PORTLAND — The understudies had their chance on Wednesday as the Portland Timbers continued preparations for their 2014 season.
Actually, playing a lineup of rookies and players who will begin the season in a reserve role, the Timbers created plenty of chances against Jamaican club Portmore United. But the home side made only one chance count in settling for a 1-1 draw in front of 10,091 fans at Providence Park.
Michael Nanchoff drilled home a 19-yard shot in the 75th minute for a 1-0 Timbers lead, but Portmore converted a penalty kick in the 82nd after Jorge Villlafana was called for a foul in the penalty area while reacting to a Portmore counter attack.
Playing their second of three games in the Rose City Invitational, Timbers coach Caleb Porter went with a second-team lineup and all 11 players played the full match.
Frederic Piquionne started at striker, Nanchoff, Villafana and Schillo Tshuma played as attacking midfielders with rookies Aaron Long and George Fochive in defensive midfield slots. Futty Danso and Raushawn McKenzie played central defender, flanked by Alvas Powell and rookie Taylor Peay. Andrew Weber made two saves in goal.
Of the 11, only Piquionne and Danso saw meaningful action for the Timbers last season. Many in Wednesday’s lineup are unlikely to see meaningful minutes during the MLS schedule.
Still, the Timbers created enough scoring chances to win with better finishing. They outshot Portmore 22-9 and earned 12 corner kicks to only one for the visitors.
The only goal came on a first-time strike by Nanchoff that whistled inside the right post. Tshuma laid off the pass that Nanchoff struck, after Piquionne’s pass reached Tshuma. Nanchoff played a strong game on the attack, and tied for a team-high five shots while also taking the corner kicks and free kicks.
McKenzie took five shots and had three near-misses in the early going, all on headers from Nanchoff restart deliveries. Piquionne also had chances, including a difficult try that zipped just above the goal.
Among those Timbers who missed on scoring chances was Alvas Powell, a player who has been on loan to Portland from Portmore since last summer. His best chance was a one-timer from close range that sailed high, and later was denied by goalkeeper Gariece McPherson on a play that led to a collision between the two.
Among the better chances wasa close-range header fromm Peay on a second ball from a corner kick that was headed clear by a Portmore defender. Two minutes later Piquionne missed the target from an angle 8 yards from goal.
The Timbers have two wins, three draws and one loss in preseason.
Foster Langsdorf of Vancouver and Jacob Kempf of Camas were two of the three field players on the Timbers bench Wednesday. Members of the Timbers youth academy, each appeared in Reserve League matches for the Timbers last season.
In Wednesday’s early match, Vancouver defeated San Jose 2-0 on goals from Kenny Miller and Darren Mattocks.
The Rose City Invitational concludes on Saturday. San Jose plays Portmore at 2 p.m., and the Timbers wrap up their preseason schedule against the Whitecaps at 5:30 p.m.
