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ALI'S BIG MATCH PREVIEW - MIDDLESBROUGH v NORTHAMPTON TOWN, CARLING CUP 29-8-07
Alastair Brownlee
"And Boro are winners at last!"
Commentating on the Carling Cup Final win at the Millennium Stadium on February 29 2004 remains one of the main highlights of my twenty-five years behind the microphone following the Boro.
As Gareth Southgate lifted the first major piece of silverware in the club's history it was difficult to hold back the emotions and when the players brought the trophy back to the Riverside, the packed streets for the victory parade showed just what the football club means to the town.
The first tentative steps on the road to that cup final triumph were only taken after Malcolm Christie put an end to Brighton's resistance in extra time in round two and as Boro prepare for the visit of Northampton, the priority is to ensure that a cup shock is avoided and that they take their place in the third round draw.
Northampton earned their night at the Riverside with a 2-0 home win over Millwall, but Stuart Gray's side have made a patchy start to the season and Saturday's 2-1 home defeat by Yeovil left them sixth from bottom in League One and yet to record a league win.
It all adds up to what should be a comfortable night for Boro but Gareth remembers at this stage of the competition last season Notts County were expected to give his side few problems and yet it was County not Boro, who made it through to the third round.
Gareth acknowledges that the number of changes he made for the County game might have contributed to the defeat and he is determined not to make the same mistake again.
True, this is a competition slow to catch the fan's imagination but the prize at stake is a Wembley final together with a place back in the UEFA Cup and I am sure that we would have little difficulty in packing the new look Wembley on Sunday February 24.
Boro go into the cup-tie on the back off a terrific derby with Newcastle United. They more than deserved their point in a 2-2 draw and might easily have won the 111th league meeting with the Magpies.
The midfield partnership of Julio Arca and Fabio Rochemback was sensational and on Century I found it a tough choice to separate them for the Box Clothing Stores man of the match.
In the end I chose Fabio because I felt that in the first half his range of passing ensured that Newcastle could not build on the N'Zogbia opener and his vision to set Mido free for his goal was world class.
The reaction of the Egyptian international in celebrating in front of the away fans earned him a booking but, quite rightly, the actions of a section of the Newcastle fans in branding him a "bomber" have been condemned in the media.
As Gareth pointed out after the game, there is something wrong when thousands of people can chant at an individual and yet when he reacts he is punished.
The Football Association is to investigate the persistent anti-Arab chants and I do hope that Newcastle United follow the lead of West Ham United, who together with their then manager Alan Pardew, apologised to Mido for the abuse he suffered in the London derby when he was playing for Spurs.
My early football experiences came through standing in the Holgate End and although some of the comments could be cutting to say the least, it was nothing compared to what was heard on Sunday and I am sure that if anyone had tried to be as offensive it would have resulted in a sharp clip around the ear for the offender!
I do hope that after the attractive football played against Newcastle that we could attract a decent crowd on Wednesday and looking back in the Century archives I came across a second round tie with Hereford back in September 1996.
In front of 17,136 Boro inflicted a 7-0 defeat on the visitors with Ravanelli scoring four. It was cracking entertainment and with my rose tinted glasses on, let's go for a repeat against Northampton, this time with four for the new hero, Mido!
Tune in for my score updates on Century FM on Wednesday night and I will be back on Friday with the Birmingham City preview.
RETURN TO ALASTAIR BROWNLEE INDEX PAGE HERE
A GUARANTEED PROFIT OF AT LEAST £41.20 ON PORTSMOUTH v FULHAM
Did you know that it is possible to win money on Sunday afternoon's Premiership clash between Portsmouth v Fulham, whatever the result?
The game kicks off at 3.00pm and we can guarantee you a profit of at least £41.20, whatever the result of the match. All you have to do is follow the simple instructions below and then sit back and enjoy the game. At full-time, you will be at least £41.20 better off, whatever the result of the match.
We must point out that if you want to take this bet, you should do it now because if the odds change, then the figures here will be invalidated. If they have changed, let us know and we will rework the bet for you.
