Sunday, March 26, 2006
Boro 4 Bolton 3
We've played a lot of games recently, but not too many home league games, so it was nice to play host to Bolton - a team we have a good record against in recent times. They had European aspirations, but we had a good run of form to boast - it was 50/50 who would come out on top. With the worst possible of starts, conceding in the first 3 minutes, it looked very quickly like their day. But with in form strikers like Jimmy Floyd and Mark Viduka no team is safe! A penalty from the Dutchman that wriggled under the body of their keeper brought a sigh of relief to the lips of player and fans alike. It was soon added to by another from the Mark Viduka classics collection to give us a deserved half time lead.Jimmy made it three one with a typical opportunist's goal early in the second half and from then on we went down a gear and into cruise mode. Bad idea. Bolton came back with trademark grit and determination, exploiting the less than committed defending that began to creep into our game as we clockwatched, hoping for the game to end with us still in front. We got a big wake-up call at 3-3 and Bolton can consider themselves unlucky not to have taken at least a point from the game. But it was academy graduate Stuart Parnaby that sealed it for the Boro with only seconds to go - a perfect cross from substitute Yakubu tapped in by him before George Boateng, following up behind, had a chance for the glory.
To score four goals against a good team is wonderful, but to concede 3 again, with at least 2 of them completely unnecessary, is a typical reflection of our season. We continue to remain vulnerable at the back, opposing teams know that, and pretty soon we will surely be in for another Arsenal style kicking if we don't shore it up. Regardless of that though we have reached the dizzy heights of 14th again, leapfrogging Villa and Fulham - two teams we are most definitely better than and deserve to stay above from here on in. Newcastle and Man City are next in the firing line - the latter of which we face next weekend. We need to beat them 6-0 to go ahead of them on goal difference (not going to happen), but we have a game in hand on those two teams and should be above them soon enough with a good result on Sunday.
My MOTM: Mark Viduka - at the top of his game, bringing out the tricks and holding up play to great effect.
