There will be no post-season soccer around Jeld-Wen Field this year.
Not even the most irrepressible dreamer could concoct a realistic scenario that would see the Timbers into this year’s post-season. They would probably need to win seven of their last nine, and that’s not going to happen – not considering how badly the second-year club has lost its way in 2012.
So the fabulous fans around the Rose City must take their achievement where they can. Which is why last night’s win must feel so wonderful.
Because the 2-1 win over Cascadia Cup rival Vancouver certainly did some damage to the Whitecaps’ playoff chances.
Los Angeles can provide a little breathing room with a win over Dallas tonight. But if the team from Texas finds a way at the Home Depot Center (7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network), Vancouver will wake up Monday morning just two points ahead of FCD for the final playoff spot in the West.
Either way, Vancouver’s loss will add pressure to Martin Rennie’s club, which just isn’t having much go its way lately.
Darren Mattocks’ late ejection certainly won’t help the Whitecaps, either. (There are those disciplinary issues again, the ones that Rennie says his club doesn’t have.)
And as Saturday’s result became the first win for interim Portland coach Gavin Wilkinson, this will surely make for a happier few days around the Timbers practice ground.
So enjoy your moment and the win, Timbers fans. You deserve it.
Here are the highlights.
(Oh! Don’t miss Steven Smith’s wonderful goal-line clearance for Portland at about the 5-minute mark of the package.)
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