Carl Robinsons Vancouver Whitecaps travelled to Dallas on Saturday, five points adrift of their opponents for fourth spot in the Western Conference standings. Wholesale Paul George Shoes . With Dallas having the most difficult run-in amongst any of the top six in the conference, anything other than a Whitecaps loss would have ensured a three-way battle between the two sides and Portland for the two remaining playoff spots. Formations For Vancouvers third game in eight days, Robinson kept the diamond in midfield but rung the changes, some forced and others out of choice. Steven Beitashour was on the trip but failed a late fitness test and was replaced by Ethen Sampson, who made only his second MLS start. Fellow 20-year-old Christian Dean joined him in the back four, with veteran Andy OBrien left at home. Pedro Morales was not 100 per cent so was left on the bench, leaving Mauro Rosales to occupy the playmaking number ten role as Mehdi Ballouchy came in on the right to help Sampson defensively. Darren Mattocks returned up top alongside Sebastian Fernandez. Dallas boss Oscar Pareja abandoned his back three experiment from the loss last week against Real Salt Lake, choosing a straight 4-4-2 featuring an explosive front four that surprisingly included Blas Perez, back from international duty with Panama. The Game Dallas won 2-1 in a match that was decided on moments and key decisions. It can be a cruel game sometimes and a steep learning curve for a young side like Vancouver. Robinson will have had a difficult time post match with what to say to his players, an all too familiar story for the Whitecaps lately. Dallas opened the scoring after 20 minutes from a freak wondergoal by Perez. Defender Jordan Harveys reaction said it all. The experienced left back, who had 168 of the combined 172 MLS starts for the defence heading in, just waved his hand towards the net as a signal for how ridiculous the goal was. For Vancouver it was a kick in the guts. A team that has struggled so much to find ways to score did not need to see first hand clear evidence of how easy sometimes a ball can go in from nothing. In truth, the Whitecaps should have already been ahead when Darren Mattocks was played in alone at the other end but once again took too many touches and wasnt able to finish. Another familiar story. The Whitecaps, led by the brilliant Rosales, grew back into the game and deserved their equaliser, scored by Erik Hurtado who had replaced the ineffective Mattocks. It was a goal orchestrated by Rosales and one that highlighted the weaknesses of the hosts. Central midfielders Michel and Victor Ulloa struggled throughout with their collective defensively responsibilities, allowing Rosales to run the show in behind them. On the goal he broke into that space again, while Hurtado made an intelligent run in the channels between Zach Loyd and Jair Benitez at left back who had come on for Moises Hernandez. Hurtados run was good but his finish was even better. Dallas was a threat in the final third when they got there but struggled throughout the game in keeping possession, an issue they havent solved all season. However, that is their identity now, a team so dangerous from set pieces and once their quick, explosive wingers get the ball in the final third. Their winning goal, not surprisingly, came from a set piece with Michel sending a ball into the box that the Whitecaps didnt deal with, allowing, on the second phase, Perez to place the ball into an empty net after David Ousted came off his line and didnt get the ball. It capped off a mixed night for the Danish keeper who made two magnificent saves to keep his team in the game between each of the goals he conceded. The Positives Vancouver is a team who has no legitimate goalscorer. Their best player isnt fit and was a shadow of his former self when he came on. They had three centre-backs, who have all started big games for them over recent weeks, unavailable, while key pieces in Beitashour and Gershon Koffie were injured. Yet, they still went toe-to-toe with a team that will qualify for the playoffs in a very competitive Western Conference. Some Whitecaps fans dont want to hear that this season is a year of transition for this franchise but that is a reality as a new boss tries to bring in his own players and deal with the challenges left behind by the former coach. If Vancouver wants to be a consistent challenger for a playoff spot it is about building a strong spine and that showed some great signs of improvement on a cloudy night in Frisco. Ousted is a rock in goal and is allowed a mistake, one that haunted him as he was still talking at length about it later that night at the hotel. Kendall Waston had another excellent game and his inexperienced partner, Dean, grew into the game. He will have less severe tests than ones given to him by Castillo and Perez on his debut. Matias Laba had another outstanding game and completely ran the central midfield. His workrate showed Dallas exactly what they miss as they look a broken team who struggle to get midfielders in the game to combine with the front four. Ahead of Laba, Rosales was the best player for the Whitecaps and the only thing missing to complete a strong spine is a pure finisher, although Hurtados goal will give him a lot of confidence and may earn him a start next week in Portland. The Weaknesses It is a broken record by now. If Mattocks scores his chance inside the first fifteen minutes it is a different game. Too often when balls were played to the feet of the front two they didnt stick. Zach Loyd and Matt Hedges put on a centre-back clinic on how to press, be aggressive and take the forwards out of the game. The longer the game wore