Match 1: Portland Timbers 1-0 Puerto Rico Islanders

By: Bob Kellett | April 17th, 2008

The Bottom Line: The Portland Timbers ushered in the 2008 season with a 1-0 victory against the Puerto Rico Islanders in front of 10,977 at PGE Park. Playing a man up after the Islanders Tairo Atieno was shown a straight card in the 40th minute for a behind the ball elbow against Justin Thompson, the Timbers found the net in the 71st minute when Chris Brown blasted home a shot from 30 yards out. The Timbers have beaten Puerto Rico at home ~~four~~ five straight times.

Timbers Lineup:
Burse
S. Thompson Knowles J. Thompson Griffin
Olum (Little 79) Poltl Gregor Higgins
Brown Suzuki

Three Stars

1. Timber Jim – Thank you, sir. Thank you for one last log.

2. Chris Brown – The man who resembles Charlie Brown had an excellent all around game. He created a couple chances on his own in the first half. His goal was a rocket. He took advantage of a Puerto Rico defense that parted the center of the field like it was the Red Sea. Heck, even his miss at the end of the game was exciting.

3. Fabrice Noel – For the most part Puerto Rico played like dog poo, but Noel gave the Timbers backline fits. His speed set up a couple of early crosses that more capable teammates would have buried in the back of the net.

Did you notice….?

* Puerto Rico had control early and the Timbers backline look disorganized. I’m talking about ten minutes of worry. And then the tide turned. After the red card Puerto Rico played ten behind the ball, hoping to get a road point. Sorry, no points for you.

* The Timbers were playing some tight one-two combinations in the first half. For a minute I thought I was watching something other than USL First Division soccer. It was pretty. Brown, Suzuki and Gregor are all skillful on the ball. When they connect it sure is going to be enjoyable to watch.

* Suzuki has an excellent work rate. Here is a former World Cup player busting his ass on a cool evening on fake turf in a league no one has ever heard of. Impressive. He also is much better in the air than I anticipated. He’ll get used to the rough play and piss poor officiating. His yellow card was a joke. He was cut down like a tree and he ended up with the card. Ridiculous.

* I saw Gregor run hard on multiple occasions. He looked younger and livelier than I’ve seen him in five years. His set pieces were atrocious, but if the dude plays this hard he’ll hear no complaints from me.

* The red card was deserved. Atieno laid the wood down on Justin Thompson. It was malicious and cheap. It was also the second time in the game there was an elbow behind the ball. Did you happen to notice that Puerto Rico’s coach and one of the Timbers’ assistants had to be separated? Also, late in the game someone on Puerto Rico’s bench was tossed from the game for running on the pitch to complain that the Timbers were stalling. I’ve never seen that before.

* Puerto Rico’s players were cramping. Who cramps in 48 degree temperatures? Players who aren’t fit. Hard to imagine a team training in the heat and humidity would be less fit than one training in the Pacific Northwest, but that was the case. At one point the Islanders had two players cramped up and eight players on the pitch.

* Burse was not challenged all night. He did look in control of the area and was vocal.

* Why are there still dirt patches at home plate and first base? It looks bush league. The rest of the turf is wonderful though. It was refreshing seeing a game being played on the ground and not in the air.

* On behalf of my liver and my wallet thank you PGE Park for the $3.50 microbrews. Thursday nights are going to be fun this year. Friday mornings, not so much.

* Kudos to the team for having the most recent kits in the stores. In previous years this has taken months. From what I could see plenty of people were buying the new jerseys and scarves.

* The North End was monstrous. People were standing from 102-111 and also in the 200 sections. I’d say half the attendance was in the North End, if not more.

* I found the Timber Jim halftime ceremony a little difficult to hear. The acoustics at the park are never good. The banners honoring Jim hanging in front of the Shed were class. Better than the one the team dedicated.

* Nice to see Bryan Little get a little run. When he came in he replaced Olum ,who was largely ineffective on the right mid, Higgins slotted over to the right and Little played wide left. He has a nice first touch. I suspect he’ll start sooner rather than later.

* Poltl is the man who can’t lose his job even if Gavin would like him to. Once again he got the start over Dombrowski and once again he did the dirty work in the middle.

* Tom Taylor and Steve Reese were on the sideline but not dressed for the game.

Final Thoughts: - This was a good, solid win to start the season. It was not a consistent 90-minute effort, but other than a couple of breakdowns in the beginning the Timbers were well organized and in control. We saw flashes of what Brown and Suzuki can do up front and that should have us all excited. The midfield is more hustle than skill and that is a concern going forward, but three points is always a nice way to start a season and a big crowd celebrating the awesomeness that is Timber Jim made for a fun evening. It was nice seeing y’all.

Your thoughts, observations and bones of contention?

Match Reports (I’ll update when I see them)

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