It’s ‘just’ the three points for which Boro fans clamour,
As the players emerge in the November chill,
On his Premiership debut is young Carlo Nash,
At once we see Mills with a great deal of space,
Boro had another opportunity to break,
Juan Pablo Angel was brimming with vigour,
Carlo Nash needed to be utterly aware,
In truth, it must be said, that this game’s really scrappy,
McCann attacked the Boro box; of defenders not a sign,
Had it been inches lower, a goal ‘twould have cost,
Until now we’ve not put Villa’s defence under pressure,
A superb piece of football, on to Zenden’s diving head,
A wonderful move by Boro, attacking four against three,
With half time approaching and the game about to stop,
From a game not expected to be loaded with glamour,
We’ll surely get one point; of that we are able,
To move just that little bit further up the table.
Let us hope, to a man, that they’ll each have the will,
And that the ‘Little Fella’ again can produce some real magic,
To ease Christie’s pain: wasn’t his accident tragic?
There came for Schwarzer an emergency so he had to dash,
I feel sure the young ‘keeper a great job will do,
As we finally kick off against the Claret and Blue.
Attacking the Villa with tremendous pace,
His cross wasn’t quite what the home team had feared,
In fact, it was poor, and was easily cleared.
Again it was one that the lads didn’t take,
When Juninho didn’t score it left everyone surprised,
As the crowd, to a man, thought he’d have capitalised.
He broke through and set himself to pull the trigger,
But, well done to Queudrue, as the move he had rumbled,
He just did enough and the Villa man stumbled.
As Villa now brought much more pressure to bear,
They attacked on the right then a header was deflected,
And the ‘keeper did all that could have been expected.
And neither set of fans can be feeling too happy,
One doesn’t feel the pleasure that one usually derives,
But, remember, that both teams are fighting for their lives.
Then he spotted that Nash was standing way off his line,
A delicate chip he then tried, the closest effort yet,
Luckily, for the Boro, it found the top of the net.
Because our shape and our discipline had once more been lost,
It can’t even be claimed this is a momentary blip,
And the players must now be told, “Lads, get a grip.”
Then up comes Bolo Zenden with a goal that he’ll treasure,
Finally, the Villa have now been outgunned,
Leaving their fans looking totally stunned.
Left Villa ‘keeper, Sorensen, really for dead,
Although Bolo gets the credit, no doubt he’ll give thanks,
For the wonderful assistance: that was fearless Franck’s.
But, sadly, a second goal was not now to be,
The ‘Little Man’ and ‘Mendi’ appeared to be on song,
But it ended abruptly when the final pass went wrong.
Mendieta fires one in on goal but well over the top,
Apart from Boro’s one goal there’s not much to choose,
Whilst our fans are happy, from Villa's there are boos.
Within a couple of minutes we have Villa deep in trouble,
And a truly wonderful chance for the Boro score to double,
Zenden is right through and a goal seems a must,
Then a clear foul by Hendrie and our man bit the dust.
Any argument about it? Most certainly not!
And then Dermot Gallagher pointed to the spot,
Perhaps he heard Al. Brownlee, who was giving him some hassle,
So much so that I feared that he would burst a blood vessel.
Mendieta got the ball and I thought, “That’s fine,”
But Ricketts took it from him and apparently said, “That’s mine,”
Showing lots of courage and he certainly wasn’t meek,
He ambled up and scored the goal: What impudence: what cheek!
Villa ‘keeper, Sorensen, was sent the wrong way,
Hendrie, for his folly, had now been made to pay,
Things for the home side were really looking black,
As the home crowd’s now getting on the Villa team’s back.
“Go in search of further goals,” the Boro lads are urged,
Mills went on a super run; towards the box he surged,
Then unceremoniously, he was barged to the floor,
Cooper took the free kick but never looked like he would score.
Vassell has been brought on, so now he can have a bash,
He quickly had a shot on goal, which was well saved by Nash,
One feels this is a game that we can only throw away,
Some Villa fans have had enough and they’ve decided not to stay.
Surely Villa can’t win this game, or could they somehow steal it?
But a third goal for the Boro now would definitely seal it,
Juninho got inside the box, as Mellberg had discovered,
His last-ditch tackle on our man: the situation well recovered.
Ricketts got the message that he’s got five minutes more,
Then he’s coming off unless he manages to score,
The manager then decides that he wants a fresh attacker,
And in the place of Ricketts we see the Italian, ‘Macca.’
Samuel’s rashly brought down when just outside the box,
Let’s hope this isn’t the first of many Aston Villa shocks,
Johnsen stood inside the box, totally unmarked,
“They’ve missed an absolute sitter,” was what Bernie then remarked.
Dublin picked the ball up with his back towards our goal,
Steered it on to Vassell as the Boro man he did roll,
He let one fly at goal but the distance was too far,
And the ball zoomed like a rocket, high over the bar.
For a few minutes now it’s like Boro have rocked a touch,
But overall it’s true that they haven’t been bothered too much,
Then Dublin got a header in and a Villa goal was feared,
Until Cooper got in on the act and a dangerous ball was cleared.
Juninho has a problem and he’s almost on his knees,
Though Bernie can’t speak Brazilian or even Portuguese,
He recognises that the ‘Little Man,’ who’s strained every sinew,
Has trouble with a hamstring and therefore can’t continue.
Greening’s on a great run after coming on as sub,
He lays one on a plate, which Zenden then goes on to snub,
His finish was a poor one, that can not be denied,
A goal had seemed a certainty but, instead, he sent it wide.
I’ve no idea what might have caused it: frustration, I suppose,
But Hitzlsperger and Greening are suddenly standing nose-to-nose,
A nasty challenge we’ve not seen; the game has been quite mellow,
But for whatever part he played, Greening’s shown a yellow.
Time’s now quickly ebbing and we’re just running down the clock,
The result for Aston Villa must have been something of a shock,
Final whistle blows: for Villa not a moment too soon,
And that means that the Boro are just two points behind the Toon.
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