With the Boro lads now riding high, on the top of a wave,
Today’s visit of Pompey could see them digging their own grave,
They’ve not won this season when they’ve left Fratton Park,
So that should really send to Boro a warning that is stark.

On a glorious and sunny late October afternoon,
Directly the opposite of yesterday’s monsoon,
With the surface unblemished and the large crowd upbeat,
And awaiting reversal of last season’s defeat.

We’re looking for Downing to turn on the style,
And hope that the Boro can win by a mile,
But a big win is probably no more than a dream,
Against Harry Redknapp and Jim Smith: an excellent team.

Zenden sent a ball out left, so beautifully flighted,
Intended for young Downing, whom he’d obviously sighted,
But the ball hit the wet surface and then hurtled into touch,
We all know Stewart’s speedy but that was just a bit too much.

With the outside of his boot Mendi flicked the ball to Jimmy,
Who then got in a shot after his favourite little shimmy,
It wasn’t perhaps the best but the defender went to sleep,
And in rushed Stewart Downing, who had ghosted in from deep.

That appeared to be one-nil and it should have been converted,
But the contact wasn’t perfect and so past the post it squirted,
It looked for all the world that the visitors would now teeter,
Then it swerved a minute fraction and missed by just a centimetre.

As so very often happens when your luck is obviously failing,
The other side attacks and then suddenly you’re trailing,
Kamara was the scorer and your hat you have to doff,
For we were well and truly punished for constantly backing off.

So the Pompey bells are chiming, down here at the Riverside,
After very poor defending it was almost suicide,
The lad went for the jugular, which, for Boro, meant early grief,
For the management team looked stunned and in total disbelief.

As the Boro cleared their heads and looked for a quick retort,
Jimmy showed tremendous skill with Mendi in support,
As the trigger was being pulled Unsworth remained so eagle-eyed,
And he slid in well on Jimmy, who was cruelly denied.

A wondrous run by McMahon had Pompey in a flap,
He fed the ball to Jimmy, who had found a narrow gap,
A fearsome shot was launched with the sweetest of control,
Once again it burnt the paint off the left side of Pompey’s goal.

Mendi did his best to keep the kettle on the boil,
And he picked out Mark Viduka, who was waiting to recoil,
But the ‘keeper, Shaka Hislop, took the ball from off Mark’s foot,
He was very, very brave and, most certainly, astute.

Jimmy picked out Downing and he chose at once to shoot,
After just a single touch, though the angle was acute,
But with the ‘keeper well positioned, though he went down on his knees,
The opportunity created, we so sadly could not seize.

The crowd becomes impatient when they feel that we’ve been wronged,
And the search for Boro’s goal is now becoming quite prolonged,
Then Zenden went a ‘missing and the door was left ajar,
But Quashie sent one wide from an assist by Lua-Lua.

With Kamara well inside the box, McMahon just stood his ground,
The young lad showed tremendous grit and he won’t be pushed around,
Kamara almost got a second and the Riverside just shook,
That’s twice within two minutes that we have wriggled off the hook.

Mendi went down injured and was clutching at his knee,
After Patrick Berger caught him, though it seemed quite innocently,
But the stretcher was requested and Mendi’s looking so distressed,
As Nemeth takes his place to pursue the Boro’s quest.

A chance then fell to Downing and how well he did connect,
It sure stung Hislop’s fingers as he managed to deflect,
But the young lad showed once more, quite tremendous inspiration,
And he may prove to be, one deeply feels, the Boro team’s salvation.

So Pompey had the better start: for Boro most frustrating,
All chances made were wasted and that’s awfully irritating,
But we’ve not been playing badly and the goal will surely come,
And if we get the opportunities, we must start taking some.

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Downing soon continued to tease Pompey and torment,
And the fans showed their approval as they roared encouragement,
Jimmy heads one over with the fans out of their seats,
From Downing’s clever corner as Pompey’s defence retreats.

Has Boateng got the scent now, after scoring his first goal?
He sweetly struck from twenty yards but couldn’t quite control,
More goals from him are needed and that cannot be concealed,
As Downing sets the standard, for scoring from midfield.

Parlour had a great run then he managed to provide,
A chance for Szilard Nemeth but a shot was then denied,
Matt Taylor was the Pompey man whose brilliant interception,
Brought from all the visiting fans a long and loud reception.

Nemeth found Viduka, who then held the ball up well,
Before sweeping it to Parlour in this better Boro spell,
Unusually the finish lacked a little expertise,
And Hislop, diving to his left, saved Viduka’s shot with ease.

It was a lovely little lay-off that Viduka did provide,
But Nemeth, though he tried so hard, could only put it wide,
He was sorely disappointed when he failed to make the start,
But he’s done so well since coming on and he’s really looked the part.

Gareth Southgate showed himself at his majestic best,
As his own frustration surfaced and his team was being pressed,
He ran into the Pompey box then squared the ball to Floyd,
Who put it wide, but that great move, had really been enjoyed.

Luck was not on Jimmy’s side as he got the ball from Szil,
He swivelled sweetly in the box and looked to make the kill,
But he went straight at the ‘keeper and the shot was easily baulked,
Though one feels the equaliser is about to be uncorked.

Lua-Lua was then replaced, as he’d looked a bit off colour,
He was instantly succeeded by the Pompey front-man, Fuller,
Then as time ticked on for Boro, Nemeth suddenly seemed to freeze,
When a good chance was presented he looked totally ill at ease.

Kamara shrugged off three red shirts and showed such great panache,
Then homed in on the Boro goal, quick as the proverbial flash,
He showed a speedy pair of heels, impossible to catch,
And once again Mark Schwarzer kept the Boro in this match,

The fantastic talent of Downing, in about the seventy-fourth minute,
Gave the Boro a platform to now go on and win it,
With Boro fans a sea of smiles, the Pompey brows did crease,
When Stewart drove them dizzy, to make it one apiece.

Everybody loves a hero and even more a local boy,
Who, hopefully, for years to come, will bring us pride and joy,
“Downing for England,” roars the crowd and that will come, I’m sure,
But only when the time is right: it’s now too premature.

Jimmy had his back to goal and the strength he showed was great,
The way he beat man-after-man would make fans salivate,
He danced around them – four at least – the skill was unsurpassed,
But, sadly, at the very end, he could not beat the last.

Nemeth found Viduka with a chance to win the day,
But his header struck the crossbar and rebounded into play,
And so the victory we’d hoped for proved impossible to obtain,
In the end we saw two further points vanish slowly down the drain.