ng a ball to Peter Handscomb like nothing was wrong.Until the third step of his follow through. And there was a limp, a worry, but he went back to the top of his mark a

VANCOUVER -- The Vancouver Whitecaps have developed a habit of giving up second-half goals, and outspoken midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker wants the emerging trend to end as soon as possible. "Weve got to tighten up defensively," he said. "Weve been conceding goals and giving away cheap and easy goals. You cant do it at this level. Youre going to get punished." The Whitecaps (4-5-4) will try to kick the habit as they host the New England Revolution on Saturday. The Seattle Sounders overcame a 2-1 deficit to beat the Whitecaps 3-2 last weekend. The loss was compounded by a hamstring injury to top central defender Andy OBrien, who will miss the game against the Revs (5-4-5). The Whitecaps were leading in Seattle when OBrien left, but could not maintain the advantage with a makeshift back line. However, the Whitecaps were squandering leads in the second half even with him in the lineup. Vancouver had to settle for draws in a league game against Portland and the second leg of the Canadian championship final against the Montreal Impact. Both ties occurred on the home turf at B.C. Place stadium -- a cause for concern as the Whitecaps prepare to meet a New England team that is unbeaten in six games, including U.S. Open Cup play. The Revs have scored nine goals in their past two games, and allowed a league-low nine goals in MLS contests. Injuries on Vancouvers back line threaten to produce more second-half breakdowns. Carlyle Mitchell, recalled from lower-tier FC Edmonton, will replace OBrien and Johnny Leveron will continue to play the other centre back spot in place of captain Jay DeMerit, who has missed most of the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Reo-Coker, a former English Premier League star who joined the team in pre-season, said the Caps have to mature quickly. "Its a learning curve," he said. "Some teams go through these little periods. Its about learning from the mistakes. "Weve got quite a few new players here (from last season.) Weve got some young players here. But weve got enough experienced players to make sure those mistakes dont happen." He called on players to take on more responsibility and communicate better on the pitch as the Whitecaps attempt to finish in the top five in the Western Conference and earn a playoff berth. Coach Martin Rennie is concerned that the club is giving up goals in the second half, but noted it is not surrendering late markers like it did during a stretch last season. Generally, he likes the way the team has been finishing games. The Whitecaps have also displayed more finish around the net lately, producing eight goals in their past four games, including league and Canadian championship play. If not for some close misses, the Caps could have had several more goals. Rennie hopes the trio of Brazilian Camilo, Scottish international Kenny Miller and Russell Teibert of Niagara Falls, Ont., will continue to develop the chemistry that they have displayed lately. After struggling to maintain a lineup spot earlier in the season, Camilo now leads the team in scoring. He accounted for all of Vancouvers scoring in Seattle and has four goals and an assist in the past four games, including Canadian championship play. Miller, who has missed most of the season with a hamstring injury, has three goals in the five league games in which he has played. Teibert has been on a tear since scoring his first two MLS goals in a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy on May 11. The Canadian midfielder, used in a much more attacking role of late, has three assists in the past two games. Factoring in his two goals, he has generated five points in the last four contests. "Its an exciting combination and its only just starting to take root," said Rennie of the trio. Miller said he, Camilo and Teibert are "a work in progress" and can only improve over time. They can also play a role defensively by pressuring the opposition defenders and giving them less time to see the field and move the ball. But the whole team needs to get "in sync." Once the necessary cohesion is achieved, it will become "an art." In the meantime, Reo-Coker is calling on a young players like Mitchell to help make up for OBriens absence and limit opposition scoring chances. "The responsibility is on them to show that they want to be here -- and they want to play," said Reo-Coker. Notes: Striker Darren Mattocks has rejoined the Whitecaps following international duty with the Jamaican national team. He will be in the squad Saturday, but appears unlikely to start. ... Leveron has been added to the Honduran national team roster for a World Cup qualifier against the U.S. in Salt Lake City on Tuesday. He will return in time for Wednesdays home game against Chivas USA.Air Max Black Friday . The Canadian squad, skipped by Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, got on the board first with two in the second end, and followed that with two more apiece in the fourth and sixth ends. Cheap Air Max . But now that hes in the NHL, the Calgary Flames centre showed big improvement in that department by scoring the winner in the eighth round of a 5-4 shootout victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. http://www.airmaxcheapdiscount.com/ . -- Three close looks at the bucket, three misses. Discount Air Max 1 Black Friday 2019 . PETERSBURG, Fla. Wholesale Air Max . