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CHARLTON v BORO, FA CUP QUARTER-FINAL, 23rd March 2006
FULL-TIME MATCH REPORT
This is Boro's nineteenth cup game of the season. Keith Peacock said that this is the biggest game at The Valley since Charlton returned to the Premiership. The mood in the Boro camp was very positive.
Tony Christie provided live pre-match entertainment and Steve McClaren went 4-4-2 with Franck Queudrue in the starting line-up and Jimmy and The Yak up front.
Schwarzer, Queudrue, Ehiogu, Southgate, Parnaby, Mendieta (Morrison 64), Cattermole, Boateng, Downing, Hasselbaink, Yakubu (Viduka 68)
Jones, Pogatetz, Rochemback
THE FIRST HALF
Any thoughts of negative defensive play were dispelled in the early minutes as Boro went for the throat. A magnifique Franck Queudrue cross found Yakubu in the box and he should have scored from his head but did not connect properly. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink sent a half chance wide a minute later as Boro intimidated The Addicks.
Boro were well on top of the game with twelve minutes gone, with Gareth Southgate rock-like in central defence and dealing easily with anything that came his way. It was a good start with Boro looking dangerous every time an attack was instigated.
But we got a scare in the fifteenth minute as Matt Holland was allowed space to curl a shot in that had Skippy beaten. It went wide luckily, but it was a warning that Charlton were just as capable as us of winning this match.
Skippy was kept busy as Charlton's confidence showed and the keeper was forced into a double save from Luke Young and another stop from Darren Bent, both within a minute of each other.
Charlton won a free-kick on the edge of the box after twenty minutes. Bent took it and sent the ball through the Boro wall and once again Skippy was called into action as he made a terrific goal-line save to keep the scores level.
Charlton were starting to get the upper hand now as the early momentum that Boro had created was now gone. Darren Bent was clearly the biggest threat to Boro but we were also having trouble dealing with the aerial danger posed by Hreidarsson.
A goalmouth scramble ensued on thirty-seven minutes and Skippy made yet another brilliant save on the line, this time heading a potential goal away. As half-time approached, Boro were under the cosh as Charlton piled on the pressure and sensed that they were about to break Boro.
And they had a case as Boro's defence was definitely rocking under the pressure and beginning to look disjointed. We were hanging by our teeth with just two minutes to go when Darren Bent broke free of the defence and with only Skippy to beat, he amazingly put the ball over the bar. Skippy landed in the back of the net and play was stopped for several minutes as treatment was administered.
There was a huge sigh of relief when Skippy resumed play and also when the half-time whistle sounded. Boro were desperate to regroup and reorganise.
FIRST-HALF FAN REACTION
"Boro will play better in the second half!"
West Ham
"We're up against it here after a good start. We need to get a grip on these."
Dave Mox
THE SECOND HALF
Boro made no changes for the second half and after a scrapy opening few minutes, began to pass the ball around with a lot more fluidity that we had shown throughout most of the first half. But Charlton carried on where they had left off with Kishishev having a near miss just three minutes after the restart.
Boro temporarily went down to ten men when Ugo Ehiogu was involved in a head collision with Hughes and was left bleeding and requiring treatment. He returned heavily bandaged and continued the struggle.
Downing's long passes were starting to find Mendieta in space and Boro tried this move on more than one occasion, sometimes to good effect. Unfortunately, neither Yakubu or Jimmy Floyd had really been in the game at all up at this stage, two minutes past the hour mark.
On sixty-four minutes, Mendieta was taken off and replaced by James Morrison. Lee Cattermole had a glorious chance to put Boro into the lead just afterwards when he collected in the box but failed to hit the target.
Just four minutes later, Mark Viduka was brought on for Yakubu. Boro immediately attacked but Charlton countered and Skippy kept us in it again as he saved from Bent. A minute later, Skippy looked beaten as Bent was once again allowed through but Gareth Southgate was there to save the day this time with a superb tackle that required lightning reactions.
With fifteen minutes to go until the final whistle Boro started to take control in an attacking spell that was ended by a Charlton break that saw Romendahl sending one over the bar that would have beaten Skippy, had it been on target.
Alan Curbishley introduced Bothroyd who immediately started to terrorise the Boro defence but we held firm and kept him out and entered the last ten minutes on the attack, looking for the one goal that would probably seal a semi-final place.
INTO THE RED ZONE
Both sides had upped the tempo as a replay approached but neither could find a way through two determined defences. James Morrison came the closest and his effort from an angle won Boro a rare corner from which we hit the post in a move that was cancelled out by an offside flag.
Ugo Ehiogu made a brilliant tackle to stop a Charlton goalscoring opportunity when play moved to the other end and with the ninety minutes completed, a replay was now inevitable.
So Boro's name is in the hat for the semi-final draw and although that is something to be very happy about, we didn't do ourselves justice tonight and could not have complained if we had been knocked out. As Steve McClaren said after we got a draw at Nuneaton- 'We live to fight another day'.
FULL-TIME FAN REACTION
"We'll finish them off at The Riverside"
Smoggy Suicide
"We weren't great but a draw is OK. It's still in our own hands"
Dan_Boro
Final Whistle: 2155 - Report Online: 2159
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