Sunday, April 09, 2006
Boro 1 Newcastle 2
Difficult fixture: to have a local derby at home shortly after the adrenalin rush of reaching a Uefa cup semi-final and shortly before an FA cup quarter-final replay - of course we wanted to win, but surely energy conservation and not picking up injuries had to come into it. Poor old Franck Queudrue then, who having bled for the cause in both of the last two victories, head tightly bandaged, got a third knock to the same spot from a defensive header early on. Nice to see bravery and battling, but that must put him out for a bit now. And for the rest, it certainly looked like we attempted to cruise through at about 80%, making it a pretty even contest, as we are clearly the better team at this point of the season.Ameobi caused us most concern in the first half for them, looking bright and fast onto the ball, getting in all sorts of positions. A goal came for them from a set-piece (an area of our game that needs real work in the run-in) before the half, and another in the second half from Ameobi's industry and guile. The game seemed dead for a few minutes until Boro pride kicked in and we decided to make a fight of it. Pushing forward more adventurously we piled a few shots onto the stats sheet before good old George popped up with a rare goal. The game opened up in the last quarter and an equaliser would not have been too surprising. However, a little fatigue crept in inevitably and The Toon held on for a mostly bloodless victory.
No big deal to lose this one now our premiership status for next season is assured and we must concentrate on the silverware. It was an opportunity, like the recent Charlton league game, to leapfrog a few teams we deserve to be ahead of, but it was not to be. We may well end up 15th or 16th this season and win two cups! I would certainly settle for that at this (or any) point, but so far we have won nothing and our season is in a strange limbo - success and failure separated by a very thin line.
My MOTM: Fabio Rochemback looked good, confident at last, but Boateng is our unsung talisman and deserves some credit just now.