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April.The ball was slowly trickling to the boundary, but no one went to pick it up. The crowd began jeering the terrible bit of fielding - Mohammad Amir committed worse mistakes on Thursday - but as he dropped to the field, the jeers turned into a concerned collection of whispers.Amir buried his face in the turf as he clutched his knee. He couldnt keep still through the pain.His knee didnt slide on the ground, it dug in. His weight went towards the ball, but his knee did not. His first instinct was to go after the ball, but as he moved, grabbing for it in mid-air, he just collapsed.Mark Taylor suggested he had a kneecap problem, those in the pool swam across for a closer look and medics from both teams converged on Amir. Some non-experts noticed swelling, others a cruciate ligament injury, the sort that ended players careers every footy season in Australia. It was the kind of pointless speculation you do when there was a star crumpled before you. Simon Jones was mentioned a lot, and no one was talking about magical reverse swing from the 2005 Ashes.A stretcher was called for, but none came. So Amir was helped over the boundary by support staff. People start to talk about why it had to be him. We hadnt seen him unleashed in the series, or at all since he got back to Tests, and now it looked like he could be out of order.His last 39 balls were dots, which seemed to be part of the Misbah-ul-Haq plan to get to dusk and then hope something happened. But it wasnt dusk yet, we hadnt seen what the pink ball could do under dark Gabba skies. We hadnt seen anything. It got darker in the incredibly long time it seemed to take the ambulance cart to make it out to him.Amir has overcome stupidity, criminal acts, jail time and five years out of professional sport, and now stopping a ball at fine leg had brought him down.On the outfield, there was an enormous divot and, despite the break in play, no one covered it up. Pakistan had a similar-sized hole in their team.The message from the PCB was not to worry; the early signs were good, they said. But how could you not? An entire army of people were down on the boundary helping Amir out. He couldnt even hobble the 80 metres to the change room.At drinks in the final session, 18 minutes after Amir had fallen, a groundsman went out and filled in his divot. Twelve minutes after that, Amir jogged back onto the field. His recovery had seemingly taken less time than it took for the ambulance cart to reach him. As he ran across the outfield you could almost sense the different sections of the crowd realising it was him. There was a sound wave of people saying, Whats all this about?Was he brave, stupid, or soft? Did it even matter? The new ball was due soon and he was obviously going to take it.ddddddddddddMaybe, if you squinted with your head on the side, he was limping. But he still took that brand new fluorescent pink ball. Amir didnt trample the turf like Wahab Riaz. He wasnt a killer semi-trailer like Ryan Harris. He floated across the grass, barely making an impact, and even at the crease there was no violent crash. It was more a little skip and the ball zipped out of his fingers. This man whose kneecap was dislocated, whose anterior cruciate was torn, whose day, Test and series were over, was delivering a ball to Peter Handscomb like nothing was wrong.Until the third step of his follow through. And there was a limp, a worry, but he went back to the top of his mark and floated in a couple more times. Handscomb took a single off the the third ball; it was the first run off him in the last 42, delivered either side of a trip on the ambulance cart.The fourth ball was the Amir that made lovers of fast bowling cry when they first heard the news of his fixing all those years ago. It shaped to drift in, just short of a length, and then decided to go away, at pace. To get near it, you would have to be one of the best batsmen in the world, and Steven Smith was. The ball went through to Sarfraz Ahmed, who threw it to slip as Amir walked back to his mark.Later, after a few replays, it was clear Smith had edged the ball and, instead of enjoying his wicket, Amir finished the over hopping and grabbing at his knee, his trousers still stained from his fall.For the next little bit, he bowled more trademark Amir balls, the kind that made you gasp and despair at their beauty as they beat the bat. One was so good Smith seemed angry at its existence as he tried to recreate the kind of alien movement it got with his hand. There were more than went past Handscomb too; one of them took the edge but fell short of slip.It was the kind of magical spell Test cricket has been waiting to see from Amir for years, and hed been waiting for it the most. The only problem was, though he might have overcome serious injury, he couldnt take a wicket. As good as he was, as dangerous as he looked, and as much drama as he had created - none of it mattered when the edges did not carry, or when they werent spotted. His Lazarus rise was ultimately pointless.They say you cant tell much from just seeing the stats, but you could from Amirs on day one at the Gabba: Three limps, 18 overs, one knee injury, six maidens, one ambulance cart, one wicket, one injury, 33 runs and one miraculous recovery. ' ' '