Saturday, January 07, 2006
Newcastle 2 Boro 2
Derby days always throw up a decent story and this was no exception... With George Boateng out injured once more and the combination of Doriva and Rochemback not the most attractive in the world Mac decided to give another Boro youngster a surprise start: Lee Cattermole, who came on as sub earlier in the season for the cup was given the unenviable task of stepping into George's boots and doing the job for us. And that he did, with great credit, adding to our never ending list of formidable young breakthroughs.The game swung to and fro in the early stages with chances for both teams, but it was the home side who ominously opened the scoring thanks to a well placed Nobby Solano free kick from outside the box (although what pint sized Doriva was doing in the wall remains a mystery). Without Owen, however the Toon couldn't press their advantage and Boro popped up with some great play from Morrison and a confident finish from the Yak to make his 11th in the premiership this season. A slight hip niggle led to the main man being subbed for Jimmy Floyd midway through the second half - a move that looked to have paid off big time when the Dutchman was put clean through with a well timed run, opening up the opposition for a cross goal shot and goal number two! The confidence that has gone AWOL recently came surging back in the last 20 minutes and the result looked safe... But this is Boro and with virtually the last kick of the game Gareth Southgate sliced a clearance for a corner. The deadball sailed into the box, was met by yet another limp punch from Mark Schwarzer, fell to the feet of a player in black and white who belted it speculatively past half a dozen Boro defenders who simply watched it sail into the back of the net - final whistle, two points dropped!
I found this result even harder to take than last season when Norwich came back from 4-1 down to grab a draw, just because we have been there and still can't learn the lesson! Now we are firmly rooted in the bottom section of the table, with even poor old Everton catching us up. Things have gone from optimistic to panic stricken in the course of yet another terrible Christmas period. And I've run out of ideas of how things can get better.
My MOTM: James Morrison with another imperious display just nicked it from debut boy Cattermole.
