Match 2: Portland Timbers 2-1 Minnesota Thunder

By: Bob Kellett | April 24th, 2008

The Bottom Line: The Portland Timbers remained undefeated at home in regular season games under coach Gavin Wilkinson by defeating the Minnesota Thunder 2-1 in front of 4,921 at PGE Park. Chris Brown scored for the second straight game, beating Thunder keeper Nicolas Platter with a low shot in the 9th minute. The Thunder got the equalizer in the 41st minute when Nicolas Paye tapped in a cross from Ricardo Sanchez. Shaun Higgins scored the game winner for the Timbers in the 66th minute after collecting a long cross from Andrew Gregor. With the win the Timbers move to 2-0 on the season. The Thunder are 0-1.

Timbers Lineup:
Burse
S. Thompson Knowles J. Thompson Griffin
Olum (Guante 63) Dombrowski Gregor (Poltl 84) Higgins
Brown Suzuki (Bagley 75)

Three Stars

1. Miguel Guante - He came on in the 63rd minute for Lawrence Olum at right midfield and he brought much needed energy to a Timbers team that looked listless for long stretches of the game. On Higgins game winner, he paced the ball down the touchline and set up Gregor for the cross.

2. Chris Brown - I’m starting to think this guy can flat out ball. His goal was created by his upper body strength. He threw off a defender and then deftly made his way through the box. He could have had a couple more goals on the evening. The dude has a powerful shot.

3. Justin Thompson - He was solid in the center all night. Not only was I impressed by his strength on the ball and in the air, but I thought he did a good job distributing the ball, something the rest of the backline has struggled with this season.

Did you notice….?

* It was a tale of three games. The Timbers came out playing crisp, fun to watch soccer. The midfield and forwards were in sync. The Thunder looked lost. And then from the 20th minute until the 60th minute Portland could do nothing right. The passes weren’t on target, the defense was out of position, the team lacked energy. And then Guante came in and the team returned to playing fun football. Hard to explain how one minute they look like world beaters and the next they look terrible.

* I was surprised to see Dombrowski get the start and I was surprised to see him play the full 90. He was really slowing down the attack for most of the game and was got caught out of position on a number of occasions. Gregor was also off his game for large stretches and when we don’t have good play out of our center mids the team really struggles.

* Is it me or is Olum playing out of position? The guy has great athleticism but his strength is not passing or attacking from out wide. He is a hard guy to keep out of the lineup, but I don’t think he is comfortable playing wide right. Guante should earn the start against Seattle with his effort in this game.

* Gavin Wilkinson pulled the right strings tonight. Not only was the Guante substitution the right move, but also taking Suzuki and Gregor out late was wise. Suzuki looked tired and did not have his best game. Gregor was also playing with a yellow card so better to take him out late than risk a sending off.

* Just when I was ready to hang Higgins in effigy, he scored the game winner. He still played his second poor game. I will say this about him. He does a great job of cracking back from behind the ball to play defense. Still, his passing and ball control have left a lot to be desired. If Bryan Little has any skill he should eventually win the left mid position.

* Minnesota’s goal came after a complete breakdown of the Timbers defense. Scot Thompson was caught out of position and Leonard Griffin was beaten on the back post. Burse didn’t have a chance.

* One of these games Suzuki is going to take a back pass from the opposing team and poach it for a goal. He is always lurking around.

* On Brown’s goal there was a Minnesota player down in the box faking death.

* Minnesota looked like they were playing their first game with a lot of new players. I don’t think the Thunder will be horrible this season, but they gave no sign of being a team that will be anywhere near the top of the table. The one player who impressed me was Stephen deRoux but I have always been a sucker for flashy Jamaicans who do nothing but crossovers.

* It was nice to see Timber Jim enjoying himself in Section 107 and giving encouragement to mascot trialist Joey Webber, who earned some brownie points by going into the crowd and shaking hands. He also managed to cut two slices of log without losing any limbs.

* The crowd was sparse and once again the majority was in the north end. I’ve noticed the beer garden isn’t getting as much action this year. Could be the early season weather, but it could also be that the sightlines have been reduced now that the team benches are on that side of the stadium. I went down there pregame and saw how hard it is to see the north end of the field through the benches.

* Another game with home base and first base exposed. This might save money, but it is still very, very minor league.

* How about the linesman on the east side of the stadium? Someone needs to test him for steroids. Biggest. Ref. Ever. His partner, the man in the middle, was less than impressive. It always takes me awhile to adjust to watching USL refs. The quality of play has improved in this league but the officiating has not.

Attendance watch
Through two games the Timbers have drawn 15,898 for an average of 7,949 per game. The average after the first two home games in 2007 was 6,764.

Final Thoughts: - Two wins from two games. That is the bottom line, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. The Timbers have been very inconsistent. We’ve seen flashes of play that is as good as I have ever witnessed at PGE Park. We’ve seen extended stretches of ugliness. It is still early in the season and things can improve. They are going to need to because when they play the better teams in the league they won’t be able to get away with the lapses in concentration. There are a lot of solid parts on this 2008 team and damn it is fun to watch them when they are working well together. One of these games there will be a 90 minute effort and when there is it is going to be a sweet thing to behold.

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

Nasty Challenge
Portland Timbers
Minnesota Thunder
The Oregonian
USL Soccer
Soccer City USA
Mitchelldyer Photography Blog

Photos: Allison Andrews/Soccer City USA