with only a few minutes left to play, Gordon scored once more to tie the game. The Woodshed exploded. Strangers embraced. Men leapt on the dugout to dance delirious jigs. Another smoke bomb was lit. Pong handed me one of his scarves to breathe through.

The game then went into overtime. Sudden death. The first goal scored would win. Bob Kellett, a freelance writer, sat next to me, nervously gnawing on his scarf. There were moments when he could not bear to watch and put his head down on the dugout. "I'm from Philadelphia," he had told me earlier. "I'm used to heartbreak and sorrow from my sports teams."

But then, only five minutes into overtime, Gordon wrestled past two defenders to take on the keeper, and sent a shot to the far corner of the net. Chaos ensued. A crush of green enveloped me. I briefly spotted Kellett tap-dancing on the dugout and then lost him. It was at some point during this melee that Pong and Crawford while jumping up and down accidentally married tooth and skull.

Much later, the Milwaukee coach would actually make a special trip to a bar called the Bull Pen, where the Timbers Army was now bivouacked and furiously at work making hops an endangered species. He stared at them. Then he opened his mouth. They had called his keeper nasty, pungent names. They had mocked his team. But instead of chastising them, he congratulated them and called them amazing fans.

I was there when this happened, but, then again, I wasn't. I was too busy thinking -- about blood and fire alarms and drunkenness and passion. I was thinking about the feel of a scarf around my neck, and the smell of smoke in my hair. I was thinking about Rootcrack. I was thinking: How soon is the next game?

  

For all the newer TA: this is what the TA looked like that night. Along with a certain Gavin Wilkinson getting pissed at the ref (some things don't change)...

UPDATE 7/2/2012: Big Thanks to everyone who came out for the Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday work days, we demolished all the asphalt, salvaged about 20 cubic yards of bark dust for reuse, and dismantled the play structure. All told 107ist volunteers worked 125 hours on the project. We turned the site over to Walsh Construction this morning. Cody Goldberg is hoping for an October 14 completion date. Don't forget to come out to support Harpers Playground at the Timbers Army Art Takeover event at Coava Coffee on August 4th.

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Hey folks- We're having an additional work party this evening from 5-8pm, if you can't make that please come out on Sunday. Cheers!

UPDATE: Cody from Harper's Playground is happy to report that the city has issued the project a building permit, so work at Arbor Lodge park can get underway on the originally hoped for date of June 25th. That means they will need our help on July 1, if not before. There will be an evening work session June 27th, and an all day work day on Sunday July 1.

Last Friday assembled dignitaries and stakeholders got to symbolically break ground on the Harper’s Playground Project at Arbor Lodge Park. In July the deconstruction and demolition of the current play structure and pathways starts, and there’s a lot more than bark dust to dig up.

Over the last several years the Timbers Army 107ist has been a major financial contributor to the cause. Now’s your chance to lend a hand making way for a truly accessible playground for all children.

Similar to the James John Elementary project last summer we will be tearing up concrete and asphalt and loading it into dumpsters. Additionally we will need to dissemble the current play structure, and rake up and save the bark chips for reuse. The first work-days will be June 27th 5-9pm and July 1 9am-5pm. (Please note date change).

What we’ll need: Strong bodies, with appropriate safety wear (boots, gloves, safety glasses), wheel barrows, shovels, rakes, pry bars, sledges, and picks. We are working with Walsh Construction to obtain a few skid-steer Bobcats, and concrete saws. Please let us know if you have experience with either. Sign up below:

Link to sign-up form

Thanks, Abram Goldman-Armstrong 107ist Board Member

—by Chris Rifer

Last year more than 400 Timbers Army made the trip to Denver to watch the Timbers open their MLS campaign. In the 2011 Colorado away match, the Timbers had their eyes glazed over from the start. On Saturday the Timbers found another similarity between 2012 and 2011.[1]

The story coming out of Saturday, however, is the team’s continued ineptitude on the road. To be sure, a good chunk of the blame falls on the players. They need to be able to motivate themselves to play a hard 90 minutes and grind out results on the road.

It’s hard to imagine, however, that any group of 30 professional soccer players would be so mentally weak as to limp to a two road wins in 24 tries in spite of good coaching. There is no word to describe just how bad that is. Any proclamations of playoff aspirations are a naïve joke until it improves. Ultimately, the coach needs to be accountable.

