Wow, what an opener. In front of a huge and enthusiastic crowd, The Timbers, and the Rhinos, looked like crap for a full half. In the second half the teams put together a few nice sequences, and Portland’s Pore showed some flashes of offense. I’m not sure where that ball would have gone if the Rhino player hadn’t thrown up his arm to deflect it, but we got a fair and square penalty kick out of it, which Pore put away nicely (he’s good on penalty kicks; free kicks not so much). So yeah, the Timbers got the result they were after, but it was not a pretty game. I don’t think any soccer team could make soccer on turf as pretty as on real grass. I’d forgotten how dang bouncy that thin layer of green plastic on concrete can be. Fast though.
Recommended match reviews:
15,416 see Rhinos hand Timbers a 1-0 win by Allison Andrews at The Timber Mill
Portland Timbers Season Home Opener by Sabrina Miller at PDX.FM
All is Full of Love: Timbers Win Season Opener in Familiar Fashion by Lucas at The Nerd is the Word
Portland Timbers v. Rochester Rhinos 04/18/2010 (match 04/17/2010) by Bob Kellett at The Woodwork
Game 1: Timbers 1 – Rochester 0 by mao at The Offside
Timbers v. Rhinos April 17, 2010 match recap by Kip Kesgard at OregonLive.com
Timbers open with celebration by Cliff Pfenning at OregonSports.com
And Dropping Timber has collected even more game recaps and reviews: Timber Bits – Postgame Fix
So yeah, the home opener was the big news this week in Timber-land. And we have AC St. Louis visiting PGE Park on Thursday, April 22nd at 7pm to prepare for now. But in the mean time, a few other tidbits came down the wire . . .
An angry volcano has stranded Timbers coach Wilkinson in England.
Andrew Guest writes about the history of PGE Park at Pitchinvasion, though the headline is just confusing: Coming Soon to MLS: Hoodoo Yaller Dogs, Bizarre Tennis Cults, and a New Portland Stadium with Old Soccer History.
And Gavin may have found us a keeper in his homeland: Opportunity knocks for Wellington goalkeeper.
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