Gah, that was ugly. Crystal Palace Baltimore beat the Timbers 1-0 at PGE last night. The Timbers first loss of the season, and Crystal Palace’s first win. As Allison Andrews so succinctly put it at The Timber Mill, “bad form + bad luck = bad result.”
But Saturday the Timbers return to PGE Park to face AC St Louis, and next Wednesday, May 19th Montreal comes for a visit. I suspect the boys will redeem themselves.
Now to the roundup . . .
Close doesn’t count, Timbers fall to Crystal Palace Baltimore by a 1-0 score by Allison Andrews at The Timber Mill
It was a frighteningly familiar result for fans who have seen the Timbers play teams at the bottom of the league, especially in the past few years, as the Timbers failed to put away a team they were expected to beat, and gave up a lone goal that they couldn’t answer. It was Yaikel Perez who would score the lone goal for Crystal Palace Baltimore in a 1-0 loss in front of 8,817 at PGE Park. [more]
Timbers: Baltimore stuns Portland with 1-0 victory by Geoffrey C. Arnold at The Oregonian
Timbers coach Gavin Wilkinson was concerned about how his team would play Thursday night after coming off a two-week layoff.
Wilkinson’s concerns were more than justified. The Timbers’ woefully lackluster play in the first 60 minutes, combined with an opponent hungry for a win, resulted in the Timbers’ unexpected 1-0 loss to previously winless Crystal Palace Baltimore in front of 8,817 at PGE Park. [more]
Game 5: Timbers 0 – Palace 1 by mao at Timbers USL Blog at The Offside
Crystal Palace Baltimore earned their first victory of the season with a 1-0 win away to Portland Timbers at PGE Park. Former Cuban international Yaikel Perez scored the game’s only goal on a flick of a header in the 29th minute from a Pat Healey cross to stun the Timbers. For their part, Portland were inept in the first half, requiring two substitutes simply to increase the tempo and solidify direction. Even still, the home side were prone to errors and suffered from terrible luck as well with three different shots rattling the post. Portland put in a feverish effort in over the final half-hour but it seemed their fate was sealed as 16 shots went toward the Palace goal just in the second half, but not one of them found a way through. [more]
But, in happier news:
Portland Timbers play Manchester City in July Friendly at Merlo Field by me, here!
The speculation is true: Manchester City will visit Portland in July to play a friendly against the Portland Timbers. The match takes place July 17th at Merlo Field. [more]
In MLS related Timbers news:
Portland Timbers look everywhere, from their own roster to Europe and Africa, for MLS players by Geoffrey C. Arnold at The Oregonian
The Portland Timbers have just started their 2010 season, but they’re already working hard at building a roster for next season.
The Timbers will join Major League Soccer in 2011, and Timbers coach Gavin Wilkinson is spending much of his time traveling the world in search of talent. In addition to signing players from overseas, the Timbers will look to retain some of the players on their current roster, draft players from college, and select veterans in the MLS expansion draft. [more]
In supporter news, a must read:
My history with the Timbers Army by Kip Kesgard at Oregonlive
Another topic that I’ve been asked about lately is what is it like to stand within the Timbers Army on game day, and how did you get involved? Fans from other areas of PGE Park watch the streamers and flags fly, hear the songs, see the scarf displays and view the pageantry of what happens each match, but what is it really like to be right in the middle of all of that activity? Having stood regularly in the section since the start of the 2005 season, I’ve seen the group grow from a handful of passionate fans in a few rows of section 107 to now five full sections of the North End standing and singing for each match. I can also tell you that the group itself is one of the most amazing, dysfunctional, passionate, colorful, and simply unique bunch of people I’ve ever encountered. [more]
In former player news, a story about David Hayes, who played for the Timbers last season, but then decided to “retired”
RailHawks add defensive specialist to line-up by Edward G. Robinsion III at NewsObserver.com
The Carolina RailHawks added defensive specialist David Hayes to their roster on Wednesday, providing much needed depth in a backfield depleted by injuries and suspensions.
Hayes, a former Wingate University player, is a veteran defender who was drafted by the D.C. United in 1999. He has spent the past seven seasons playing in the United Soccer Leagues First Division, where he’s earned All-League first team honors in three consecutive seaosns (2007-2009). He was named the USL-1 defender of the year in 2007. [more]
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