Over the past fifteen months, we have heard a litany of excuses about the difficulties of playing on the road in this league. Enough. Yes, it’s hard. Yes, the travel is long and sometimes the conditions are far from ideal. But everybody else does it. Since the Timbers joined MLS, only New England has done it worse than the boys in green.[2]

Is this team as talented as elite MLS teams? No. But if the talent on the team were poor, the Timbers wouldn’t take nearly as many results into the 80^th minute of games as they do. If the Timbers held every result they took into the last ten minutes, they would be sitting in fifth place in the West, breathing down Vancouver and Seattle’s neck with at least a game in hand on both.[3] No, lack of talent isn’t the problem.[4]

It’s mentality and preparation. In both regards, the coaching staff has to take responsibility for the team’s lack of production. It’s the coaching staff’s job to get the team ready to play. And right now, with regard to away matches, they’re failing fantastically.

Now, I don’t know if it’s inconvenient travel arrangements, poor practice habits, tepid pep talks, or something else. And to be honest, I don’t care. But it needs to be fixed. Now.

Over the past two weeks, there has been plenty of speculation about whether John Spencer will be fired during the season. I’m not sure we’re at that point just yet, but we get a lot closer every time we have to search the bottom of our pints for answers after road matches.

So if you’re wondering about John Spencer’s job status, forget about what the Timbers do at Jeld-Wen Field. Because, odds are, they will continue to do well. The home field advantage is just too great. Instead, everything should ride on what Spencer and his staff can get the team to do on the road. If it doesn’t improve, Spencer should be out.

Saturday was embarrassing. Just like it was last year. And Dallas away last year. And New England away this year. And Kansas City away last year. And all four Los Angeles away dates. And so many others. Enough.

The past two weeks were some hard fought matches that resulted in a 6 - 6 draw (6/21/2012) and a 7 - 5 loss in last nights session finale. There has been quite a bit of improvement in our second session in D-4 even though our record just barely shows it (3-4-1). Overall we are ready for one more session before going outdoors and joining many of the other TAFC teams.

6/21/2012

Goals: Ron 2, Paul 1, Micah 1, David 1, Derek 1

Assists: Paul 2, David 2

6/28/2012

Goals: Paul 1, Micah 1, Owen 1, David 1, Randy 1

Assists: Micah 1

Think you've got the next great t-shirt idea? No Pity Originals wants to make your idea a reality with our "Terrace Tested, Fan Made" design contest!

Prizes for the top designs include No Pity Originals merchandise and the chance to see your design in our Summer collection.

Send a mockup of your submission to Contest@TimbersArmy.org before July 12.

Notes:

• There's no limit on how many designs you can submit, however only one design per person will be eligible for the finals.
• Finalists will be nominated for 107ist member voting by our No Pity Originals team.
• All finalists will need to have EPS files ready for production (if your design is good enough we may be able to help with that)
• Please keep designs to three colors or less.

IMPORTANT: This contest is for Timbers Army/107ist related items. Any designs utilizing trademarks of the Portland Timbers will be disqualified.

Want a chance to win a free trip the MLS Cup, $2500 for the 107IST, and have fun, all at the same time? You're in luck! Budweiser is bringing their PoolBall tables to Portland, which gives you and a teammate the opportunity to enter for a chance to play in a PoolBall tournament. If you win the tournament, you and your friend get to go to the 2012 MLS Cup--and the 107IST gets a $2500 donation.

What the heck is PoolBall? I could write a wordy explanation, but I think pictures speak louder than words. Check out the PoolBall video linked below:

link to PoolBall video

Budweiser is partnering with the Portland Timbers, scheduling the PoolBall table to appear at 4 viewing parties and 4 home matches in June and July for tournament play, with brackets and elimination. The finals for the Portland competitors will be invited to compete for the championship at the TA barbecue on 7/29. The winner of the Portland tournament will then go on to play Seattle's PoolBall Champion, and the SEA/POR Championship match winner will receive a trip to the 2012 MLS Cup. Budweiser will also donate $2500 to the winning team’s supporters group. Budweiser will donate $1000 to the second place team’s supporters group.

The Timbers Army will have the chance to select 28 teams of two people each via a random drawing to be conducted June 29th. Winners will be notified by email. Please note: both team members must be at least 21 years of age as of June 30, 2012 in order to be considered.

You've got nothing to lose, and plenty of potential to win $2500 for the 107IST and two trips to the 2012 MLS Cup. Fill out the form below and enter today!

Entries are now closed. Thanks to all who entered. Good luck!

—by Chris Rifer

If talking won matches, Seattle would have walked away with this one from the opening kick. From Sigi Schmid to Brad Evans, Seattle ran its mouth essentially from the final whistle of its draw against Kansas City until when the busses pulled into Jeld-Wen Field.

What did the Timbers do? Punched them in the mouth. Twice.

Over the first ten minutes, Portland established early dominance, culminating in David Horst nodding a Franck Songo’o corner off the bar and Jack Jewsbury’s put back sailing just wide.

