Quotes, Stats and Links: San Jose Away Edition

Well not the best game for the Portland Timbers but it was a draw on the road without their two CMs.

Quotes:

Head coach John Spencer
On the result: 
"I think the draw was a fair result. It was probably one of the most boring games of soccer I've seen in a long time. You can't always score two, three, four goals a game."

On missing a few key players: 
"I think it's unfair to comment on guys that aren't here. They had a few guys missing, too. It obviously would have made them a better team and we feel the same. At the moment, I think the guys that played tonight worked hard. It's the end of a tiring week for us. To come here against a team that was 90 minutes away from an MLS cup last year, Frank (Yallop) has done an excellent job here."

On the second half: 
"You're going to expect that the home team is going to come out dominating at some stage. I think the mid-week game took a lot out of us. Tonight, I think we showed good resilience to stay in the game after the equalizer. After they got the goal they never really troubled us at all."

Forward Kenny Cooper
On the goal: 
"Great, great work by (Jorge) Perlaza. He did really well handling the ball. He did a lot of great work and put it in place for me."

On the team's performance: 
"These guys have played a lot of minutes in a short amount of time. I think it might be three games in eight days or something. I give the boys a lot of credit, it was a great point. I thought the boys battled well."

On the team's first season: 
"We want to make the playoffs. We had a great result. Again after the mid-week game against a top team, we showed great desire and determination in that game. But I thought we played well again and to get a point away from home. As long as it's still possible, we're going to keep battling and keep fighting, and the goal is to make the playoffs."

Midfielder Lovel Palmer
On the result: 
"I think we need better communication, but we were happy to get a point and four points in two games. I think we're happy to get a point at an away game."

On the team's performance: 
"After that performance against the Galaxy, a lot of people think it's a fluke and we wanted to come out and show it wasn't, but that's just the game of soccer. We can also say that the San Jose team came out and played hard. Just like us, when we were on a losing streak we went out and gave everything that we've got. So you can just look at it as the San Jose team hasn't won in a couple of games and they needed to come out and fight hard tonight. We got a point in their home and I'm happy and I'm sure the other guys are happy."

San Jose Earthquakes Quotes

Head coach Frank Yallop
On the result: 
"We played well. We had a good performance from the guys. We were not as dangerous near the goal as I would have likes. I thought Alan took his goal well and I thought team-wise it was a solid performance. We played a lot freer tonight. I think besides the finishing touches we played well. We had a little bad luck not to get the win tonight."

On playoff run: 
"We have to look forward to next weekend. We are still not out of it. We need to start picking up some wins. We can win at least enough to get into the playoffs."

On the winless streak: 
"We have tied a lot of games that we should have won. It may have been unlucky that we did not get those wins but the table doesn't lie. We are sitting where we are sitting and it is all up to us. With us, we never give up without a fight."

Forward Alan Gordon
On first goal since trade: 
"I was just trying to get in the box and stay high. Steven (Beitashour) put it beautifully in the box. I was trying to get to the near post and get in front of the defender. I was able to put a head on it and flick it in. Sometimes it's good to be a little lucky, too."

Thoughts on game: 
"I thought the guys were playing well. We gave them only one chance and unfortunately they capitalized and finished. It was just one of those games where their chance goes in and only one of ours went it.  Sometimes the game just goes like that. When we were down, we didn't give up. We went after them and we had our chances. It was a resilient effort from this club."

Defender Bobby Burling
On team's performance: 
"Overall, the team performance was strong. We moved the ball and possessed it well. We locked down defensively at key moments. We created a few chances and I think on a different night those chances go in and we get three points."

On upcoming schedule: 
"Hopefully we can carry some of the good play tonight for next week. Wondo (Chris Wondolowski), (Scott) Sealy, and (Alan) Gordon held the ball up front. Bobby (Convey) and Joey (Gjersten) were getting services in all night. (Steven) Beitashour had the assist up front and everybody had a strong performance tonight. Colorado is a good team and they've been on a roll lately. It gets harder from here on out, but we are still in the playoff picture. If we can carry over the play from tonight, we would be putting ourselves in position for some points."

Stats:

Links:

• Oregonian: Timbers tie the Earthquakes in 'poor game of football'
• LA Times: 'Quakes winless in 10 after draw with Timbers
• Boston Globe: Gordon lifts Earthquakes to a draw with Timbers
• San Jose Mercury News: San Jose Battle back to salvage a draw
• All Headline News: Quakes winless in 10 matches, settle for a draw with the Timbers
• Centerline Soccer: Quakes winless streak reaches 10 games
• MLS: Cooper's drought snapper not enough for Portland
• MLS: Newest hero Gordon may already be lost to Earthquakes
• SBN: Entertaining draw leaves both sides disappointed
• Soccer By Ives: Gordon's first for San Jose saves point against Portland