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MIDDLESBROUGH v WEST HAM, PREMIER LEAGUE, 17th APRIL 2006
It goes without saying that this is the least important of our next four matches. But with half a million quid per Premier League place, it would be folly not to take it seriously.
Steve McClaren made nine changes to the team that lost to Portsmouth on Saturday. Mark Schwarzer was a surprise inclusion, as was the forward line of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Mark Viduka. Hail Massimo started on the right wing.
Schwarzer, Queudrue, Riggott, Wheater, Bates, Doriva, Parlour, Johnson (Taylor74), Maccarone, Hasselbaink (Kennedy 71), Viduka (Christie 45)
Knight, Parnaby
THE FIRST HALF
The atmosphere was slightly muted for this one but the action was fast in the first five minutes. Boro could have gone into an early lead when Franck Queudrue made a fifty-yard run that released Matthew Bates and provided an early opportunity for Doriva. Konchesky then forced Skippy to make a diving save when he found himself with space in the Boro box.
Boro were caught offside five times in the first ten minutes as the team tried to gel and Marlon Harewood got more into the game and started to look increasingly like he may cause us problems today.
On fifteen minutes, Boro started to pass the ball with much more fluidity and the movement between Jimmy Floyd and Mark Viduka was excellent and too much for the West Ham midfield. Boro kept possession for several minutes and eventually, the front pair released Doriva who was unlucky to see his shot go over the bar.
Boro had a glorious chance to open the scoring on twenty-one minutes when we produced our best move of the game. Mark Viduka chested the ball down to Jimmy Floyd who played a brilliant ball into Franck Queudrue who must be wondering how he put his shot wide. Maybe his bandage slipped and obscured his vision?
Boro stepped up the pace for a while after that particular attack and tried to put The Hammers under pressure but after half an hour, Shaka Hislop remained untested without having had a shot to save.
But that statistic was wiped off the board when Jimmy Floyd picked up a pass from Mark Viduka who had done brilliantly well to find a way through and Jimmy was unlucky not to get enough power on the shot and give Hislop an easier save to make than he should have had.
The game threatened to descend into an uneventful midfield tussle after that brief spell of action but Boro showed their quality on fourty-two minutes when Jimmy collected the ball from a brilliant Matthew Bates passback and blasted into the net to give Boro an ice-breaker and a deserved lead.
MIDDLESBROUGH 1 WEST HAM 0 (Hasselbaink 42)
The Hammers went looking for an equaliser straight away and an excellent David Wheater tackle at the very end of the first-half prevented them getting one. Boro went into the break with the lead and confident that if West Ham were to cause us any problems today, all we needed to was step up the pace to nullify it.
THE SECOND HALF
Boro made one change for the second half with Malcolm Christie making a welcome Riverside return by replacing Mark Viduka.
The first ten minutes of the second-half were completely uneventful although West Ham were slightly the brighter team in terms of creativity.
But Boro stepped it up with some great play by Malcolm Christie who was unlucky not to score after doing all the work in one of the best Boro moves of the game. A minute later, Christie came forward again and laid on Adam Johnson who was pulled down in the box. Referee Atkinson had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
Normally in Yakubu's absence, Jimmy would take the penalties but after a consultation with Hail Massimo, he sportingly stepped aside to let his colleague take the glory which he duly did by sending Hislop the wrong way.
MIDDLESBROUGH 2 WEST HAM 0 (Hail Massimo 56 pen)
Boro were now in the comfort zone and cruising with what was effectively a second string eleven against next Sunday's FA Cup semi-final opponents who were almost at full-strength. But clearly West Ham have their eye on the semi-final as well and it would be dangerous to use today's performance as a full-scale gauge of the Villa Park clash.
Just after the hour mark, West Ham produced a good break through Harewood which culminated in nothing and Boro then regained control again and launched four attacks, all of which troubled West Ham and nearly brought goals for David Wheater and Malcolm Christie. The Hammers were now hemmed in and tried to change things round with a treble substitution.
On came Zamora, Fletcher and Ashton in place of Scaloni, Katan and Harewood. The changes made little difference as the pace turned gentle with neither team stirring themselves beyond 'leisurely'. West Ham had not exactly given up but certainly appeared to have resigned themselves to a fruitless afternoon as Boro held them off with ease.
Boro made their second substitution on seventy-one minutes when Jason Kennedy replaced Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and their third when Andrew Taylor replaced Adam Johnson on seventy-four.
One of the better West Ham moves of the half resulted in Ray Parlour making an excellent tackle on Mullins to prevent a possible strike but Matthew Bates was left on the floor with a head injury after becoming involved in the chaos around the penalty area. Bates received treatment and was back on the field after a few minutes.
Meanwhile, Malcolm Christie saw an excellent shot just go over as the crowd chanted his name. How fitting would an appearance in a cup final be as an end to one of the worst injury nightmares in history?
The game as a spectacle was long dead by now with just seven minutes remaining and little inspiration or action to speak of on the field, other than Ashton's amazing Kanu-esque miss with just two minutes left to play. Although it would have made little or no difference, it was great for Boro to keep a clean sheet today.
It was also a useful three points for Boro and if it gives us any kind of psychological edge for next Sunday, then it will have proved to have been more than worthwhile. So that's the warm-up games over - now for the important matches...
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