You can still do this if you have a Betfair account but your overall profit will be reduced by £25.00 as you won't receive the £25.00 cashback as an existing account holder.
If you are unsure about this bet, you are most welcome to call us on 01642 223229 and we will help you as much as we can.
We're going to lay out a total of £71.00 on the Portsmouth v Fulham match and we will collect £115.00 if Portsmouth win, £112.20 if Fulham win and £114.13 if it's a draw. That's a minimum profit of 58%, a much higher interest rate than you will get in any high street bank.
Here's how it's done. Just follow these simple instructions.
1. Open an account with Coral. It is really important that you enter the bonus code of CORALTD when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Open an account with Betfair. It is really important that you enter the promotional code of BFB425 when prompted. This is to ensure that you receive your bonus.
Open an account with Extrabet
 .
This shouldn't take you any longer than a few minutes.
2. Make the following deposits into your new accounts.
Deposit £20.00 into your new Coral account.
Deposit £26.00 into your new Betfair account.
Deposit £25.00 into your Extrabet
account.
3. Now make the following bets.
Place £20.00 on Portsmouth at 3.00 (2/1) with Coral.
Coral will now add a £10.00 bonus to your account. Place this on Portsmouth as well. You will now have £30.00 riding on Portsmouth.
Back the draw with £25.00 at 3.7 (11/4) (or higher if available) with Betfair.
Place £26.00 on Fulham at 2.2 (6/5) with Extrabet .
Extrabet match your first bet up to £25 so you will now have £51.00 riding on Fulham.
The £25.00 matched bet will not show in your account but you can read all about how it works on the Extrabet site. It's the purple box that says '£25 FREE BET FOR NEW CUSTOMERS' on the top right hand side. Click here to visit the Extrabet site.
If you are unsure about placing these bets, please feel free to mail us or call us on 01642 223229 and we will talk you through it, no problem at all. There is no such thing as a stupid question.
You have temporarily laid out a total of £71.00 on the Portsmouth v Fulham match. I stress, temporarily... Now sit back, crack a beer open and enjoy the match.
4. Here's what happens at the end of the game.
If Portsmouth win, you collect £115.00. That's £90.00 from Coral plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If it's a draw, you collect £114.13. That's £89.13 from Betfair plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
If Fulham win you collect £112.20. That's £87.20 from Extrabet plus a £25.00 cashback from Betfair.
5. This means that the worst case scenario on the Portsmouth v Fulham match is Fulham win and you make £41.20 profit. However, if it is a draw you make £43.13 and if Portsmouth win you make £44.00. That's a minimum profit of 58%, a much better rate of interest that you would get at any high street bank or building society.
6. It is absolutely vital that you click on the links on this page to open the accounts with the two bookies and enter the correct bonus codes or you may not qualify for the bonuses.
Also, before you place your bets, you should check that the odds haven't changed. If they have, let us know by mail or phone us on 01642 223229 and we will rework the bet for you.
Please feel free to contact us or phone us on 01642 223229 if you have any questions at all about this bet and we will help you as much as we can.
Please note that the bonuses are valid for new customers only so if you already have an account with one or more of the bookies we are using, you won't be able to do this. If that is the case, mail us or phone us on 01642 223229 and we'll create an alternative bet for you using different bookies.
This method of betting was used very successfully during the 2006 World Cup and you can read all about how it was done right here.
We guarantee this bet
It's understandable that some people will not believe that it is possible to do this. "What's the catch?" I hear you asking. My answer to that question is that we have been publishing arbitrage bets for four seasons now and literally hundreds of people have profited from following the advice on these pages.
Only twice has our refund guarantee been triggered and that was when we did all the figures wrong and sent refunds out to those who had followed our advice and made a small loss.
Our refund guarantee works like this. If this bet doesn't work like we say it will and you end up out of pocket, we will refund your losses. Simple as that.
That means that you simply cannot lose on this, whatever happens and even if we messed up the numbers.
The only stipulation here is that you must click on the links on this page to be eligible for the refund guarantee, not that you'll be needing to claim anyway. Just enjoy the profit and stay posted for many more of these throughout the season.
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