Timbers play the Impact; Skate Decks; Oral Surgery

After a devastating loss to Crystal Palace Baltimore on Thursday and squandering two points in a tie with AC St. Louis on Saturday, not all is well in Timbers-land.  Despite dramatically out-shooting both opponents (16-5 over Crystal Palace and 14-3 over AC St. Louis) the boys dropped 5 points to two of the lowest ranked teams in the league².  Sometimes the Timbers have an unfortunate tendency to play down to the level of their opponent, but Ryan Pore has seemingly lost the spark that he showed in the first four games of the season and players like Johan Claesson and Quavas Kirk simply phoned in lackluster performances.  The consensus amongst the Army seems to be that the best thing about Saturday was the promotional giveaway of skateboard decks.

This seeming malaise is worrisome coming into tomorrow's match against the unbeaten Montreal Impact (2-0-2).  In the third game of the season, the Impact held the Timbers to a 1-1 draw and, despite the added difficulty of playing at PGE Park, will be looking to add to their point total.  Given that Timbers have had difficulties in the past with bottom-of-the-table teams, I doubt that Montreal are expecting an easy time of it, but I fervently hope that the last two games have awakened the boys after two weeks off.  There's unfinished business between our two sides.

We'll be at the usual meetup at The Standard starting at about 4 pm.  Come join us (but don't forget your jacket)!

On another note, some disorganization and injuries (as mentioned in the post title) prevented my showing for Sunday Parkways, but it was good to hear that some people made it out to enjoy the glorious weather.  Some antibiotics, a little tooth removal, and I'll be right back out there riding with y'all!

Smarter and better match previews can be found at:
portlandtimbers.com
montrealimpact.com
daveknows:portland
Dropping Timber
The Offside
RowdiesPDX

Pre-match discussion is over on SCUSA.