Tonight is one of the most significant matches in club history. Big trip out to Portland to face a good Timbers side. Jordan Gafa's red card against Seattle means Hill will have to go with a replacement in the back for him. I would really prefer to see Ambersley out there from the begging instead of Deldo. Hopefully the defense can hold together like they did against the Sounders and we can sneak a goal again, it is the only way I see us advancing. It is going to take some magic to get past Portland and we just haven't shown much of that this season. Prediction: Timbers 2 - Rowdies 0 Shoot me
Hristov quickly finds new home with Rowdies http://tbo.com/sports/hristov-quickly-finds-new-home-with-rowdies-b82500495z1
Since the Rowdies don't have much in the way of promotions planned, may I suggest a 'Burn our ugly ass third kit night'?
Rowdies are playing the type of game they need to stay in this thing......but they are going to need that luck to get back in to it. Of course, the rate they are going, Tampa Bay is going to end up playing with ten or even nine men by the end of the match.
I would have thought Portland would have drawn better. Guess the young hipsters out there didn't get the memo about this being a rematch of the 75 Soccer Bowl.
Rowdies showed hustle and heart, but not much else tonight. Portland scored two good goals and lady luck didn't smile on us tonight. Not a single lucky break. Hristov picked a fine time to have his worst game of the year, his only contribution was to get his two yellows. Mulholland didn't factor as much as he normally does, but he almost changed the game with that cracking free kick. My vote for man of the match was Keith Savage. He took on the role that we normally see Luke doing, chasing down fifty-fifty balls, covering nearly every square inch of the field, if only he had taken a few more shots. No shame in losing to a good Timbers side. They didn't embarrass themselves. Our lack of a bench was exposed in the second half (and Hill's reluctance to make substitutes before the last fifteen minutes). Should have bought a lottery ticket tonight.
Good job tonight, your side looked like the better team on 70% of the field, your midfield play and passing efficiency, two areas where the Timbers have excelled in MLS this season, were a level above ours tonight. Fortunately you couldn't put anything together when you got down to our box. Savage was all other the place, I think there may have been two of him out there, he came to play. Hill played a good game too. I was expecting to see some good play from Hristov, but he came and left. Watching the live stream, that was definitely a tiny crowd by Timbers standards. That was a front office failure on the Timbers. The game was barely marketed and they charged the regular MLS price for the tickets. Put the game midweek during a busy stretch of the season the day after many Timbers faithful traveled to Seattle to see the USMNT and they found a formula to keep the audience sparse. Especially in those pricy seats across from the camera. This would have been a perfect game to promote the team with cheap first come first serve seating too. Best of luck to the Rowdies. Any of you who made the trip up to rainy country should be sure to grab a beer or cup of coffee while in Portland, preferably both. I hope you stomp some Scorpions this weekend.
Portland Timbers 2, Tampa Bay Rowdies 0 | US Open Cup Match Recap http://sports.yahoo.com/news/portland-timbers-2-tampa-bay-004428945--mls.html
USOC Highlights: Timbers 2, Rowdies 0 http://www.portlandtimbers.com/video/2013/06/12/usoc-highlights-timbers-2-rowdies-0
U.S. Open Cup: Little-used Portland Timbers players with something to prove help bring down Tampa Bay http://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/index.ssf/2013/06/us_open_cup_little-used_portla.html
U.S. Open Cup: Portland Timbers Win 2-nil Over the Tampa Bay Rowdies http://www.stumptownfooty.com/2013/...-portland-timbers-win-2-nil-tampa-bay-rowdies
To be fair, teams have very little scheduling flexibility on Open Cup dates. The other stuff, yeah, some of it, yeah. But I don't think anyone could have envisioned the USMNT semi-conflict. And when you only have a couple of weeks after you know for certain you have a game, it is neither easy (nor effective, usually) to devote a lot of marketing resources to it. And I am guessing it wasn't in the season ticket package (while I believe it is in Kansas City, for one example). Such is the Open Cup.