Quick recap: the Portland Rain opened their 2012 WPSL season on a strangely stormy night at the Howard M. Terpenning Complex in Beaverton with a 2-1 win over the Bend-based Oregon Rush. The Rain scored two first half goals and held on to win despite the Rush pulling one back in the second half.

The Portland Timbers held a closed practice today at Jeld-Wen field ahead of their impending match up against the Columbus Crew. With both the Timbers and Crew near the bottom of the league table, the pressure is on for the Timbers to find a win but the mood around practice seemed upbeat.

Perhaps the most interesting news out of practice today came from a tweet by Mike Donovan.

The Portland Timbers practiced today at Jeld-Wen Field for the first time since their defeat by the Montreal Impact on Saturday. Practice was closed to the press after the team completed their warm-ups.

The Timbers wounded were a mixed bag at practice with Troy Perkins, who will be a game time decision this weekend according to John Spencer, at practice and running with a bandage on his nose.

At training today, the Portland Timbers got ready to take on the Los Angeles Galaxy in tomorrow's match-up for control of the western conference basement. In another closed practice, the Timbers did not depart form their usual warm-up routine before the press was ushered off the field.

Training saw some good news coming as defender Futty Danso saw his first practice with the team since breaking his foot five weeks ago.

The Portland Timbers' training today took place at Jeld-Wen Field in the usual Portland spring weather. Practice consisted of the usual warm-ups, overseen by new fitness coach John Ireland, and a half-field game followed by more running to close out practice.

The cool down running, according to John Spencer, was intended to maintain the team's strength and fitness when the coaching staff felt not enough running had occurred in the course of practice.

Ahead of their clash with Real Salt Lake tomorrow, the Portland Timbers held a closed practice today. Starting with the usual warm-up jogging and one of John Spencer's seemingly infinite variations on keep away, the Timbers looked energized early on before practice was closed and the press were removed from the field.

At the end of last season former Revolution head coach Steve Nicol found himself with a team out of playoff contention and with some injuries to boot. Of those injured was Sainey Nyassi, who claimed most starts on the right wing for the Revs in 2011. With all these factors in play, it was the perfect setting to take a good look at mid-season addition Ryan Guy.

The Portland Timbers held a closed practice today before their final preseason game tomorrow evening.

The Timbers' international players, Rodney Wallace, Steve Purdy, and Futty Danso, were back and training with the team. Purdy, whose injury in El Salvador's 2-0 loss to Estonia on Wednesday night sparked a riot among the El Salvador supporters, looked to be in good shape with only some light swelling and small bandage covering the stitches beneath his right eye.

After a rough home defeat to the Houston Dynamo on Friday, the Portland Timbers trained today for the last time in Portland before the end of the season. Despite the overcast weather the mood in practice was light and optimistic as the Timbers kept it light as they recovered and prepared to travel to the District of Columbia for Wednesday's match.

The Portland Timbers returned to practice this Wednesday after taking Tuesday off to rest and recuperate. After the usual passing drills the Timbers broke into a 10v10 full-field passing drill followed by a full 11v11 scrimmage.

Futty Danso participated in the full practice once again and looked like he was rapidly approaching full match fitness, particularly in the full-field drill where he was not shy about contesting a header and knocking Rodney Wallace out of his way (and right out of the air).

Speculation about any departure by Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew is incorrect according to John Carver, but what of Pardew's prospects for the season ahead anyway? There has been some speculation that Alan Pardew might walk after being let down by Ashley and Llambias in the transfer window, although Assistant Manager John Carver dismissed that [.

A quick round-up of where we stand on various transfers as we approach the final few hours of the summer transfer window:

Ju Young Park was officially announced this afternoon, the arrival means that the exit of Nicklas Bendtner is more probable, though nothing is currently in place.

Quick Recap:

The Portland Timbers probably play their most complete road game of the year and score the only goal of the game. Yet they still lose 1-0 away on an Own goal.

First Half:

No one was able to see the first 10 minutes of the game because of technical difficulties but according to John Strong we didn't miss any goal scoring opportunities.

According to John Curtis at the PA, Aston Villa youngster Ashley Young will not begin any contract talks with the club until the summer. Young said,

"I've always said that I'm going to speak to the manager (Gerard Houllier) and the chairman (Randy Lerner) in the summer .

UPDATE: According to Aston Villa's official website, Aston Villa have completed the signing of Jean Makoun. Makoun has agreed to a deal with the club that will keep him there until 2014. Now Makoun needs to secure a work permit before he can play with the club.

According to John Cross at MirrorFootball, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger may be forced to make a move in the transfer market due to injuries to his defenders. Defender Sebastian Squillaci hurt his hamstring in yesterdays match against Leeds United and Thomas Vermaelen supposedly had a setback in his return from injury.

According to John Curtis at The Independent, Birmingham have agreed to sign Tottenham winger David Bentley on loan for the rest of the season. Bentley, who was linked with Newcastle, will undergo a medical this weekend.

It is also reported that Birmingham have agreed on a transfer fee for Rangers striker Kenny Miller.