On the way down to Old Trafford, Steve McClaren sent out the call,
To his great lads from the Boro, stand up well, set out your stall,
Keep things really tight against one of the Premiership’s best teams,
And try to bring back something from The Theatre of Dreams.

Alen Boksic, it is said, is now injured once again,
He cried off late once more with “severe thigh strain,”
To play on Saturday for his country there is, surely, no real hope,
When the Croats meet Estonia in a qualifier for Europe.

As expected we see United setting off in hot attack,
Seeking from the offset to pin the Boro boys right back,
And a clearance by Mark Schwarzer, his very first of the night,
Ends up, rather carelessly, out of play way on the right.

United seeking all the time to play things through the middle,
With Boro’s defenders well on top, this is something of a riddle,
Beckham, on the right-hand side, now trying to stoke things up,
But Captain Gareth and his crew are able to soak things up.

Southgate clears up once again; like a Rolls Royce he is purring,
Moments later it’s the wrath of referee Riley he’s incurring,
His tackle on van Nistelrooy, most unlike the normally placid fellow,
Earns him a referee’s birthday card, the colour of which was yellow.

Job’s quick turn very easily deceived young Nicky Butt,
He passed on to Maccarone as inside he then cut,
Great interlinking play then, which almost saw Job convert,
But he found Barthez in the home goal, most wonderfully alert.

The visitors are now trying, occasionally to be bold,
Are we beginning to see the Boro get a real foothold?
We are pressing and United’s frustration is now clearly showing,
Additionally, it can be said, the Boro’s confidence is growing.

Giggs went on a mazy run, showing us all his magic,
The end result for Boro might well have been so tragic,
His rifled shot, just past the post, almost brought us grief,
Schwarzer stood there helpless, his cheeks puffed out with relief.

A long ball in for United saw Nistelrooy first to attack,
It looked so very likely that the Boro would now crack,
But the ball fell not-too-kindly for the international star,
He was leaning back and hit the ball, well over Boro’s bar.

So, a Boro goal kick, we all thought, as a result of this not-too-hot kick,
The referee thought otherwise and awarded the hosts a spot kick,
Van Nistelrooy’s face one massive grin and with one very good reason,
He stepped up and scored quite easily, for his first goal of the season.

The act appeared deliberate though the contact was rather minimal,
At first glance, to award a spot kick, appeared to be, well, criminal!
But the television proved the ref. was right, of that there is no doubt,
And nothing can reverse that, no matter how we shout.

I doubt very much, however, the result would have been the same,
Had the incident been at the other end in this particular game,
Had Fergie been on the receiving end of this controversial statistic,
Of one thing you can all be sure, he’d have gone totally ballistic.

The pulling of shirts is something, which occurs whoever plays,
And without even a slight rebuke from referees, most days,
But perhaps it’s worth remembering before we put this thing to bed,
Maybe we should be grateful Ugo’s yellow card wasn’t red.

Boro now under the cosh as once more danger beckons,
As Man.U. with their tails now up, seek to add a second,
But Stockdale, showing skills which have now become the norm,
The result being, that the Boro manage to weather the awful storm.

Stockdale sends a dream ball in, causing terrible confusion,
Sadly, for the Boro fans, it had the wrong conclusion,
Barthez didn’t quite make it; there was one almighty scramble,
Maccarone puzzled everyone: why didn’t he take a gamble?

Hands on hips in disbelief, McClaren’s looking daggers,
For Maccarone simply stood there when the had the chance to bag us
An equalising goal because their ‘keeper had gone walk-about,
It needed just the simplest touch then we’d have lots to talk about.

Giggs for the second time in this game came within an inch,
Of putting the ball past Schwarzer when scoring seemed a cinch,
He carved up Boro once again, showing his supreme skill,
Then the whistle blew for half time – United one and Boro nil.

The start saw Paul Scholes who, until now, had been subdued,
Giggs rolled one for him on a plate but he totally mis-cued,
Then Greening showing lovely skills as by two men he skipped,
To give a decent chance to Job but, unfortunately, he slipped.

Silvestre on the overlap and Boro failed to track him,
Whipped a cross into the box and Giggs raced in to back him,
Southgate got there just in time just as I the worst did fear,
Then it was left to Boateng to get the ball well clear.

United caught offside again, but it couldn’t have been much, man,
The offender on this occasion was United’s Flying Dutchman,
Then came United’s very best move yet, it was one of absolute wonder,
In which their intricate passing tore the Boro lads asunder.

When Queudrue went a-missing it left cover just from Cooper,
And with four men up attacking, the display was really super,
Scholes jinked past two defenders to the line then cut it back,
But Giggs was just off balance and couldn’t bury it in the sack.

Boro playing with great endeavour and real spirit, on the whole,
But what they need to spur them on is the ‘comfort’ of a goal,
Our defence has been magnificent, I am sure that everyone says,
It’s in attack where we are limited and we’ve not yet tested Barthez.

Giggs pulls back George Boateng but no card on this occasion,
The players exchange a handshake to defuse the situation,
A cross into the box found Geremi and it really was a tester,
He managed somehow to put it over: great tackle by Silvestre.

Maccarone had a half-chance when he stole about a yard,
At last it seemed to me a Boro goal was on the cards,
Job again provided; he’s done very well, on the whole,
But Macca once again mis-cued and failed to hit the goal.

Boro need to change things round; that is the general feeling,
Franck and Macca leave the field: replaced by Marinelli and Whelan,
Immediately Boro went really close: have United now been rumbled?
Great shot on goal by Boateng which Barthez badly fumbled.

Who will now provide the spark to get the Boro back in it?
When we see further change from United as we approach the 80th minute,
For United we see Forlan coming on now for Paul Scholes,
He’s played 23 games for them to date and hasn’t scored any goals.

Throughout the final minutes Boro went on to dominate,
But there was, sadly, only one real chance, which they managed to create,
It fell again to Joseph Job, who then had the chance to please,
But he failed as he connected and Barthez saved again with ease.

Although obviously disappointed after giving of their all,
The Boro players, to a man, fought hard for every ball,
But with real reason to be satisfied, in front of England’s bosses,
For me, was Rio Ferdinand – the man was a colossus.