No northeast team has beaten the Addicks this season,
And that alone, for me, is one very good reason,
For Boro to go out tonight – no stuttering and stammering,
And get us to the semis by giving Charlton a hammering.

Faced with a round-trip of some 500 miles,
The Charlton fans’ faces weren’t all wreathed in smiles,
Then their club brilliantly thought up a unique approach,
They’d move all fans, for free, by ‘plane, train and coach.

That was better than watching the game on the box,
Perhaps with a beer, or maybe some chocs,
The offer was accepted by 5000-plus fans,
A mixture of children, grandfathers and grans.

In a ticker-tape welcome, reminiscent of Rio,
The only thing missing was the fan-dancer, Clio,
But we’d soon see Viduka, Boro’s own ballerina,
Score a goal fit to grace even the finest arena.

Pirouetting and feigning he constantly squirmed,
To fire home a rocket that victory’s confirmed,
Alan Shearer, no less, made his own observation,
He described The Duke’s strike as an Aussie “sensation.”

The opening exchanges saw the Boro on the ropes,
Until Rochemback, brilliantly, raised everyone’s hopes,
Sixty-three seconds later, Addicks pierced Boro’s armour,
It seemed we were in for another night of drama.

The look on McClaren’s face, resembling thunder,
Mad, with just cause! We’d been ripped right asunder!
The capitulation was, truly, totally heart-rending,
Resulting from dreadful, abysmal defending.

The first half was wide open: that was certainly true,
Now the Boro lads need a good, stiff talking to,
As an F.A. Cup advert it is good for the heart,
With Charlton, no doubt, certainly playing their part.

It was a Cup-tie with everything and hugely beguiling,
But who, at the end of it all would be smiling?
Morrison scored then came one to devour,
Scored by Jimmy without back-lift but with quite awesome power.

Addicks replied: Southgate own-goal the ruling,
Then up stepped Viduka and had everyone drooling,
Boro finally clinched it: got the tie in the locker,
We’d all witnessed from both sides some scintillating soccer.

Had each side got a penalty I’d have certainly agreed,
But Boro won worthily, even Addicks concede,
Now only Hammers can stop Boro – and it’ll be awfully hard if,
We don’t go that step further, to the Final in Cardiff.

Had Jimmy’s glancing header scored, he’d have surely been swaggering,
But Thomas Myhre’s wonder-save was absolutely staggering,
And credit, too, to Schwarzer, for his early purple patch,
The miracles that he performed kept Boro in the match.

It’s difficult to imagine now, that just a few weeks’ back,
Steve McClaren, in particular, was taking serious flak,
But, hopefully, it all ends now: this war of attrition,
Give credit where it’s due, to McClaren the Magician.

Just twenty years on from the sad liquidation,
Mr. Gibson, in particular, has been the Boro’s salvation,
Steve McClaren’s reward, and I’ll bet my last bob,
Means he’s edging much nearer to the big England job.

(13-04-1006)