Portland Timbers

VSTampa Bay Rowdies

Saturday, July 31ist
4:30pm @ George Steinbrenner Field
Online @ PortlandTimbers.com
Radio on 95.5 The Game

This is our second and last regular season match with Tampa Bay. Our first battle with the Rowdies was June 27th, when Dike scored the only goal of the game. That was game 2 of the recent 5 game unbeaten streak, which St. Louis just snapped. The St. Louis match is done and hopefully was just a hiccup that we can avenge when we return to STL on August 14th. Now back to the current road trip, getting 3 points in Tampa Bay will not be easy. Tampa has a 3-2-3 record at home and this is their fourth consecutive match at home.

Tampa Bay is led by the two Aarons, King and Wheeler. We missed Wheeler the first time… Read the rest

The Timbers played their worst game of the season by dropping to AC St. Louis 3 nil. Mike Ambersley got the hat trick for St. Louis, as the Timbers seemed to just hand the goals over him. Simple mistakes were quickly exploited by Ambersley who scored in the 26th minute and then chipped a ball over Cronin just a minute later to make the game 2-nil. Josten had a chance, but was stopped by the keeper just before half.

The second half was as lackluster as the first for the Timbers, as Ambersley scored again for the hat trick in the 57th minute. The Timbers tried to move the ball to Dike as usual, but the St. Louis defense did a good job of breaking up chances. The Timbers offense never seemed to get on track and defensive lapses led to easy goals for AC.

One positive note… Read the rest

The Puerto Rico Islanders played at the Home Depot Center and put on a show by beating Landon’s LA 4-1. Last night’s match was a qualifier for the CONCACAF Champions League, and things do not look good for LA. The only goal scored by the Galaxy was an own goal.

Game Previews
Dropping Timber – Going to St. Louis
Portland Timbers – Timbers begin three-game road trip Wednesday
AC St. Louis – AC ST. LOUIS READY FOR SOME HOME COOKING
AC St Louis Fanatic – Timbers Time: AC St. Louis Hosts Portland Wednesday Night
Timber Mill – Timbers in St. Louis with a little redemption on their minds
Offside – Game 18: AC St. Louis v. Portland Timbers

More Timbers News
John Strong – Talk Timbers (7/27/2010)
Dave Knows – Tuesday Timbers Tidbits (07/27/2010)
Oregon Live – Tough guy John Spencer tops list of candidates to coach Timbers for their inaugural
Oregon Live – Commissioner Doug Garber discusses the state of MLS and the Portland Timbers

The Timbers face AC St Louis tomorrow, but while the match on the field is important for this years playoff race, something even more important for the Timbers future will happen on Wednesday. At halftime during the MLS All Stars vs. Manchester United game, a coin flip will determine the fates of Vancouver and Portland. The winner of the toss gets to choose their preference between having the first pick in the SuperDraft or the Expansion Draft.

The All-star Game will be on ESPN2 this Wednesday, starting at 5:30pm PST, so the coin toss will be sometime after 6:15pm, if you want to make sure to see it.

Dropping Timber will be posting in depth articles on the SuperDraft and Expansion drafts in the coming days, so stay tuned.

Portland Timbers

The Timbers travel to St. Louis for the first time this Wednesday. It is our third match with AC St. Louis, as we won the first meeting 3-nil back in April and then tied them 1-1 in May. AC has been struggling on several fronts with financial trouble that put the team’s future in doubt and poor play that has resulted in a 4-10-4 record.

The Timbers are red hot at moment fresh from a huge win in Vancouver and on a 5 game unbeaten streak. St. Louis won on Saturday, in a 1-nil match at home against Crystal Palace Baltimore. Earlier this month AC, destroyed the Impact in a 3 nil victory at home, but Montreal reversed that score… Read the rest