Match 14: Portland Timbers 2-2 Atlanta Silverbacks

By: Bob Kellett | June 12th, 2008

The Bottom Line: Nathan Knox scored in the 88th minute to lift the visiting Atlanta Silverbacks to a 2-2 draw against the Portland Timbers in front of 7,862 at PGE Park in a game in which two Portland players were sent off with straight red cards. Chris Bagley gave the Timbers the early lead after he capitalized on an Atlanta mistake in the 14th minute. Timbers midfielder Tom Poltl was sent off for a tackle in the 17th minute. Atlanta (3-3-4) leveled the score in the 29th minute after Portland’s Miguel Guante headed a cross into his own goal. The Timbers fought back to take the lead in the 39th minute after Justin Thompson scored from a long free kick by Scot Thompson. It was Thompson who was shown the game’s second red card in the 68th minute. Playing two men down, the Timbers (4-4-6) could not hold the lead. Portland has now gone five home games without a win and they have just nine points from their last 11 games.

Timbers lineup
Burse
S. Thompson Knowles J. Thompson Griffin
Dombrowski Poltl Guante
Brown
Suzuki (Lara 80) Bagley (Karalexis 45)

Three stars
1. The ball girl behind the Timbers goal – With the Timbers playing two men down and trying to waste time, keeper Ray Burse instructed the ball girl behind him to take her time retrieving the ball. On multiple occasions she dropped the ball, delayed tossing it to him, and ate up valuable seconds. In a confusing game where both sides lacked energy, I salute the ball girl for doing her best to help the home side win.

2 & 3 – Can’t say anyone really stood out enough to earn these honors. In general the Timbers lads played hard and fought until the end. That doesn’t mean they played well, but it was a solid team effort in a time of great adversity.

Did you notice?

* That was one of the weirdest games I’ve seen at PGE Park and I have seen some weird ones. Neither team had their legs. Neither team played with much emotion or energy. The referee decided to insert himself into the action and despite their efforts to hang on, the law of averages caught up with the Timbers. Atlanta didn’t play well enough to win. Portland didn’t play poorly enough to lose. Hard to point the blame at the players. The ones left on the field played their hearts out. Hard to point the blame at the manager. Strange, strange game.

* Bagley’s goal, just the second he has scored in a Timbers uniform, came off a miscommunication in Atlanta’s backline. I can see why the Silverbacks are mid-table at this point in the season. They are very disorganized in the back and Bagley was able to take advantage of that. For his efforts he was yanked at halftime, which was the right move because the Timbers were a man down and needed the extra defense that Tim Karalexis provided.

* Guante’s own goal was inexcusable. It came off a long cross from Atlanta and he had a lot of time. He panicked and hit it top shelf into the Timbers net. You could just see the Timbers players cringe on the field. The life was sucked out of them.

* And then the life came back when Justin Thompson scored. It came from a long free kick from Scot Thompson. JT was hardly marked and he had little difficulty heading it home. Set pieces where he is in the scrum are turning out to be the best scoring chances for the Timbers this season. He simply has a knack for getting his body on the ball.

* His body was sporting a uniform which was ripped in the first half. At this rate there won’t be any more of those Nike kits left by July.

* Both red cards came off of hard tackles. I didn’t have a great angle on Poltl’s but he didn’t do much complaining. He had been warned about his play in the first few minutes. Apparently that was all the warning he would get this evening. I did have a great angle for Scot Thompson’s tackle. It was hard and it was worthy of a yellow, but I don’t think that is a straight red card, especially with his team playing a man down. Even Atlanta’s David Hayes seemed to go up to Scot and apologize for the call.

* Atlanta really struggled to take advantage of being up a man. They forced Ray Burse into his first save in the game in the 70th minute. Even when they were two men up they weren’t pounding the goal. The equalizer came from a bunch of traffic in front of the Timbers goal. The faces of Portland’s players after it happened were heartbreaking.

* I can’t fault Gavin Wilkinson for his strategy once his team went down a man. He moved Dombrowski, who oddly was starting at right midfield, into the middle and brought Suzuki back to play midfield. After halftime he went defensive by taking out Bagley and putting in Karalexis to support Dombrowski as a holding midfielder. When Thompson was ejected, Karalexis moved to right back. He also had to take out Suzuki late because Taka could hardly move. The game situations dictated Wilkinson’s moves and he handled it well. He didn’t have much on the bench late in the game in terms of fresh bodies that could defend.

* The normally placid crowd in the west stands booed Macamba Kandji every time he touched the ball after he drew the red card against Scot Thompson. Apparently it takes an enemy to wake folks up. Overall the crowd was better than I expected. There were a lot of college kids doing the Thirsty Thursday thing.

*Ray Burse’s distribution was simply horrible.

* Jordan James did not suit up for the game. Steve Reese was on the bench. I don’t think James is injured. Shaun Higgins didn’t suit up. He is battling a strained calf. Lawrence Olum also is still working on a quad strain.

* The lineup sheet that the press is given listed Andrew Gregor as a starter. He didn’t suit up for the game. Not sure if it was an illness or what, but it appears that it was a last minute decision. (Update: It was a mild hamstring pull in warmups)

* I was going to write something about the backline players’ inability to pass, but you’ve read that before in this space.

Final Thoughts - This game might be a metaphor for the first half of the season. The Timbers played hard, they could have won, they probably should have won, but instead they lost another two points at home. Through eight home games, they are 3-2-3. That isn’t going to cut it in this league. A couple of saving graces to take away from this game. It wasn’t a loss. Anytime a team can survive with men down it is a fortunate thing. The other saving grace is that this team, which has played a lot of games in a short amount of time, can heal its wounds and regroup. If ever there was a time for a break in a season, this is it.

Match Reports

Two men down, Timbers fight for 2-2 draw (Portland Timbers)

Game Stats (USL Soccer)

Portland 2, Atlanta 2 Timbers gain point, ‘confidence’ (The Oregonian)
Timbers tie Atlanta 2-2 at PGE Park (Portland Tribune)

Two red cards, two points stolen (Soccer City USA)

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