Though we’re looking now to Cardiff, albeit it way off in the distance,
Don’t ever doubt Notts County will put up some fierce resistance,
Will those eight Boro changes prove to be a massive gamble?
As tonight we set about, the County’s game plan to unscramble.

Into Europe, I’d suggest, this is without doubt the Boro’s best route,
And introduced to his new fans is the German, Robert Huth (hoot),
Hoping, I feel sure, to tie the County up in (K)notts,
And secure for the Boro one of the future third round spots.

This is County’s own Cup Final, please let that be made quite clear,
And a massive Premiership scalp? What a tremendous souvenir!
In the earliest exchanges we had to seek some breathing space,
With Huth most clearly rusty and so very far off the pace.

We did have several chances, which we could not tuck away,
The inevitable then happened and the Boro were made to pay,
A ball into the box and the Boro man then slipped,
And, quick as a flash, into the net, the ball was sweetly clipped.

The Boro crowd fell silent in that one sensational second,
County were no push-over and soon greater danger beckoned,
Within about a minute we could have been two down,
And manager, Gareth Southgate, couldn’t hide his worried frown.

Johnson, on the wing, displayed some quite amazing skill,
Then Cattermole was unlucky as he moved in for the kill,
It had taken 33 minutes for our first attempt on goal,
This game was proving anything but an easy, evening stroll.

Viduka missed a sitter then looked up for inspiration,
And it’s looking on the cards for a second-round sensation,
It hasn’t gone the way that most Boro fans had expected,
With County certainly showing that they need to be respected.

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Notts brought on a second striker as they went for number two,
Then Mendi missed an easy chance that almost looked untrue,
Boro’s attack was woefully weak and defence was often slack,
As we huffed – took one step forward – then puffed and took two back.

Southgate’s certainly most worried and he’s scratching on his head,
This so-called ‘lesser opposition’ should, by now, be put to bed,
Morrison was brought on then, to try and turn the screw,
And Jason Euell was introduced, for his Riverside début.

Suddenly the Boro lads were looking so much fresher,
For the first time they applied some genuine, sustained pressure,
Viduka’s goal-bound effort was then kicked from off the line,
And a second’s headed clear: more by good fortune than design.

With time fast running out we were almost out of jail,
But Parnaby went for power and we sadly saw him fail,
He really should have scored from, I would guess, about six yards,
But another Boro letdown looks inevitably on the cards.

Five added minutes were displayed: surely time for some reward,
Was it manager Gareth Southgate, who held aloft the official’s board?
That must surely bring some hope, if only just the slightest glimmer,
But the seconds ticked on by, becoming ever, ever dimmer.

Huth went to centre forward in one last throw of the dice,
We managed one last scramble then paid the ultimate sacrifice,
It was a great shock on the night and was met with huge derision,
But County were, in truth, a massive credit to their division.

The Boro left the field looking totally forlorn,
And fans inside the Riverside saw a ninety-minutes-long yawn,
It might well be we’ll feel many huge reverberations,
And not least of all, I’d say, some financial implications.

Some would say our only chance of Europe’s now been missed,
And many fans I saw were getting totally Brahms and Liszt,
Too many Boro lads performed so poorly on the night,
And I’d suggest that team selection probably wasn’t really right.

If anything, this game proved the Carling Cup can’t be neglected,
And the ‘lower opposition’ must be always well respected,
The proverbial banana skin, that so many fans were dreading,
Makes me wonder, after that, which way the Boro are now heading.

We’d hoped and prayed that ‘Glory’ once again would be repeated,
Two-thousand-four in Cardiff and I now feel somewhat cheated,
Had we played our best eleven, it would not have been so hard if,
I’d not jumped to conclusions and booked my hotel room in Cardiff. ***

*** Only joking!