It’s been nigh on ten years since Middlesbrough last played in the Premier League. For much of that time, the Boro faithful have been subject to relative mediocrity, as they have stagnated in the Championship. And yet, arriving at the Riverside on a grey and wet May morning brought the feeling of a European night outside the Riverside.
Those on Teesside will still have fond memories of their club’s continental adventures in the mid-noughties, and were able to conjure up some of that magic to welcome the Middlesbrough team coach to the Riverside for their play-off semi-final first leg against Southampton. The red mist descended, literally.
The red mist also came down in the press room following the goalless draw that played out on Teesside. After it emerged that a member of Southampton’s staff had been caught spying on Middlesbrough’s training session on Thursday, the post-match questioning was only going to go in one direction, despite the entertaining match, which Boro really should have won.
Southampton boss Tonda Eckert was very reluctant to answer questions on the matter, before he and the Saints’ press officer stormed out of the room following persistent questioning. Middlesbrough Head Coach Kim Hellberg described it as cheating, and was clearly incredibly angered by the whole situation.
Despite this, Hellberg was keen to point out the welcome created by the Boro fans when asked about what fuelled the performance, saying “you see how the supporters meet us up before the game, you see in here there was a lot of fuel created by them.”
“I don’t want to give any type of credit to what those people have done. All the fuel comes from what we do together, how we play football, and that was a dominant performance”, he added.
Hellberg was right. Boro really should have been ahead at half time. The fact that they were not was as baffling to them as it was to Southampton, who looked like rabbits in the headlights in the first half. The ball was like a hot potato for the away side, who were hunted in packs by Boro with breathless energy.
Chances came and went, the best falling to Tommy Conway, who, have been played in by Riley McGree, curled his low shot off the post to the huge groans of the majority inside the Riverside. Would Boro go on to rue those missed opportunities?
It almost appeared that way, as for significant periods of the second half it was Boro who were the ones breathing heavy sighs of relief, as the Saints finally came to the party. The tension was palpable and the game much more open than it had been in the first 45. Taylor Harwood-Bellis saw a header crash off the crossbar with less than five minutes of normal time left - a big warning for Boro.
The game ended nil-nil, with all to play for at St. Mary’s on Tuesday, as things stand. There is no word yet on what punishment, if any, will be given to Southampton.
What is certain is that Middlesbrough are a good side away from home, but they will have to learn lessons from this encounter, especially in front of goal. After all of the build up it was a frustrating afternoon, but crucially it is far from over.
