For just a single minute the large crowd stood totally mute,
This was their way of showing, in hushed silence, their tribute,
Great affection and respect for the late, great, “Crazy Horse,”
Feelings which, I feel quite sure, most real fans would endorse.

Liverpool’s famous anthem of “You’ll Never Walk Alone,”
Raised the roof of Anfield before the starting whistle was blown,
The whole occasion, thankfully, was so moving: truly splendid,
But now the Boro’s own Carling Cup really needs to be defended.

A Stewart Downing cross, in the Boro’s first onslaught,
Led to a quick corner but it sadly came to nought,
Then right up to the other end and, quick as any flash,
Biscan brought a decent save from Boro’s Carlo Nash.

Cooper slid in rashly and he didn’t quite succeed,
And Biscan, once again involved, reacted with great speed,
Pongolle took up the running and the Boro were being compressed,
Until Nash came to the rescue and once more he’d stood the test.

The show’s being run by Biscan, who’s on another mazy run,
And Nash again saved Boro, when we looked like being undone,
His great block fell to Potter and the home fans loudly roared,
But he failed to find the target and he knows he should have scored.

Viduka looked disconsolate and totally amazed,
When the ball comes in from Downing and the linesman’s flag is raised,
It was offside against Joseph, in the box and having stumbled,
So another decent Boro attack had very quickly crumbled.

From a Stewart Downing corner came the Boro’s first endeavour,
A header by French Franck Queudrue that wasn’t all that clever,
So Dudek’s not been called upon to make a save all night,
And Boro haven’t, so far, set the heather all alight.

Biscan’s once more dangerous and through to have a bash,
Through a crowd and from a distance, he brought the best from Carlo Nash,
Though the stop was made with comfort, the Boro boss is out there barking,
“Get a grip on Biscan and let us have some closer marking.”

Doriva found Viduka with his back towards the goal,
His shot bounced back to Zenden and he quickly took control,
The ball then found the target but the ‘goal’ was soon erased,
For the linesman’s flag was held aloft and Zenden stood there dazed.

The Dutchman’s celebrations were so suddenly cut short,
And the travelling Boro faithful just stood there quite distraught,
But it’s now up to the Boro to continue and bombard,
Because Finnan appeared to play us on, by roughly half-a-yard.

In the first half we were second best and play was really dismal,
Relying on the long ball and our passing was abysmal,
A massive Boro improvement is the least that we’re requiring,
After 45 quite dreadful minutes that were totally uninspiring.

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The team remains unchanged, so is McClaren satisfied?
Or has he given them all a hefty kick up the backside?
Downing did extremely well to get the ball across,
Then Joseph Job’s attempt on goal can be best described as dross.

Viduka’s shot’s deflected but at least he had a go,
It went out for a corner and the Boro start to glow,
The ‘Pool are under pressure now, with Downing the creator,
And Boro have the foot pressed hard on the accelerator.

A great run inside the area was made by the young lad, Potter,
And, but for Riggott’s interception, Boro seemed about to totter,
But then the resulting corner didn’t cause us any grief,
And Boro, at long last appear to find more self-belief.

Doriva picked a ball up that had bounced off Dutchman Bolo,
And he maintained a run on goal, going absolutely solo,
He looked around for some support then took a double-check,
And let one fly from twenty yards and brought a save from Dudek.

A header from Viduka, then Doriva’s stunning volley,
Burnt Jerzy Dudek’s fingers and he felt anything but jolly,
Our man thought he’d found the breakthrough and he looked to celebrate,
But he was thwarted by the ‘keeper, whose save one cannot underrate.

Liverpool then made changes after the usual protocol,
With Partridge now involved in place of Sinama-Pongolle,
Welsh was also introduced when circumstances did allow,
Replaced by the man from Senegal, midfielder Salif Diao.

Stewart Downing, on the left, a glorious ball unwinds,
And picks out Joseph Job, who then appears caught in two minds,
Then, within a matter of moments, Job continued so to toil,
And he hit the Liverpool post as the game’s coming to the boil.

Graham’s on for Morrison to add a little bit of spice,
Then Warnock’s changed for Riise in their last throw of the dice,
This was just what Liverpool needed and proved to be the catalyst,
And we soon would see Boro’s Carling Cup vanish in the Mersey mist.

Neil Mellor was the ‘culprit,’ who broke every Boro heart,
When, twice within five minutes, he tore us well apart,
It mattered not one jot how much we hurried and we scurried,
We were better in the second half but we were well and truly buried.

We’ve held the Cup for just one year and some of us had reckoned,
Tonight we’d be successful and then, perhaps, enjoy a second,
But the lengthy Liverpool hoodoo proves quite impossible to break,
Though, rest assured that I, for one, won’t lie at night awake.