A beautiful late summer evening greeted 5,112 fans at Swangard Stadium last night as the visiting Portland Timbers held off the Vancouver Whitecaps and left town with a 1-1 draw. It was a physical contest, with lots of momentum swings; a typical Vancouver Portland contest. The Caps will feel a bit hard done by with the result, as they controlled large parts of the contest, but the Timbers were the ones that needed the win the most and they didn't get the job done.
It was the Whitecaps that threatened early, with two excellent chances in the first 10 minutes, but efforts by Paul Dailly and Steve Kindel went wide in a sign of things to come. By about the mid-point of the half, it was the Timbers that were carrying the play, and the Whitecaps had to endure some nervous moments: McKinley Tennyson was a presence all evening, but his opportunities were limited by the inability of the supporting cast to get the ball to him with any accuracy. As a result, although the Timbers had more of the posession, it was the Caps that continued to pose the greater threat. But The Timbers back line, led by Gavin Wilkinson, were solid, and it was that stout defending and last-ditch tackling that denied many clear-cut chances. But right at the end of the first half the Whitecaps had a glorious opportunity when the ball fell to Carlo Corrazin about 12 yards out, but his drive thrashed off the near post and up into the air. That signalled the interval, and both teams went to the locker rooms pondering the wasted opportunities.
Portland had rarely threatened up to that point, but they sprung out of the gate quickly to break the deadlock. It started as a fortunate play, as the Vancouver defender fell down trying to chase a long ball. Timber forward Fadi Afash chased the apparent lost cause to the endline before hooking over a cross that deflected off someone in front and landed right at the feet of Jake Sagare who side-footed the ball into the goal for the opener. The Whitecaps responded in emphatic style, punishing some hesitation in the otherwise solid Portland defense. Carlo Corrazin took a quick free kick at midfield and sent the ball in the general direction of Alfredo Valente who was trying to take advantage of some very loose Timber marking. Valente took the Corrazin pass out of the air off his chest, and put the full volley brilliantly into Josh Saunders' far corner to bring the game back to level terms.
The Caps pressed forward looking to take advantage of the momentum swing, but squandered chance after chance with poor finishing. In the 81st minute, Scott Benedetti was sent off for a second bookable offence, and the sending off swung the balance in the Caps favour. Portland were content at that point to put all available players behind the ball, leaving big Tennyson to handle the goal scoring chores. But the Whitecaps were relentless by this point. Gordon Chin had a beautiful opportunity with 4 minutes left in the overtime, but his shot sailed ever so slightly wide of the post. The Timbers held out under some intense late pressure, and in doing so kept their slim playoff hopes alive. The Whitecaps would have clinched a playoff berth with a win last night, but they can still do so with only a tie in their next game at home to the Minnesota Thunder. The Timbers must win their remaining three games and hope that the Thunder win up here next week. There's still work to be done.
Whitecaps: Mike Franks /Nick Dasovic,Geordie Lyall, Jeremie Piette /Paul Dailly (Gordon Chin 96)Oliver Heald ,Steve Kindel,John Sulentic (Alfredo Valente 57’), Andrew Veer /Carlo Corazzin,Jason Jordan (Niall Thompson 77’)
Portland:Josh Saunders/Nick Downing,Gavin Wilkinson,Lee Morrison,Aaron Heinzen /Hugo Alcaraz,.Brian Winters, Scott Benedetti,Jake Sagare /Fadi Afash(Dan Antoniuk 102’), McKinley Tennyson
shots: Vancouver 19 Portland 9
attendance: 5112 , photos by Brian Goldie (whitecapsfan)
