Now the season has begun.
The Timbers are 2-0-0. The home opener was epic in its own way, but the match was not well played. Thursday, however, The Timbers put on a show. They knocked out AC St. Louis 3-0, with the first goal coming less than 20 seconds after the kickoff. Man of the match Pore scored his second goal of the night in first half stoppage time, and assisted Obatola for the last goal of the evening. St. Louis had a handful of chances, but were no match for the Timbers.
The Timbers travel to Montreal for a Sunday, April 25th match, then return next (Thirsty) Thursday, April 29th for a home matchup with Vancouver.
Here’s a morning batch of match recaps. I’ll update this post with more as they trickle in . . .
Timbers score in 17 seconds, then dominate for 90 minutes in 3-0 win over St. Louis by Allison Andrews at The Timber Mill
It only took 17 seconds for the Timbers to take the lead against AC St. Louis on Thursday, but it was 90 minutes of domination that resulted in a 3-0 win as Ryan Pore would score twice in the first half, with OJ Obatola scoring in the second half. Steve Cronin and Matt Pyzdrowski would share the shutout in front of the smallest home crowd in two years, with only 5,893 in the crowd on the same night as a home Trailblazers playoff game. [more]
Portland 3, St. Louis 0: Timbers welcome coach home with win at The Oregonian
Timbers head coach Gavin Wilkinson arrived just in time to see his team score its first goal Thursday night. Any member of the Timbers Army arriving late to Portland’s match with AC St. Louis, however, probably missed it. [more]
POSTGAME: Timbers Blowout AC St Louis 3 – 0 by Kevin at Dropping Timber
Only 17 seconds after kickoff, the Timbers would strike. After some nifty passing, the team found OJ Obatola in front of the box, who deftly drew in the St Louis keeper before dropping off an assist to a streaking Ryan Pore, who blasted in the goal from the left side. [more]
Game 2: Timbers 3 – St. Louis 0 by mao at Timbers at The Offside
A goal in the first minute and two subsequent strikes saw Portland Timbers trottle AC St. Louis at PGE Park on Thursday night, 3-0. Ryan Pore scored after just nineteen seconds, again just before half-time and OJ Obatola (pictured) tallied his first goal for the Timbers in the 62nd. For the most part, St. Louis were thoroughly out-played, though they did have several strong chances on goal, including a Manuel Kanté shot in the 33rd minute that was cleared off the line by Tony McManus. Otherwise this game belonged to the Timbers. [more]
How about some fan based player ratings? I give Pore a 10 for Thursday’s match. Purdy and Farber 8s.
Help us Rate the Players by Dan at Dropping Timber
After each match, Dropping Timber would like you to help us assign ratings for the Portland Timbers. Ratings are based on a 0-10 score depending upon how each player performed in the match. You do not have to rate every player who appeared, just the ones you feel comfortable assigning a rating to. You may optionally add comments to explain your ratings. [more]
Some opening day match recap late arrivals:
The First Goodbye by Ryan Wise at Portland Sportsman
Up until now, the Timbers would never be confused with major league. Those who attended the Glickman- or PCL-owned Timbers remember that today’s corniness has replaced yesterday’s awkwardness, characterized by miniscule crowds and ham-fisted-or-non-existant merchandise. But now the MLS franchise has been awarded and the construction on PGE Park is already past the first phase. A sell-out crowd of 15,400+ was on hand to kick off the final Division 2 season. [more]
Timbers and Beer by Emily Gibson at The Meat Show
As we all know the Timbers had their season opener last Saturday. The best part of all was the sold out crowd in full force. We had a set of general admission tickets that we ended up giving away because we actually scored some Widmer Garden VIP tickets. Now, normally the shtick is to sit in the Timbers Army section where all the die hard fans are, but after sitting about 2 feet off the field drinking and eating for free the whole game I’m a little spoiled. [more]
In MLS related news:
Portland fans thinking major in final minor-league season by Jakob Anthony at MLSSoccer.com
PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Timbers opened their season Saturday night against the Rochester Rhinos with a 1-0 victory before 15,418 Timbers fans. The Timbers started off slowly, but the fans did not. They were in full song long before the curtain was raised on a season filled with expectations and anticipation. [more]
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