Match 29: Portland Timbers 1-2 Charleston Battery

By: Bob Kellett | September 11th, 2008

The Bottom Line: Aaron King’s goal in the 89th minute lifted the Charleston Battery to a 2-1 road win over the Portland Timbers in front of a season-high crowd of 13,050 at PGE Park. In a game that the Timbers needed to win to keep their playoff hopes alive, they got off to a good start with a goal from Shaun Higgins in the 14th minute. The Timbers continued to threaten, even after Cameron Dunn was sent off with a straight red card in the 39th minute, but they failed to find the goal again. The Battery’s Lazo Alavanja leveled the score at one in the 73rd minute when he blasted a goal from 20 yard out, beating Timbers keeper Chase Harrison. With the victory, Charleston clinches a spot in the playoffs. Portland is still mathematically alive but will need a lot of help to clinch the seventh and final spot. The Timbers finish their 2008 home campaign with a 5-5-5 record.

Timbers Lineup
Harrison
S. Thompson Knowles J. Thompson Dunn
Dombrowski (Olum 45) Poltl (Griffin 83) Higgins
Brown
Bagley (Guante 45) Suzuki (Walker 63)

Did you notice….?
* What a disappointing way to finish a disappointing year. I thought that the first half was one of the best 45 minutes the Timbers played all year. Despite fielding possibly the slowest lineup in the universe, they were able to generate an attack, maintain possession, and completely shut down the Charleston attack. Chris Bagley was all over the field. He hustled his way into a position to fire a cross to Higgins who tapped in his second goal of the season. Everything was looking good. And then…

* Dunn was called for a straight red during a dead ball. As the Charleston player was taking his dandy time lining up the kick from out wide, there was a scrum in the box. One of the Battery players hit the ground. Might have been the result of Dunn’s elbow. Might have been acting. I didn’t see it. The referee, who was two feet away, didn’t hesitate. Straight red. Story of this season. You can make excuses and blame the referees, but this Portland team is not being unfairly targeted. The Timbers are coached to play a physical, aggressive style. They are molded after a coach who was physically limited but a true competitor. He also was sometimes dirty. That has rubbed off on his team. It has hurt the club this season.

* Even playing a man down the Timbers had their chances to finish this game off. Olum and Guante brought a lot of energy in the second half and each had multiple opportunities to put the team up by two goals. They did not. This game wasn’t lost because of a sent off player. It was lost because Portland failed to finish off Charleston when they had a chance.

* I thought Wilkinson coached a pretty good game. Having Brown as a withdrawn forward with Bagley and Suzuki streaking the sidelines caused Charleston problems. Putting in Olum and Guante at half was the correct move, although I thought Bagley was playing so well he should have gotten a longer run. Putting in Walker for Suzuki, who was absolutely spent, was also right. He might have brought Alvarez in after Charleston scored, but I’m not sure that would have made a difference. The Timbers were tired in the backline.

* King’s goal was one we have seen before this season. With two guys on him – Higgins and J. Thompson (or Knowles?) – he split the defenders and beat Harrison who was off his line. Simply put, King wanted it more. He also had more in his legs. Higgins is not a left back. He was forced to play there this year because Leonard Griffin’s head was elsewhere. In this game Higgins was effective in the midfield. When he was forced to play in Dunn’s place he showed his lack of foot speed and strength on the ball. The left side of the backline this season has been a true weakness.

* That was Suzuki’s last game in the US. He won’t play against Carolina because he’s picked up seven yellow cards. I loved his effort tonight. He looked healthier and more active than he has in months. I can’t imagine him being back next year. I can’t imagine any other teams in USL or MLS are going to sign him.

* Cameron Knowles was named the Supporters Player of the Year. I can’t fault the pick, but I also think Knowles’ game dropped off this season. It didn’t help him that Justin Thompson showed up so out of shape.

* Charleston didn’t look very special. They were missing Osvaldo Alonso, their Cuban central midfielder. He’s one of the top five players in this league. I was looking forward to seeing him in person.

* This was the fourth regular season game this year with more than 10,000 fans. That is amazing. For the season the Timbers drew 128,509 fans for an average of 8,567. In 2007 they drew 6,828 per game. Imagine the crowds if this team actually was good. Oh wait, we were good last season. Imagine the crowds if we were good and the beer was cheap.

Final Thoughts
A frustrating year comes to a frustrating end. There will be plenty of time to dissect what went wrong and what can be done to wrong the ship. For now, let’s just appreciate the fact that we have the opportunity to go to a great stadium and spend 90 minutes standing next to amazing fans. Oh, we can also count of winning the league next year…

Match Reports

Official Game Stats (USL Soccer)

Battery secures playoff berth with win versus Timbers (Charleston Battery)

Big loss for Timbers – Charleston uses man advantage, late goals to win 2-1 at PGE Park (Portland Tribune)

Timbers strike first, but fail to get a win (The Oregonian)

Short-sided Timbers see lead slip in loss to Battery (Portland Timbers)

Rose City Red (Soccer City USA)

Inspiring Words (Eleven Devils)

No Playoffs for the Timbers: Timber 1 Charleston 2 (Portland Mercury)