on the more intimidated they were by them with only Fernandez looking a threat when he gets space to dribble into. A new striker is needed and will arrive for 2015 and with him needs to come a natural winger who can push opposing full backs deep and attack the white line just to give Robinson another option and make sure their attacks are not too narrow and predictable. Star Man Rosales was a magician. No one works harder, no one reads the game better and he isnt afraid to tell team-mates that also, educating them on their choices and helping them be better. With Morales struggling, we have yet to see the best of these two playmakers together and it was wise that when the Chilean did come on Robinson kept Rosales in the central role were he tortured the Dallas midfield. He, like Waston at the other end, has become an on-field leader already and one the team cannot afford to be without. Both players are examples of Robinsons Whitecaps that need to be at the club next season to help take them to the next level. Right now, though, the immediate goal is the playoffs and despite all the adversity the team is still in fifth spot with six games remaining. That in itself is a huge sign of progression for this franchise no matter when the curtain comes down on their 2014 campaign. Paul George Shoes Deals . Hes had three top-10 results this season and feels ready to put it all together and finally hoist a trophy at the top level. Clearance Paul George Shoes .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner. https://www.cheappaulgeorgeshoes.com/ . Now comes an off-season of questions about manager Matt Williams decisions and a handful of key roster choices, including what to do about Ryan Zimmerman, whether to sign Jordan Zimmermann and Ian Desmond to long-term deals, and how to upgrade an offence that fell flat in October.BENTON HARBOR, Mich. -- Colin Montgomerie knows two of the players to watch in a senior major are Bernhard Langer and Tom Watson, so playing alongside them in the first two rounds of the Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores worked out well. Watson shot a 3-under 68 on Friday for a share of the lead with fellow Hall of Famers Langer and Montgomerie and three other players. "Tom had a great finish last week in the Regions Tradition major and Langer is always there, so I felt that if I was equal or around them after two days, I would be quite happy," Montgomerie said. "I was and I am and it gives me an opportunity to go forward at the weekend." The 64-year-old Watson had five birdies and a double bogey -- on the par-4 12th -- to reach 4-under 138 after two rounds at Harbor Shores. "When I dont do well I get angry with myself still," he said. "Like (Lee) Trevino said, When I stop getting angry with myself, then I know its time to quit. And I havent reached that point yet. I get frustrated at times, but I still have some fire." Langer also had a 68, and Montgomerie shot 69 to join Watson, Bart Bryant, Steen Tinning and Kiyoshi Murota atop the leaderboard. Bryant shot 67, Tinning 66, and Murota 65. The six-way tie for the lead is the most on the Champions Tour after 36 holes since an eight-way tie in the 2006 Senior Players Championship in Dearborn, Michigan. Montgomerie talked more about Watson than himself afterward. "Hes hitting the ball great," Montgomerie said. "Sixty-four years old. Its amazing how he still is very competitive and extremely competitive. Seeing him at very close quarters, believe me he is extremely competitive and its great to see." Murota, from Japan, had the best round of the day, chipping in for eagles on the par-5 fifth and ninth. Bryant bogeyed the 18th hole to drop into the tie for the lead. Tinning, from Denmark, birdied No. 17 in his bogey-free round. Steve Pate (67) was a sttroke back along with Stephen Ames (68), Russ Cochran (69), Mark Brooks (71) and Dan Forsman (73). Paul George Shoes From China. The group at 2 under included first-round leader Joe Durant (75), Jay Haas (71), Scott Simpson (69) and Duffy Waldorf (70). Watson, Langer and Montgomerie created buzz early in the day with their names atop the leaderboard. Watson had a 3-under 33 on the front nine, but double-bogeyed the 12th with a stubbed chip and three putts. Trying to win for the first time since the 2011 Senior PGA, hes coming off a sixth-place tie last week in the Regions Tradition in Alabama. "I hit the ball pretty well last week and finished with a good round on Sunday, and its kind of carrying on right now," he said. "So well see what happens the next two days." Langer, a two-time winner this season and the leading money winner on the Champions Tour five of the last six years, birdied the first two holes. "On this golf course you never know whats going to happen," Langer said. "There are some low scores out there, but there are also some high numbers. So it was good to get in the red numbers right away and I felt good about my game starting off." Montgomerie, playing in his first Senior PGA and seeking his first Champions Tour victory, took advantage of a friendly forward tee position and made an eagle on the par-5 15th. He hit his 8-iron approach from 173 yards to 10 feet. "Amazing, fantastic," Montgomerie said. "I havent putted well, to be honest, over the first two days. I missed a number of makeable putts that havent started on line, which has been disappointing." Roger Chapman, the runaway winner in 2012 at Harbor Shores, was 1 over after rounds of 71 and 72. Kenny Perry, the Regions Tradition winner last week, followed his opening 70 with a 75. Kohki Idoki, the winner last year at Bellerive in St. Louis, birdied the last two holes for a 70 to make the 36-hole cut on the number. ' ' '