Saturday June 28, 2008
ATLANTA—The Atlanta Silverbacks fell to the Portland Timbers 2-0 Saturday night at Atlanta Silverbacks Park.

(Photo Caption: The Silverbacks Matt Bobo and Tony McManus. Photo by Ellen McRaney)

“We had all kinds of chances tonight, we just didn't put them away,” said head coach Jason Smith. “I thought we controlled the game for the most part. It came down to them putting the chances they had away and us not.”

The match did not start favorably for the home side. In just the third minute of play the Silverbacks went down a goal after a Chris Brown blast from outside of the penalty area pinballed through a crowded goal area, deflecting off two Silverbacks before sneaking past a helpless Ryan McIntosh. The goal was ruled an own goal.

The Silverbacks tried to recover from the gaffe shortly thereafter. In the seventh minute Scott Buete found himself in alone on the imposing Ray Burse, who denied the off-balance Buete.

In the 13th minute it was Burse again denying the Silverbacks, this time collecting a Mac Kandji free kick.

Two minutes later Rodrigo Rios missed a volley from inside 12 yards.

In the 18th Burse robbed Ansu Toure of a sure goal, kick-saving a breakaway attempt after Toure was put through on a nice ball from Rios.

In the 23rd minute it was McIntosh's turn, coming off his line and bravely taking the ball off the foot of Bryan Jordan after Jordan got in behind the Silverback back line.

It looked like the Silverbacks would equalize in the 27th minute after Toure was dragged to the turf by Lawrence Olum after Toure beat two defenders to charge into the penalty area. The dependable David Hayes stepped up to take the spot kick, but was denied by Burse, who got a good jump on the kick, diving to his left to parry the ball to safety.

The Silverbacks final chance of the half came with less than five minutes to play. Jason McLaughlin turned his defender in the box and got off a left-footed blast that went just wide.

Looking to get a goal back, Smith made some changes, moving McLaughlin from the right flank to the point position alongside Toure and Kandji out on the flank.

With numbers going forward in search of the equalizer, the Timbers made the most of its one true opportunity in the second half. Chris Bagley muscled Matt Bobo off a 50-50 ball, taking a controlling touch and slotted it past a charging McIntosh to double the score.

Down two goals, the Silverbacks threw everything forward. McLaughlin just missed wide in the 73rd, and Hayes put a clear shot over the crossbar in the 86th before the Silverbacks ran out of time.

The loss puts the Silverbacks to 4-4-5 on the season.
The Silverbacks are back in action Thursday, hosting the Minnesota Thunder at Atlanta Silverbacks Park. A fireworks display will follow the match.

Box Score

Atlanta Silverbacks:
Ryan McIntosh, Justin Moore, David Hayes, Matt Bobo, Josh Bolton, Scott Buete, Jason McLaughlin (Jerson Montiero 78), Rodrigo Rios (Blake Camp 61), Tony McManus (Chris Mahaffey 65), Ansu Toure (Nathan Knox 72), Mac Kandji.

Portland Timbers:
Ray Burse, Leonard Griffin, Camero Knowles, Scot Thomposn, Shawn Higgins (Kiki Lara 87), Chris Brown, Lawrence Olum (Tim Karalexis 85), Neil Dombrowski, Justin Thompson, Takayuki Suzuki (Miguel Guante 45), Bryan Jordan (Chris Bagley 61).

Goals:
POR—Own Goal 3
POR—Bagley 69

Misconduct:
POR—Higgins (caution) 32
POR—J. Thompson (caution) 36
POR—Burse (caution) 89