The Thunder dominated Portland for the first half, but after the break seemed to lose their focus and allowed Portland back into the game. The Thunder started strongly after General Manager Djorn Buchholz’s strong rendition of the national anthem. In just the seventh minute, Chris Brunt sent a ball over the top to Jay Alberts who cut the ball back to Aaron Paye at the top of the box, but the young forward’s shot was wide.

In the ninth minute, another ball from Chris Brunt found Jay Alberts on the right wing. His cross was headed down by Kevin Friedland (back in the midfield role he played last season) to Paye, who’s shot was saved by Josh Saunders, but the rebound was headed in by Johnny Menyongar to give the Thunder a 1-0 lead.

Five minutes later, a through ball from Jeff Matteo played Menyongar through, but a last minute saving tackle by Gavin Wilkinson prevented the Liberian from walking in on Josh Saunders. A minute later, another Alberts cut back saw Freddy Juarez blaze over from 25 yards.

The Thunder continually exploited the weak link on the Timber’s right side, Shawn Saunders, and in the 24^th minute, he had to resort to punching the ball away from Johnny Menyongar, but the resulting free kick was deflected by Scott Thompson, breaking from the wall that was positioned less than seven yards from the ball.

Portland finally threatened the Thunder goal in the 38^th minute, as with Kevin Friedland committed forward, Hugo Alcatraz-Cuellar found space on the right and sent in a dangerous looking cross, but Joe Warren sprung off of his line to snare the ball in front of the head of Byron Alvarez.

Warren’s strong distribution from the back was a constant threat as in the 41^st minute his long ball was won by Johnny Menyongar, who set up Aaron Paye, but chip-like volley, though appearing to go in was just over the bar.

With a minute to go in the half, Chris Brunt stole the ball of the foot of Scott Thompson and dribbled his way to the top of the box before unleashing a fierce strike that thundered off the crossbar and over the goal. The half ended with a flurry of crosses by the Thunder, but none was met by the head of a teammate.

At the start of the second half, Alberts and Friedland switched wings to try to confuse the Timbers defense, and the move paid dividends when a beautiful ball from Matteo was an inch out of Friedland’s reach when a touch would have put him behind the goalkeeper and with the goal at his mercy. The half then degenerated into a scrappy mess, with Gavin Wilkinson lucky to remain on the pitch after three successive ugly tackles. The last of these tackles on Jeff Matteo resulted in a card and a free kick, but the Thunder was unable to make the free-kick count.

By the seventy-fourth minute, Portland began to carve out a few chances. A long ball down the wing saw Joe Warren race from his goal area to head the ball away, and a few minuites later, Alcaraz-Cuellar punched the ball goalwards, though his ‘hand of god’ attempt was deflected for a corner.

The Thunder complained about the handball, but it was to no effect as from the ensuing corner, Dan Antoniuk, wearing a warm-up jersey with the number ‘19’ made out of athletic tape headed the ball in at the near post.

Several close offsides calls and poor outside shots were all that the either team could muster in the final ten minutes of the match, as fatigue and the heat of the Metrodome air began to take its toll.

The Thunder have a break until the 20^th of this month, when they are on the road to Virginia Beach and Richmond. The next home game is May 29^th at James Griffin Stadium against the Vancouver Whitecaps, and the Thunder will be looking to exact some revenge for their early playoff exit last season.