Three games watched, three victories achieved in differing circumstances and with differing rewards. The performances were not convincing but what mattered was the result. Middlesbrough and Manchester United were respectively the benefactors of a place in the last eight of the FA Cup and a priceless three points in the case of the former, and the Carling Cup in the latter.
For a team without a league win in a dozen games and without a goal scored in almost as long, Boro’s 2-0 win double over West Ham and Liverpool brought an almost audible sigh of relief to Teeside.
Progress into the FA Cup quarter finals for the fourth time in as many years was a welcome distraction from Gareth Southgate’s side’s league concerns. An absolute stunner from Stewart Downing settled nerves and Tuncay’s second shortly afterwards ultimately did for West Ham but the Riverside groundsman would have had to re-paint the upright where Scott Parker shaved a layer off when he should have scored and fingers were still crossed going into injury time, such is the depth of concern in the minds of Boro fans who have seen their favourites throw away points year after year when they should have been secured.
The visit of Liverpool, conquerors of might Real Madrid not 72 hours earlier, brought two trains of thought. One - Boro’s record against the big teams is almost second to none, and two - Boro’s current form promised goals but not in the Scouser’s net. However, after surviving several clear cut chances, Boro grabbed a surprise lead through Xabi Alonso’s unfortunate own goal. Liverpool could have equalised on several occasions before a superb break down the right ended with ‘Teesside’ Tuncay calmly slotting home the second. Boro held on and moved, albeit temporarily, out of the relegation zone but at least closer to the pack.
Sunday’s Carling Cup Final was one of the more predictable affairs such as is often produced when one or more of the ‘big four’ are present. Most finals are eagerly awaited but, in my humble opinion and as a neutral, this one was shit. A brief spell during the first half could have seen United run away with it but they didn’t. The longer it went on the more bored I became and was almost pleading for the referee to insist on penalties after the end of normal time. Oh **** I thought - not another 30 minutes of this crap. I think justice was probably done as Ronaldo was unlucky to have been booked and should on balance have had a penalty instead. Again, just my opinion and that from someone who isn’t exactly his biggest fan.
Anyhow, three matches, three victories, none covering the victors in substantial glory convincing-performance-wise. All goes to prove one thing - sometimes is doesn’t matter how you do it, you’ve just got to win.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen a match and have said ‘lucky b*st*rds’ or the like when a team has nicked a goal in the last minute or has held on to what I have thought was an undeserved lead grabbed early on. It has usually been because I wanted the other team to win. For the winners and their fans, however, the fact that they didn’t necessarily deserve their victory didn’t really matter. I’m not saying that either Boro or United didn’t deserve their wins this week, far from it. But the manner of those victories were not as important as the victories themselves.
I think back to 1999 when United won the treble. The two goals scored in the final moments hid the fact that Munich were the better side. I seem to remember Chelsea playing lowly and now-defunct Scarborough and riding their luck before snatching a victory from the jaws of what would have been a deserved defeat. Like almost every occurrence in history, no-one remembers the losers or even who came second.
I guess that what I was trying to get out of all this is what I have eventually found as a result of putting this down. Forget the last two or three months and forget the missed chances at the other end - Boro won two matches this week and scored four goals. Alright, so they only actually scored 3 of them themselves but who’s counting? I now feel absolved from any guilt or feelings that I should in some way quantify the two wins. We are into the last eight of the FA Cup. We got 3 points in the league and are now, at least, back in the pack with a shout at staying up.
A trip to Wembley and cup glory with another season in the Premiership and UEFA Cup football once again? Or another cup exit when we should have done better and Championship football to look forward to?
Life as a Boro fan usually isn’t boring. I just wish sometimes for a bit of mid-table boredom and abject indifference in the trophy department. Just like the last 130-odd years. We weren’t brought up on drama and excitement on Teesside. We expected promises that were never delivered. Since 1986, we’ve actually had a couple that did get delivered and that has made us nervous. Nervous that we should both expect more and less. That‘s why we always look at extremes like that last paragraph.
And when in a week’s time we’ve been hammered by Spurs and Everton, it’ll be back to service as usual. Or maybe……………………no, not going there………….yet.
Yodasmog
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