After all the recent rain, at times torrential,
The correct choice of footwear may well be essential,
In this first Tees/Wear derby it’ll be a great fight,
Against The Mackems, from Sunderland’s Stadium of Light.

Flo’s recent arrival in the Wearside camp,
Coincides with his appearance on a Norwegian stamp,
These people certainly do know how to pick ‘em,
It’s now up to the Boro to go out and lick ‘em.

I feel that tonight’s game may well be a real ‘toughie,’
Watched over by a special guest, non-other than Mr. “Cloughie,”
Though Phillips, for Sunderland, tonight doesn’t show,
There’s still plenty threat up front from Stewart and from Flo.

Goals in this fixture may well be on the ration,
But there won’t be any shortage of the Tees/Wear passion,
It’s a derby debut for both Geremi and Macca,
Sit back and enjoy it; I think it’s going to be a cracker.

But before the lads go out there, hopefully to win it,
Let everyone stand in silence, for just one single minute,
Quietly reflect and pray but, most of all, remember,
The dreadful events in New York, which took place last September.

Matthew Piper was found wanting when Macca left him there for dead,
Sunderland already being rocked by our favourites wearing red,
Piper’s very early play certainly raised a lot of hackles,
It was ‘yellow’ for him for another of those recently-outlawed tackles.

Macca’s injury was slight and the Boro fans all fumed,
Though the favourite Italian man very speedily resumed,
The resulting free kick, the first tonight that we’ve tasted,
Failed to clear the very first man and, therefore, it was wasted.

A long ball up to Flo which found him most precisely,
He then passed to Marcus Stewart, saying, “That’s do quite nicely,”
Seven minutes it had taken for their very first trip up field,
Though a corner then resulted, the threat was very quickly killed.

Stockdale’s then the next man to see a yellow card,
For flying into Butler and it was, admittedly, too hard,
They both finished up with their legs totally entwined,
But you simply cannot tackle these days, at least not from behind.

Next we see the Boro really turning up the heat,
Stockdale was left with only the goalkeeper to beat,
Butler played a howler, missed the ball but thought he’d kicked it,
In stepped Robbie Stockdale who, quite cleverly, then nicked it.

Sorensen then stood his ground, standing big and strong,
He managed to get the ball away, kicking it high and long,
Stockdale one-on-one with Sorensen, how wonderfully well he read it,
It was amazing how he saved the day and the man deserves the credit.

Geremi crossed a ball in, though it wasn’t quite perfection,
Macca caught it on the turn and it took a huge deflection,
From the Boro’s very first corner we didn’t see Sunderland crack,
In fact, Reyna cleared to set up a rare Wearside attack.

Job on to Maccarone who then showed tremendous skill,
Closing in on Sorensen and clearly looking for the kill,
He drove one like a missile which the ‘keeper somehow fluffed,
On the spot was Szilard Nemeth and the ball was duly stuffed.

Macca sent his rocket in from more than twenty yards,
And now, it seems, for Boro fans, a victory’s on the cards,
The Danish ‘keeper was the villain as the ball dipped then was spilled,
Nemeth was so very sharp and oh, how the crowd was thrilled.

We then see the Boro with three men up in attack,
Nemeth lifts a beauty right into the path of Macc,
He took on the defender who, for pace, was just no match,
Then he tried a distance-volley, which was something of a snatch.

Maccarone’s cynically downed again by Piper, from the rear,
If he continues in this vein a red card could be near,
For the young man’s unfair challenges are getting quite persistent,
But we can see, as usual, the ref. if not consistent.

Not much longer now to wait for another massive roar,
When French Franck whipped a ball across for the Italian man to score,
Maccarone was seen lurking by the back post, what a jump!
And the ball flashed by the ‘keeper as Macca gave it such a thump.

It had started with a shirt-tug, quite near to the corner flag,
And it finished with the ball being swiftly buried in the bag,
So that’s twice in just ten minutes that we’ve now seen Sunderland crack,
We can surely say “Goodnight” for there can be now be no way back.

Reyna’s free kick had us struggling, our two-goal margin to preserve,
As he very nearly gave his team a goal they’d not deserve,
With Schwarzer rooted on the line, the deflection couldn’t have been neater,
But it whistled past the right-hand post by just a millimetre.

Boro fans are enjoying how the ‘enemy’ is embattled,
For so far in this football match they’ve been well and truly rattled,
The pressure on the visitors throughout has been incessant,
And for their suffering supporters, it really can’t be very pleasant.

With half-time fast approaching, they finally got a shot on goal,
A deflection from young Piper, as quickly in he stole,
Although not unduly troubled: he took two touches to get hold,
Schwarzer ensuring that, at half-time, there’s a happy story to be told.

In summing up, I have to say, the Boro have been ruthless,
Whilst Sunderland, by comparison, have looked absolutely toothless,
And, says ‘Guru’ Eric Gates, who’s broadcasting to the nation,
“Many more performances like this and we’ll be fighting relegation.”

Again we get things under way in the second half of this game,
Boro fans, without exception, demanding “much more of the same,”
The tempo’s been terrific; we’ve played with confidence and pride,
And we start it where we left off; no changes made by either side.

After just a single minute, Peter Reid is looking riled,
His team’s just won a corner and the fans are going wild,
Macca straight up to the other end almost brought further depression,
Stopped by Bjorkland’s “wonderful tackle,” if you’ll pardon the expression.

The attendance is announced as thirty-two-thousand, one-five-five,
And the wonderful entertainment means they all have come alive,
Until another Reyna corner brought the narrowest miss and yet,
It was Boro’s big man, Ugo, who almost put through his own net.

Sunderland got another corner, which Flo again sent wide,
They’re looking so demoralised and ‘Reidy’ almost cried,
Their most expensive signing, Tore Andre Flo, is lacking zip,
And Schwarzer, in the Boro goal, has time, almost, to kip.

Peter Reid sits in the dugout, looking awfully glum,
Expecting ‘stick’ from Wearside fans and he’s certainly getting some,
Then, suddenly, danger for the Boro, as they soak up Sunderland’s heat,
But it’s not their night as Piper missed a header by three feet.

What a save by Sorensen! The crowd was suddenly all a-quiver,
As a wondrous strike by Joseph Job promised to deliver,
Great build-up play; tremendous strike; let no-one be in doubt,
Then the goalie performed a miracle to keep the effort out.

A fortunate chance for Sunderland, which might have really hurt,
Brought about when Stockdale tried to remove his opponent’s shirt,
This brought a Boro breakaway, to fill the hearts with glee,
As Massimo and Nemeth went through to make it three.

Maccarone slid a great ball through; we’ve seen him at his best,
Just right for Szilard Nemeth who went on to do the rest,
He cleverly beat the ‘keeper, then came the victory dance,
After hard work done by Macca, Sorensen really had no chance.

The Sunderland supporters are now well and truly grieving,
And, in their droves, the visitors our stadium are now leaving,
Within about a minute, Nemeth might have hit his third,
But Sorensen made a wonder save as he flew just like a bird.

The Wearsiders have been woeful; they’ve hardly had a kick,
Their manager and the others are all looking really sick,
Every time that we’ve attacked them, we’ve seen the visitors crack,
Could it be that Peter Reid will very shortly face the sack?

Tonight’s display has really been a long-awaited dream,
There hasn’t been a weak link, throughout the Boro team,
Five minutes left and then, after Nemeth’s indication,
He’s taken off and rested to a resounding acclamation.

This display was truly faultless and not once did we yield,
We simply outclassed Sunderland in every corner of the field,
Every single Boro player was, to me, an absolute hero,
So, once again the final score –Boro three and Sunderland zero.