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BOLTON 1 MIDDLESBROUGH 1, PREMIER LEAGUE, 3rd MAY 2006
Steve McClaren again made changes from the team that started at Old Trafford on Monday night, giving many of the fringe players an opportunity to push for a place on the bench for the UEFA Cup Final next week. Indeed only Franck Queudrue and Lee Cattermole retained their places in the side that started against Manchester United, whilst Old Trafford substitutes Ray Parlour and Malcolm Christie also got starts.
As has been widely reported, young Ross Turnbull made his debut in goal in a line-up that was highly Youth Academy dominated. Boro played 4-4-2 with Yakubu and Malcolm Christie up front.
Turnbull, McMahon (Davis, 59), Ehiogu, Queudrue, Wheater, Cattermole, Johnson (Taylor, 73), Parlour, Doriva, Christie (Maccarone, 64), Yakubu, Knight, Kennedy
THE FIRST HALF
A couple of crunching tackles opened the game, with both sides setting their stalls out very early on, looking for supremacy. However the first meaningful opportunity fell to Bolton within the first minute and it brought an excellent save from Ross Turnbull - the Boro debutant did well to thwart a right-footed effort from in-form Ricardo Vaz Te, who had launched an attack from the left wing.
A war of attrition then ensued but another fine reflex save was called for by the young keeper as Kevin Nolan latched on to a cross and flicked the ball towards goal in the fourth minute. Bolton came again, requiring a covering tackle which led to the concession of a corner. However very little ensued from this as Boro cleared their lines.
Eleven minutes in and Bolton's potency at crossing was again brought to the fore, with Nolan again launching a threatening ball into the box that no Bolton player could latch on to. This was the third time the Boro had been beaten to the bye-line in the opening ten minutes.
A minute later, a dreadful ball by Ugo Ehiogu resulted in him conceding a free-kick on the D as he tried to recover from his error. However the free-kick, which looked like it had been well-rehearsed, was blasted over the bar by Hidetoshi Nakata, much to the disappointment of the home fans. This disappointment was only added to two minutes on when the impressive Vaz Te was booked for unsporting behaviour.
By seventeen minutes the Boro had conceded five corners as Bolton relentlessly put pressure on the Boro backline. However, like with previous efforts, it was about as impotent as the average nuclear scientist and the Boro comfortably cleared their lines.
From this the Boro broke through Adam Johnson down the left hand side. He waited for the run of Yakubu behind the defence who weakly headed towards goal from six-yards out. It was a comfortable save for Jussi Jaaskaleinen but it was Middlesbrough's first effort at goal of the game.
On twenty-one Middlesbrough were lucky not to concede another set-play through a Franck Queudrue handball. Amazingly, both the referee and assistant missed the infringement, despite the dulcet grumblings of the north-west's finest.
Six minutes later a hopeful ball by Vaz Te resulted in a poor clearance from Ehiogu, allowing Okocha to hit a poor shot from the edge of the penalty area that was comfortably saved by Turnbull.
The game was becoming increasingly tepid by this point, with Bolton just shading it. However they found it difficult to break through the Boro back line whilst Middlesbrough were happy to languidly play it out of defence just to lose the ball in the central of midfield.
On thirty-four Christie could have been fed but the move was snuffed out by the Bolton back-line at the last minute. My reporting on chances like this goes to show just how bad this game had become by this point.
On thirty-six a good ball from Nakata on the left was hit into Kevin Davies, who was unmarked due to David Wheater's lack of closing down. Fortunately, Davies' volley was well-wide of the target and the Boro were let off the hook once more.
Boro's most fluid move of the match came on thirty-nine but it was nullified by the excellent Vaz Te, who broke for the hosts. Two minutes later Yakubu cushioned the ball out of the air but was deceived by the bounce. The ball eventually came to Adam Johnson but he fluffed his shot terribly from around twelve yards. This meagre chance was Boro's best of the match so far.
Ray Parlour conceded a free-kick on forty-two for a foul on Nakata. Ivan Campo launched the ball into the Boro penalty area and Abdoulaye Faye headed over from about six yards out. Two minutes later a reckless challenge by Lee Cattermole on Nicky Hunt brought a booking for the Boro youngster. Little resulted from the free-kick.
And what was about it really. The whistle blew to murmurs of indifference as most of the fans had probably hoped that they'd stayed in to watch the Bill. If it's on on Wednesday's.
