Former Celtic Boys Give Boro A Boost

After conceding early on in the first-half when Peter Lovenkrands had put the visitors ahead, Barry Robson and Scott McDonald linked up well to level the scoring 20 minutes later. It was a peach of goal from the 31-year-old who lashed the ball home with a 20-yard left-footed strike. Some could say it was a goal made in Celtic as both McDonald and Robson showed the Boro fans what they are capable of in big games.

The Middlesbrough players were in the opposition’s faces after the equaliser as they completely dominated play until the half-time whistle. Julio Arca and Robson were causing problems down both flanks, linking up well with the crafty McDonald but Boro were unable to take advantage before the break.

An excellent second-half of football flew by until Barry Robson curled in a delightful free-kick which Chris Killen nodded across for McDonald, who turned and volleyed the ball into the back of the net giving Harper no chance. It was a moment for the Australian international to remember and hopefully it was a turning point in our season.

As we approached the last 10 minutes of the game the Boro fans were thinking we could take all three points but as the minutes ticked on we were playing deeper and deeper and our tempo dropped off allowing the Magpies to throw men forward and, as we’ve seen many times before, the opposition grabbed their chance as Andy Carroll poached to score the leveller.

It was a tough one to take for the Boro players and fans but we have to take the positives from the game and on reflection we were the much better side and caused the most problems but a lack of creativity and guile in the final third was the key factor as we should have been out of sight after scoring the second goal.

There were some outstanding performers for Boro against the Geordies. Robson again showed us how much drive and quality he has. Kyle Naughton was excellent at right-back and there were good performances from Julio Arca and O’Neil but I have to give man of the match to Scott McDonald for his contribution to Boro’s first and also for scoring his first in a Middlesbrough shirt. His movement off the ball and tenacity throughout was awesome, he was a joy to watch all afternoon.

Cardiff and Blackpool both lost whilst Sheffield United and Coventry both drew so a point against Newcastle for Boro is not bad at all. The performance will certainly give the players a lift going into the next game at Derby.

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