Five minutes later, however, there would be no crossbar to save Seattle’s faulty defense. After Songo’o played Steven Smith into space on the left wing, the Scot found his countryman inexplicably wide open in the box. Boyd’s sitter sat itself underneath Sounders keeper Andrew Weber and took a spin through the back of the net.

In the 25^th minute, Boyd again found himself all by his lonesome in the box, but this time Boyd’s header toward the high center of the goal was acrobatically tipped over the bar by Weber.

No acrobatics could save Seattle on the ensuring corner, however, as an unharassed David Horst headed the ball down and into the back of the net.

The shell-shocked Sounders, however, would move onto their front foot as the half went along. In the 35^th minute, Jeff Parke collected the rebound off a corner, but tapped the ball right at Perkins.

In first half stoppage time, Ozzie Alonso hit a swerving shot from thirty yards, but Troy Perkins was more than capable of tapping it over the bar.

Alonso asked a similar question of Perkins in the 53^rd minute, as he unleashed a shot from 20 destined for the far corner, but again the Timbers’ keeper was there to tip it over.

In the 58^th minute, however, Eddie Johnson found space after an ill-advised Horst tackle left the defense exposed. The former American international took the ball into the box on the Sounders’ right wing, and hit a very quality ball that bent it’s way into the far side netting.

From there, however, the Timbers defense that struggled to answer Seattle’s questions for the 15 minutes on either side of halftime found its moxie. Seattle continued to have the better of possession, but every attack found its demise in Portland’s backline without any appreciable drama.

In the 76^th minute, lady luck almost gave the Timbers the killer, as Kris Boyd’s ambitious strike from distance deflected off Zach Scott, only to be kept out by the bar.

As long as Seattle remained within a goal, however, the fanbase that has been burned all too many times in the late going couldn’t relax. Luckily, the Army’s anxiety was overshadowed by the Sounders’ frustration. After Eddie Johnson took a swipe at Horst, Fredy Montero shoved the Timbers’ central defender, who looked a little Rosalesesque in going down. Montero’s shove—by far his biggest moment of the match—started a scrum that resulted in the sending off of the mercurial Colombian and Lovel Palmer.

Seattle never seriously threatened again. It was a deserved three points that takes the Timbers’ season momentarily off life support and gives Portland a much-needed shot of confidence heading into a critical but brutal stretch of games.

Match Observations

• Before I try my best to overstate the effect of this win, there is one troubling trend that continues; namely, the Timbers inability to play well for a full 90 minutes. It’s awfully hard to control a match for 90 minutes, but the Timbers have shown a pattern of playing very well for a short spell, then trying to weather the storm. The middle half hour almost saw the Timbers lose everything they built in the first 30 minutes. After Horst’s goal, the Timbers had a real opportunity to turn the match into a laugher before halftime. Instead, they let Seattle back into the game. A more complete effort is going to be necessary in a huge match against playoff rival Colorado this weekend.
• That said, maybe the most encouraging thing for me coming out of the match was the way the Timbers responded to conceding early in the second half. For the twenty-five minutes or so preceding the concession, the Timbers were chasing the game. The goal—whose quality, in all honesty, is undeniable—wasn’t a surprise. What was a bit of a surprise was the Timbers’ reaction. Shortly after the goal, the Timbers were content to keep possession for a couple minutes and slow the game down. Despite some irrational exuberance from the Sounders press, some very logical paranoia from their Rose City counterparts, and ample handwringing from the Army, I thought the Timbers were in good control of the match from that point on. The Sounders had a few mini-chances, but they largely ranged from highly speculative to toothless.
• As a practical matter, the win is massive for the Timbers. Portland enters a stretch where they will play four matches in 14 days starting on Saturday, including away matches at Salt Lake and Colorado and home fixtures against the Quakes and Galaxy. Everything tough, but nothing impossible. Portland sits four points outside the playoff picture—with the fifth place team surging. Simply put, if Portland hadn’t come away with three points yesterday, it would start to be awfully hard to find a way back. The task in front of Portland these next two weeks is still daunting, but now Portland has at least some margin for error and a good dose of confidence. If Portland can muster 6 points out of those four matches, they will stay afloat. More than that, and the Timbers are surging. Less, and there could be tough sledding ahead.
• Finally, thank you and congratulations to all who put together and pulled of the magnificent tifo display. Absolutely top notch.

Timbers Grades

Troy Perkins, 7.5 Pretty fantastic stuff from Troy. He was consistently in the right spots and made a number of crucial saves. Nothing he could do to keep out Johnson’s strike. On the whole, one of Troy’s better performances.

Steven Smith, 6.5 Good ball in on the assist, and combined well with Franck Songo’o on the left side. The Sounders were coming down the Timbers left flank quite a bit, and Smitty got caught upfield once or twice, but had a good day defensively as well.

