Match 18: Portland Timbers 1-1 Atlanta Silverbacks

By: Bob Kellett | July 18th, 2008

The Bottom Line: The Portland Timbers (5-6-7) and Atlanta Silverbacks (5-4-6) played to an improbable 1-1 draw in USl First Division action on Friday evening. After 90 minutes that were largely controlled by the Silverbacks, the Timbers looked poised to steal three road points when Lawrence Olum scored in stoppage time. The Timbers couldn’t hold onto the lead, however. Scott Buete slotted home a goal two minutes later to salvage the draw for the home team. The Timbers finish the season with a (1-0-2) record against Atlanta and stay a point ahead of the Silverbacks in the table heading into Saturday’s game in Charleston.

Timbers lineup:
POR: GK Knighton, D Griffin, D Karalexis (J. Thompson, 6), D Knowles, D S. Thompson, M Higgins, M Guante (Walker, 33)(Bagley, 87), M Poltl, M Dombrowski (Little, 45), F Olum, F Brown (Suzuki, 77)

Did you notice….?

* The first half was yet another brutal display of soccer from the Portland Timbers. There was little possession, no midfield play, not attack to be found, and lots of careless giveaways by the backline. Atlanta stalled in the final third but not from a lack of chances. Atlanta had five shots. The Timbers had one. One freakin’ shot.

* The second half was even worse. The Timbers attack was the essence of existentialism. Atlanta couldn’t close the deal, however and let the Timbers hang around.

* Olum’s goal came from a shot by Takayuki Suzuki. It was deflected by the Atlanta defender and fell right to Olum who slotted it home with a volley. It was kind of a lucky play, exactly the type of play a team that had played a miserable game needed. Unfortunately, it didn’t stand. I’m not sure where the stoppage time came from, but the referee gave an additional three or four minutes. Buete’s goal came from a ball that skidded through the box and somehow wasn’t cleared. Just an amazing turn of events.

* Tom Poltl and Neil Dombrowski were paired in the central midfield to start the game and boy was that abysmal to watch. Wilkinson had the sense to sub out Dombrowski at halftime. These two guys can’t play next to one another if the Timbers have any intention of playing soccer that isn’t completely negative.

* Tim Karalexis went down early with a leg injury. Apparently Justin Thompson has fallen out of favor with Gavin Wilkinson and Karalexis was slated to be the man. Looked like a fairly serious injury. You know, we have no freakin’ depth in the backline if Karalexis is out for any length of time.

* That lack of backline depth isn’t helped by Miguel Guante going out in the first half with a hamstring injury. He was replaced by Jamil “don’t call me Jamal” Walker who slotted in at forward while Chris Brown moved to right midfield. Two injuries early on during a back-to-back weekend trip. Not good.

* The battle between Cameron Knowles and Mac Kanji was fun to watch all night. Both are big, physical players. Kanji had the speed advantage but for the most part Knowles was all over him like stink on shit.

* Takayuki Suzuki didn’t start for this first time all season in a USL-1 game where he wasn’t serving a suspension. He did provide a bit of a spark late off the bench. Perhaps his new role should be as a super sub?

* Chris Bagley didn’t start even though he always scores against Atlanta. And he didn’t get his number called until the final minutes. Against any other team I’m ok with Bagley being on the bench. Against Atlanta he should play, especially if Walker is as ineffective as he was tonight. Again, our new forward failed to impress me — not that his midfield gave him any support at all.

* Knighton came up with some big saves. He is very adept at reflex saves.

* The Timbers still have never lost when Lawrence Olum starts. That isn’t to say Olum was special tonight. He struggles with his decisions big time. By the end of the game I had no clue where he was playing. The mass lineup changes moved everyone around and he looked lost out there. He was in the right place at the right time on that goal, however.

* Knowles’ shirt had a handwritten number on it. Suzuki’s shirt was torn. How about we just save the team the expense of replacing these Nike kits by playing ~~shits~~ shirts and skins?

* What would you estimate the possession time was? I’d say 70%-30% Atlanta. Tough to win in hot, humid conditions on the road when you spend the whole night chasing.

* Bryan Little played the quietest 45 minutes I’ve ever seen. Chris Brown played his least effective game of the season.

Final Thoughts – The Timbers didn’t deserve to come away with three points. They were outplayed and outclassed all night. They played a negative game. And then they got a gift. A gift that would have given them yet another win in Atlanta in yet another game in which the Silverbacks were the better team. That gift was stolen right back and frankly Atlanta didn’t deserve it even though they deserved to win the game (this would only make sense to those who watched this game). This is the second time this season against Atlanta that Portland turned three points into one point with a soft goal late in the game. A golden opportunity was blown by a Portland squad that is running out of golden opportunities to squander. Overall this was a poor game and the result should be one for which we should be thankful, even if the ending was hard to witness.

Match Reports (Updated when available or when I come down from the cliff I am about to jump off of)

Official match stats (USL Soccer)

Silverbacks Get Added Time Goal to Draw Timbers (Atlanta Silverbacks)

Timbers, Atlanta each strike late for 1-1 draw (Portland Timbers)