The Hawthorns is full of fans showing devotion,
Though it seems that the hosts have one eye on promotion,
It’s a blustery night and the stakes are so high,
The mouth-watering prospect’s a quarter-final tie.

The Baggies, starting brightly, had Brad Jones soon in action,
When a great shot by Chaplow missed by only a fraction,
With Koumas pulling strings and Boro struggling in defence,
The task facing Boro would appear quite immense.

Five hits on our goal with no shot in reply,
And the pressure on Boro’s goal would soon intensify,
It was reminiscent of the Red Sea, the way we opened up,
And it looked like we’d tumble out of this FA Cup.

A goal richly deserved: we’d not been at the races,
But the way it was scored brought anguish to fans’ faces,
For a free-kick from twenty yards Darren Carter’s recruited,
And Jones in Boro’s goal stood there, totally rooted.

He’d been thoroughly deceived and expected a boomer,
Then it so quickly dawned: he’d committed a bloomer,
He stood there, looking on, with the gaze of a ghost,
As the ball passed his right hand: just inside the post.

The Boro were stunned but the Hawthorns was bouncing,
Could this now be the start of an old-fashioned trouncing?
Their control was complete and no flash in the pan,
And it seemed that they had at least one extra man.

Manager Mowbray must have been overjoyed,
And in their goal, Dean Kiely, had been under-employed,
Yet so many great chances they’d managed to squander,
Gareth Southgate, no doubt, had a great deal to ponder.

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Cattermole’s departure sees young Morrison arrive,
It’s so awfully vital that the Boro survive!
But, within a few moments the Baggies’ crowd roared,
When they thought former Boro man – Greening – had scored.

He cut in from the left, struck with power and direction,
Then off Jonathan Woodgate, it took a deflection,
But Jones wasn’t deceived and he saved Boro’s skin,
So the Baggies’ advantage still remains wafer-thin.

Koumas shaved the upright from about twenty yards,
And a second goal for Albion now looks on the cards,
Then Morrison’s introduction gives the Boro a boost,
And the hosts’ upper hand is then greatly reduced.

It seemed that the hosts lost a wee bit of steam,
And the Boro, to their credit, seemed to grow in esteem,
For the Wizard – Viduka - began Boro’s resurrection,
When he thumped one past Kiely with a helping deflection.

This brought Boro relief and, to a man, they had eyes on,
Man. United, looming large on the Riverside horizon,
But the game’s finely poised: who will hold the main key?
Could it be Dook’s replacement, the Korean striker, Lee?

But it’s simply not true what they say of new brooms,
And he crashed one off the post as the extra time looms,
So as no winner came, it then ended ‘all square,’
And the referee, Mike Riley, gave a minute to prepare.

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With extra time hardly started there came a fresh twist,
When Ellington – for a serious foul – was immediately dismissed,
Parnaby was the victim of a studs-up horror show,
Can the Boro take advantage of West Brom’s tale of woe?

After thirty more minutes of some great cut and thrust,
We were nowhere nearer knowing who would now bite the dust,
So there’s to be further torture: a shoot-out from the spot,
This game’s been quite terrific: now the temperature’s hot.

It soon stood ‘four apiece’ with one miss for each side,
Then up stepped Captain George to take his in his stride,
It was then left for MacDonald to keep alive this great tie,
But he bottled it completely and sent his kick wildly high.

So, tonight, in the Midlands, we saw huge Teesside pride,
A quarter-final’s no mean feat and that can’t be denied,
It seems we know only the hard way to do it,
But once more we’ve come through, though we very nearly blew it.

Everyone on Teesside must be totally delighted,
As the dream-tie draws near against Manchester United,
But I think you’ll agree: for the Boro to be rewarded,
Another draining replay simply can’t be afforded.