Futty, 7 A real quality center back. But for injuries and suspensions, the Timbers central defense is absolutely stellar. Injuries and suspensions notwithstanding, it was still pretty good on Sunday.

David Horst, 6 Very, very effective getting forward in the first half hour, with one goal and another nod clanging off the bar. Obviously, his grade is depressed a little bit because of his culpability on Seattle’s goal, but overall a very good effort from Horst.

Jack Jewsbury, 5.5 Fairly quiet night on the right side of the defense. Nothing to criticize, and the silence is worthy of some praise, as well.

Franck Songo’o, 6 Good night going forward for Franck, and a Songo’o-Smith partnership looks well worth exploring. Had a tough task defensively for much of the evening as he found himself on Mauro Rosales frequently. Gave up a few more 50-50s than I would like to see, but his attacking more than made up for it.

Diego Chara, 7 This was just classic Diego. Very disruptive in the midfield, and did very well at getting the attack going from deep in the midfield. Whenever you see an opposing team get frustrated, you have to look at Diego. He must just be torturously annoying to play against.

Darlington Nagbe, 5.5 Nagbe is still clearly struggling with his confidence, but he did provide some pretty good holdup play and distribution to the wings. Otherwise, a pretty quiet night for Nagbe.

Kalif Alhassan, 4 As always, Kalif had some nice moments, and this may be a bit harsh, but I thought he should have been able to do better considering the relative weakness of Seattle’s left side on Sunday. Hopefully the hamstring injury isn’t too bad.

Mike Fucito, 6 Thus far for Portland he’s been a scrappier but slightly slower Jorge Perlaza. Ultimately that will have to result in scoresheet production, but I wouldn’t mind seeing him get a few more starts to see if he can grow into the attack a little bit.

Kris Boyd, 7 When Boyd scores a goal he gets a good grade. He scored one and was robbed of another. More importantly, however, Boyd is becoming the clear leader of this team and seems to be the heir apparent to Jack’s armband. And then there’s this.

Sal Zizzo, 6 Very good outing for Sal, as he was the most dangerous instigator of offense for the Timbers after coming on. Assuming Kalif’s hamstring keeps him out a couple weeks—which they usually seem to do—I expect to see Sal get a few full 90s.

Danny Mwanga, 4 Pretty anonymous. I thought the Timbers lost a little verve when Fucito went off. Utterly absurd to start to doubt him at this point, but he has a competition on his hands for the second striker role.

Lovel Palmer, INC Barely saw the field before he gave a flying forearm to Eddie Johnson. He doesn’t get a grade for that, but he might get a smile. Also, it took him no more than 2 minutes after coming on to take his first hopelessly long strike that sailed 15 feet over the bar. He just can’t help himself.

Preseason Prediction: Timbers 1, Sounders 1. Fernandez and Songo’o.

Actual Result: Timbers 2, Sounders 1. Boyd, Horst, and Johnson.

Onward, Rose City!

—by Andrew Brawley

I must admit I haven’t spent much time in Denver. In fact, I’ve spent more time in the airport during layovers than in the city itself. Thankfully, I managed to get in touch a Timbers hero of recent years for some help.

Former Timbers goalkeeper Steve Cronin is now retired and living with his wife Laura and daughter Kaiya in Denver. Steve is currently studying for an upcoming Series 6 exam, and is on track to run a State Farm Insurance agency downtown early next year. (If you have friends in Denver…send them to Steve!). They just celebrated Kaiya’s first birthday, and are enjoying their time in Denver, especially since Laura’s family lives in the area. Steve was nice enough to take a break from his studies to put together a list of places for any traveling TA heading to Denver!

Hard to compare anything to PDX but there are a few that strike a chord.

Peaks Lounge at the Hyatt Regency Downtown. Most comparable to one of my favorite places in PDX, Portland City Grill.

For breakfast, check out Snooze. Great food along the lines of Morning Star Café.

Fado's is an Irish pub with great atmosphere and they are showing the Euros! Right around the corner is the Celtic Tavern so take your pick. (I obviously relate these places to Kells.) Unfortunately there is no speakeasy cigar bar in the basement. The more I think about it, the more I miss Kells, and PDX!

Cherry Creek North. I live right by here and there is a great array of privately owned shops and restaurants. It is a great outdoor area similar in a lot of ways to NW 21st and 23^rd in PDX.

Red Rocks Park. Great area for hiking and biking. Very different but outdoor activities are similar to that of Mt. Hood.

Larimer Square. This is a great area in downtown with even more shops and restaurants. It's a lot like Pioneer Square.

Hopefully the visiting Timbers faithful will enjoy one or two of these places. Laura and I really miss PDX and were very disappointed to leave. Portland and the TA will hold a special place in our hearts forever.

 

2012 tifo display against Seattle Sounders