Tonight we meet the ‘Toffees’ who’ll be, no doubt, fired up,
After almost beating Chelsea: but this is the Carling Cup,
But I fancy Boro’s chances and I say that with good reason,
And this could be the spark that will ignite the Boro’s season.

Hibbert played a ball infield to pick out Philip Neville,
But Riggott showed his class is at the very highest level,
He rose so high to clear the ball and, much to their dismay,
Though Toffees queued up eagerly, the ball was quickly cleared away.

What terrific play by Parnaby when Queudrue was left for dead,
Arteta raced on by him, just like a thoroughbred,
The young man cleared the danger, which so suddenly appeared,
A corner then resulted, but it was very quickly cleared.

Everton were then lucky when they managed to survive,
A shot’s cleared off the line from Morrison, with Boro in overdrive,
Although he got a second bite, he couldn’t knock ‘em back,
And he immediately acknowledged the great ball in from Rochemback.

The impact of Arteta has already been tremendous,
When he tore apart the Boro it was really quite horrendous,
Hibbert’s up there in support with a massive contribution,
Then Kilbane’s shot was ‘miles’ wide due to dreadful execution.

The ever-dangerous Beattie managed to beat the last defender,
Though a corner was conceded there would follow no surrender,
The ball in from Arteta was delivered like a nuke,
And headed out of danger by our Aussie man, The Duke.

Boro were really careless and they gave away possession,
They were nearly made to pay for a moment’s indiscretion,
We are suddenly hemmed in and greater pressure we invite,
Until the greatest block by Queudrue thankfully eased the Boro’s plight.

Then we saw some great play with terrific interchange,
It ended with a super strike, by Pogatetz, from range,
But praise is due to Martyn, who proves a real hard nut to crack,
He deflects the ball and sets up yet another counter-attack.

Viduka showed a burst of pace and then went very close,
And when thwarted by the ‘keeper he looked awfully morose,
He’d left for dead the home defenders and had looked a cert to score,
But this interesting cup-tie still remains a nil-nil draw.

The first half’s been well contested and our chances number three,
Then the Boro’s ‘Deadly Duo’ must have heard McClaren’s plea,
For Jimmy and Viduka proved a classic combination,
And brought about the goal to earn the fans’ wild adulation.

Marcus Bent will come on, as soon as time permits,
And Ferrari, for the Toffees, is then called in to the pits,
We’ve had a good all-round performance: the formation worked a treat,
But the job is just half done so what we want now's a repeat.

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Bates is on for Ehiogu so has the hoodoo once more struck?
One thing’s not in doubt in that he’s certainly had bad luck,
Within a matter of moments Beattie let fly with a beaut,
Schwarzer saved it on the line so, was the angle too acute?

Then came an absolute screamer from the left foot of Kilbane,
This game is not yet over and there’s been a change of plan,
It most thankfully passes wide and Mark Schwarzer mutters, “Ta,”
Then Morrison disappointed when he shot above the bar.

Viduka chased a long ball and he never gave up the ghost,
Then his great shot was diverted, by Nigel Martyn, ‘round the post,
The corner that then followed could be classed as being a bad ‘n,
Then Van der Meyde makes his debut, taking over from McFadden.

Jimmy and Viduka lead a charge now, two abreast,
And Mark sent in a rocket that rebounds from Martyn’s chest,
Hasselbaink then struck the crossbar with a truly thunderous drive,
We should have scored a second but somehow the hosts survive.

Jimmy had more chances, sadly, each of which he fluffed,
He’s replaced by Szilard Nemeth, and he doesn’t look too chuffed,
But he mustn’t feel despondent for all-in-all he’s done so well,
And perhaps the time’s now ripe for a change of personnel.

A header from Chris Riggott was deflected to Arteta,
He let one fly from distance and he might have done much better,
But Schwarzer was magnificent as we looked on with relief,
And Arteta simply shook his head in total disbelief.

Van der Meyde picks out Weir but the danger’s quickly spotted,
Riggott dilly-dallied: his copybook was almost blotted,
But he recovered his composure; he’s been brilliant all night,
He then cleared away the danger, but not without a fright.

Schwarzer showed true valour when he stopped Arteta’s cross,
He certainly went in where it hurts, to show them he’s the boss,
The cross had genuine quality and it appeared goalwards bound,
Highest quality football brings applause from all around.

Riggott was then caught out by a cheeky Beattie flick,
The ball’s picked up by Marcus Bent: my goodness, but he’s quick,
He’s about to pull the trigger and the situation’s tense,
But what a tackle from Queudrue: I think the word’s “immense.”

Arteta rocked the Boro’s bar: this game’s not over yet,
We’ve missed golden opportunities: will the time come to regret?
Then Beattie missed a sitter as their last dice they then throw,
We should have had this sewn up, many moons ago.

The final whistle blows and we’ve won it one-to-zero,
And I’d like to thank Doriva, the Boro’s unsung hero,
But there hasn’t been a weak link: they all went out to perform,
It was thoroughly deserved: we had weathered Toffees’ storm.