FULHAM HOME 24-8-02
Middlesbrough 2 Fulham 2
The crowd's disappointing but the fans are most fervent,
But may I now mention a most loyal servant?
Please join me in wishing him 'all a da besta,'
In his new home in Portsmouth, to Gianluca Festa.
For a minute the noise was miraculously stilled,
As we thought of the two girls so tragically killed,
Total silence prevailed; not even hushed conversation,
As we stood there, united, in quiet contemplation.
In the first minute a Fulham man booked for dissent,
The ref. picked the ball up; ten yards' forward it went,
Free kick taken by Carlos, the Argentinian boy,
It bounced off the wall so, for Boro, no joy.
In Boro's first foray we saw Maccarone's pace,
He tried to find Boksic, who'd managed to find space,
Boks couldn't quite control it; his disappointment can't hide,
The ball deflects for a corner out on the far side.
The mood is just right and so good is the start,
From what they are seeing, the Boro fans can take heart,
The tempo's well up; feel expectation rise,
But the question now is, can we capitalise?
Massimo's showing the crowd that he really has class,
As he finds Boateng with a wonderful pass,
The Dutchman was caught rather back on his heels,
And Brevett, so aware, the ball he then steals.
Our passing is something we really must polish,
As the enemy, Fulham, we now seek to demolish,
We must really get out of this strange tippy-tappy,
For the visitors, right now, are looking quite happy.
Greening is caught by Brevett and they come face-to-face,
Things now hotting up so just you watch this space,
Boks pulled the trigger with just one thing in mind,
It deflects for a corner, which was somewhat unkind.
Boro fighting really hard to try and stem the tide,
As Ehiogu and Schwarzer somehow manage to collide,
The goalie came out for the ball then left the Boro bench gutted,
It appeared, in the melee, the big Aussie man was nutted.
After he'd been treated, Schwarzer quickly came around,
And got the ball to Macca who's been covering lots of ground,
He's shown us all what he can do, displaying lots of flair,
But he requires the ball to feet rather than in the air.
Boro's mid-field is failing to get the ball right up to Macc.,
More interested in defending rather than pushing up in attack,
Then as if to illustrate we saw Maccarone break away,
And only a well-timed tackle prevented an Italian take-away.
His pace it was tremendous, into the box and then,
The tackle on him was perfect; otherwise it was a pen,
It seemed to me that Fulham, were about to be derailed,
Marinelli took the corner kick but once again he failed.
Things are much too close for comfort: far too close, indeed,
And suddenly we are shaken as Fulham almost take the lead,
Boro down to ten men after Stockdale hurt his head,
When a header from a corner almost left our lads for dead.
After only half-an-hour came the goal we'd waited for,
Record signing Maccarone went right on through to score,
With strength and just a little luck, this newly-bought goal-getter,
Showed finishing truly clinical and the crowds now feeling better.
The finish can best be described as absolutely stunning,
At last in the new season, the Boro are now up and running,
With Fulham really struggling and Boro playing with pride,
There really is a wonderful buzz around the Riverside.
With half-an-hour now gone we are finally in top gear,
And from Fulham, it appears to all, we have nothing to fear,
Now all we need to do to keep all Boro fans' hopes alive,
Is to step it up a little bit and then find overdrive.
(Well done to Ugo,' who shows he's equal to the trick,
As Fulham, in a hurry, manage to take a quick free kick,
With Schwarzer beaten near post, Ugo wasn't taken by surprise,
But for his intervention we'd have seen the visitors equalise.
Fantastic break by Boksic but his pass slightly delayed,
When trying to find Macca, just a wee bit overplayed,
Wonderfully entertaining; the bench applauding to a man,
For this is what they're seeking, every week, for every fan.
Boksic we see once again applying yet more pressure,
Seeking a second Boro goal for the loyal fans to treasure,
Then Schwarzer in the Boro goal, alert to the situation,
Saves one to his left-hand side and receives a great ovation.
Our new striking partners have worked together really well,
And that's a Boro story that is really great to tell,
Maccarone's scored his very first goal inside his new home venue,
Let's hope that in the second half we have much more on the menu.
The second half is barely a couple of minutes' old,
When great play by Alen Boksic leaves the visitors totally cold,
A great cutback to Boateng, which left him time to check,
But he placed the ball quite tamely, straight down the 'keeper's neck.
Boro now are struggling and Fulham have impressed,
Marlet crossed a beauty and Saha almost did the rest,
Just moments after Saha so very nearly succeeded,
Boro went upfield to score a second; a goal they sorely needed.
Greening played a massive part: fans shouting out (Bellissimo,'
A wonderful ball from him, near stick, then found the head of Massimo,
There is no doubt at all that Boro are carving Fulham apart,
But time alone will tell if we have broken the visitors' heart.
A truly wonderful run had the crowd electrified,
And Melville, it is also clear, is totally petrified,
The quality is something that we haven't seen in years,
With fans supporting Fulham almost being reduced to tears.
Melville for the visitors is now, quite clearly, quaking,
And almost the whole of Fulham's team is really, really shaking,
And Maccarone's appetite is now well and truly whetted,
He's looking for his hat-trick but, I wonder if he'll get it?
Fulham now need to change it and, to see if they possibly can,
They bring on Inamoto, their recent signing from Japan,
Then yet another 'strange' new name, oh dear! What a palaver!
I'm struggling already, now they're bringing on Facundo Sava.
Great first touch by Greening who then gets in a cracker,
Directly to the man in form, our two-goal striker, Macca,
Were he to score another, then he'd really be a star,
Sadly, he struck it well, but down the throat of Van der Sar.
Boksic now is being replaced; we've seen him prod and probe,
He gets a wonderful reception as the manager brings on Job,
Then Macca, too, is taken off; his play has been inspired,
As well as Marinelli, although he appears tired.
One minute only left to play; this game is surely won,
Then up steps up Fulham's Davis, to spoil the Boro's fun,
But Fulham are not satisfied with that late one goal surprise,
They coming back, amazingly, and seek to equalise.
The Boro are now hanging on; the lead is, oh, so narrow,
Then Sava gets it in the net to fill us all with sorrow,
Inside just sixty seconds we've seen total football madness,
And that's more than enough to fill the Boro fans with sadness.
This had been a game that we had totally dictated,
And the visitors from Fulham? They'd been really dominated.
The praises of the Boro lads everyone had been extolling,
A victory had looked assured. In truth, well, we were strolling!
Everyone then left the field, each face looking like thunder,
For next week can we pick things up? I have to say, I wonder!
One thing for sure I do believe and I think you'd also bet,
McClaren made some changes, which I think he might regret.
We did see many positive things and, when word gets around,
Let's hope the Boro faithful, next week will fill the ground,
To get behind the lads and their newly-found goal hero,
The bald-headed Italian man, now known to all, Massimo.
I'm sure that at the 'inquest,' almost everyone will say,
That these were two more points which we certainly threw away,
I have no doubt that Fulham will feel a point they surely earned,
But more important for the Boro is that lessons must be learned.
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