BIRMINGHAM HOME 11-9-04
Middlesbrough 2 Birmingham City 1
It's a fine autumn day though a little too breezy,
And control of the ball may be anything but easy,
But with Southgate for Boro with his hand on the tiller,
Three points are a cert: not another eight-goal thriller.
City's three strikers may be difficult to quell,
In the shape of Dwight Yorke; Emile Heskey; Forssell,
Within a matter of moments they all tried to exploit,
And how the Fin then rolled Southgate was immensely adroit.
The Boro's first corner, from a Cunningham blunder,
As the visitors looked certain to be torn wide asunder,
'Come on the Boro' boomed from all parts of the ground,
But the crucial last touch could not, sadly, be found.
Another Boro corner-kick, which Zenden then takes,
And his great left-foot curler into the area then snakes,
For an near-perfect header from Franck, ghosting in,
Sadly, he sent it high but he'll take it on the chin.
With Schwarzer rooted to his line the ball fell to Forssell,
He was 20 yards out and central; didn't he catch it really well?
The right-foot strike was brilliant and the warning was so stark,
As it missed by only inches and flew wide of the mark.
With Upson under pressure from terrific play by Bolo,
Boateng saw an opening and decided to go solo,
This brought about a moment of most wonderful intrigue,
When Boateng 'threatened' to score his first in the Premier League.
Showing such great courage and truly wonderful persistence,
He lined one up and rifled it from a prodigious distance,
Taylor in the City goal managed to divert it with his hands,
But missed by Graham Poll though seen by everyone in the stands.
The linesman rightly gave a corner, as he'd certainly not been fooled,
But Mr. Poll thought differently and he therefore overruled,
He must have felt embarrassed at this ridiculous decision,
And the fans replied in unison with loud, prolonged derision.
A fortuitous deflection into the path of Jimmy Floyd,
And only seconds later Birmingham City were destroyed,
From JFH to Aussie Mark to finish off the move,
To prove to Boro fans these two are really in the groove.
With strikers playing in tandem they will always be a threat,
And Mark and Jimmy Floyd make up a wonderful duet,
The goal was simply stunning and taken with authority,
To give the Boro, at least for now, that slight superiority.
Once more the ref. is in the limelight, after which he seems to hanker,
And was slaughtered by the Boro fans, who claim he is a swanker,
Zenden chipped the 'keeper from about the half-way line,
Though Graham should have stopped the game he had chosen to decline.
Controversy and referees are never far apart,
But Mr. Poll today seems hell-bent on upsetting the applecart,
So the game restarts and, thankfully, no real damage has been done,
But the sad thing is that Boro's lead remains at only one.
Boro almost scored again through Nemeth, really plucky,
He swivelled; scooped it o'er the bar and was desperately unlucky,
After Parnaby took a throw-in and Viduka's shot was blocked,
City breathe somewhat easier but they are visibly quite shocked.
The ball sat up well for JFH who was twenty-five yards out,
He lined it up and launched on goal a most tremendous clout,
It deflected for a corner when the visitors looked in trouble.
Will this be the opportunity for the Boro's lead to double?
A great ball in from Zenden and Franck met it with his head,
To force it hard and downwards, as most goalkeepers dread,
But great handling by Maik Taylor kept the big French Franck at bay,
To ensure that the City live to fight another day.
Another Graham Poll masterpiece led to Schwarzer being defeated,
And the language from the Boro bench really cannot be repeated,
When Viduka's fouled by Upson and the Boro fans all see red,
Mr. Poll simply smiled again and once more shook his head.
Forssell didn't hang around when, much to his surprise,
He picked out Emile Heskey who went through to equalise,
Now Boro must all clear their heads and seek quickly to respond,
So perhaps Mr. McClaren can once more wave his magic wand.
In added time Maik Taylor managed to kick one off his line,
He had been extremely lucky: more by good fortune than by design,
So ends the half with many not believing what they're seeing,
With today's 'Man in the Middle' guilty of some woeful refereeing.
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The second half gets underway, so what will now unfold?
In a game which, generally, I would say, the Boro have controlled,
Were it not for Poll's decisions, some of which were quite bizarre,
The Boro could be two goals up and then, for City, au revoir.
Immediately from the restart Boro showed us their intent,
And a bit of Queudrue magic was really quite magnificent,
He so cleverly beat his marker and then nutmegged a second,
Passed to Floyd then things went wrong when genuine danger beckoned.
Viduka's downward header, straight into the path of Bolo,
Was struck from range: was goalwards' bound: because he kept it so low,
Maik Taylor dived and got a touch and for a corner then diverted,
Leaving Boro fans now full of hope that the chance would be converted.
Their prayers were quickly answered and it certainly was no fluke,
A second goal for Viduka, who had read it like a book,
Zenden sent the ball across: a better flick you'll seldom get,
And it flew so high and handsome, into the City net.
A clever Zenden back-heel picked out Franck in lots of space,
Then in a tussle for possession, Stuart Parnaby won the race,
He left Nemeth with an option and he chose to go alone,
And brought a great save from Maik Taylor so I guess we mustn't moan.
With City keen to prove that they're still very much in the hunt,
Ugo, though appearing injured, kept the Boro's nose just in front,
Heskey won an opportunity, which he then went on to fritter,
When Ugo pounced and intervened to deny Emile a sitter.
Ugo went to ground and he was clearly in distress,
Why wasn't he instantly replaced? That is anybody's guess,
In his 100th game for Boro, what we didn't want to see,
Was him playing through the obvious pain, at the cost of victory.
Riggott soon replaced him and then Boateng's also struggling,
It appears that we will quickly need some further Boro juggling,
Despite displaying signs of agony George was working like a beaver,
But there's just no other option and he's replaced soon by Doriva.
With Viduka on a hat-trick, of which Nemeth was well aware,
His touch for once deserted him and that is awfully rare,
Szilard laid it on for him and it looked a certain goal,
Then Aussie Mark quite simply failed to ever get control.
City forced a corner with Boro somewhat out of shape,
It might have been 2-2 and we were lucky to escape,
With Boro under pressure from this sudden City flood,
We need to hold on tightly as the Blues are sensing blood.
Quick and short, the corner took the Boro by surprise,
Did Gareth handle on the line, before the referee's eyes?
Mr. Poll's once more surrounded and it's really quite a scene,
But, of course, he couldn't whistle for something he hadn't seen.
For the final quarter-hour it's time for muscles to be flexed,
Yet Boro make a change that has supporters all perplexed,
Though Viduka's on a hat-trick, perhaps he's feeling somewhat jaded,
But that's a management decision and Doriva's now paraded.
Mark doesn't appear injured though perhaps we shouldn't panic,
It might just be he's being 'saved' for Thursday's game v Banik,
City, too, make changes for three points are so immense,
And if we can't score another goal then the going will be so tense.
City threw it all at us: include the kitchen sink,
But Boro managed to survive, though sometimes on the brink,
Jubilant fans had lifted the lads across the finishing line,
For after three wins in succession they're now feeling on cloud nine.
With plaudits ringing in their ears the lads can now feel proud,
So, on Thursday night in Europe, let us shout it really loud,
But one whose poor performance we are certainly not extolling,
Is Graham, the game's real 'super star,' who was totally apPolling..
For three points Boro worked so hard but they got there in the end,
It's wonderful for the faithful fans as their homeward way they wend,
That's five games played and, apparently, their best display so far,
To set things up magnificently now against Banik Ostrava.
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