FIRST HALF FAN REACTION
'Nicky Hunt injured. Cattermole yellow carded. There you go - half time report done for you' - Mark the Boro Fan
THE SECOND HALF
No changes were made at halftime and the hope was that the Boro could produce more of an attacking flair as they were now kicking towards the away fans. Unfortunately the tone followed that of the first half, with Kevin Davies forcing an easy early save out of Turnball through a scuffed shot, after just fourteen seconds.
And then the unlikely happened. David Wheater hit a sixty-yard diagonal ball from right to left towards Adam Johnson. The Boro youngster took on the Bolton full-back and rifled it towards goal. It took a wicked deflection as it made its way towards the bottom-right hand corner, beating Jaaskelainen from around twelve yards.
BOLTON 0 MIDDLESBROUGH 1 (Johnson, 47)
Bolton came forward after this, with Campo acrobatically hitting wide a minute after Johnson had stung them. He controlled the ball well but the final shot left little to be desired and did not trouble the Boro debutant in goal.
However three minutes later Bolton's threat finally payed dividends. And you can't say that it hadn't been coming. The ball was crossed by Jay Jay Okocha from the right and met the head of Ricardo Vaz Te, who ghosted in around the penalty spot to head the ball into the bottom left hand corner of the goal. It was his fifth of the season.
BOLTON 1 MIDDLESBROUGH 1 (Vaz Te, 50)
The game had now livened up and some intricate end-to-end play ensued. However the fan noise belied the action, which although more feisty, was still not as exciting as the spurred crowd would have you believe. Boro's defence was still firm however and there were few scares as the youngsters tried to regain their composure. This was best demonstrated by the assured block by David Wheater on an Ivan Campo shot on fifty-five.
On fifty-nine McClaren made the tactical switch of Andrew Davies for Tony McMahon. Two minutes later Boro won a rare corner through some patient attacking play involving Yakubu and Ray Parlour. Nothing came of this Doriva-taken set-piece though.
On sixty-four Massimo Maccarone replaced Malcolm Christie in a like-for-like swap. A minute later Kevin Nolan was replaced by Stelios Giannakopoulos. The Bolton captaincy switched to striker Kevin Davies.
Bolton kept pushing in the next five minutes but a free-kick following a poorly taken corner alleviated the pressure on the Boro back line.
On seventy-two Boro won a free-kick in a promising area when Campo clattered Yakubu's shinbone as the Yak drifted past him. Queudrue stood over the ball and launched a great free-kick, curled with the inside of his right foot that beat the wall and nearly caught the Bolton keeper out. He fumbled it into the path of Ehiogu but he could not convert the chance, firing wide from six yards out.
This prompted another substitution - Adam Johnson for Andrew Taylor - as McClaren tried to size up his squad ahead of the big game next Wednesday night. Meanwhile Gary Speed replaced Nakata for Bolton.
After this the game petered out somewhat, with Bolton applying slightly more pressure on our goal than vice versa. However Boro's defence was resolute and apart from conceding a few corners, the Boro were giving nothing to their opponents.
A Yakubu through-ball picked out an excellent run from Maccarone but Jaaskelainen was alert and thwarted the danger. At this point Campo was substituted for Borgetti, rounding off the evening's substitutions.
A scramble in the Boro penalty area ensued in the next minute but Turnbull was fouled and Bolton were offside anyway, giving the initiative to the Boro.
INTO THE RED ZONE
Not much happened as the match limped to its conclusion. An Okocha shot was saved by Turnbull when, had he fumbled it, he could have let in two Bolton players. Boro had some composed play in the Bolton half but little came of this. Davies tried to put Turnball off but the goalkeeper was as assured as he had been all night.
Bolton's last throw of the dice came with the concession of a free-kick by Queudrue but like the rest of the game, little of any excitement came of this and the final whistle blew to faint boos from the Lancastrian crowd.
No player played that well today but no one let themselves down either. Turnbull was assured in goal and had no chance with the goal he conceded but he had very little to do in all honesty. The defence played well, the midfield and attack largely impotent. But in the end everything points to next Wednesday night and this is another point game on the road in the League.
FULL TIME FAN REACTION
'Job done. No injuries. It's a bit of a nothing game' - Fiddler on the Smog
'The game was more entertaining when it was postponed' - The Oort Cloud
'They should have told the managers that the winning manager would have the England job' - West Ham
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