The Boro are now proving so very hard to beat,
And today they are seeking their consecutive fifth clean sheet,
But when going forward they’re becoming so awfully boring,
As they seem to have totally lost the crucial art of scoring.

With City already on the field, the Boro must come out soon,
On what is said to be a gloriously sunny afternoon,
But are our lads now ready, this problem to address,
In order that they carry on their recently shown progress?

To keep so many clean sheets is all very good,
Although scoring goals is the game’s life-blood,
We all know that we’re not going to win the title,
But balls in the old ‘onion bag’ are really, really vital.

Mike Riley is the referee’s name,
And he gives the signal to start the game,
We’re quickly caught offside and that’s a pity,
As it gives an early chance to the hosts, Man. City.

The first indication of impending thrills,
Was brought to an end by the brilliant Mills,
Wanchope was robbed and he’s usually so astute,
And he begged the question, “Why didn’t he shoot?”

He shimmied to the right and then to the left,
Was robbed by Mills and then he seemed bereft,
He’d looked to curl it; that appeared his plan,
Then he lost the ball to the Middlesbrough man.

With increased home pressure our defence now rocks,
As a City free kick’s faced on the edge of the box,
A classy ball from the right saw Cooper save,
In so doing he was injured; so immensely brave!

We’re dillying and dallying, not in the game at all,
With City getting in there first to almost every ball,
So far, unlike City, we’ve not seen a single decent cross,
Which can’t have gone unnoticed by McClaren, the Boro boss.

Dunn passed one to Anelke, who humped it up the park,
And the day was saved for Boro by our Aussie ‘keeper, Mark,
A distant shot by Sinclair was goal-bound, as from a rifle,
But did it trouble ‘Schwarz’ that much? Well, perhaps just a trifle.

This brought the game’s first corner and Wright-Phillips took a gamble,
Which saw the ‘keeper fumble and then one almighty scramble,
We must pull ourselves together for the stress is really showing,
As the pressure from the City lads on ours is swiftly growing.

Another great ball from the right; the pressure won’t diminish,
But again we had a let-off with a truly dreadful finish,
Wanchope was the culprit and he must be feeling bitter,
Because from less than six yards’ out, he missed an absolute sitter.

Schwarzer claimed the ball when he should’ve been made to pay,
Could it be that this is going to be the Boro’s lucky day?
It’s time now for the Boro lads to think and clear the head,
For if things continue in this vein then we are well and truly dead.

We’re second to almost every ball and Zenden needs a rocket,
Sticking somewhere rather painful and not into his pocket,
Our front men haven’t had a kick with twenty minutes on the clock,
And City’s big Wright-Phillips is running totally amok.

Ricketts is so frustrated; in fact he must be hopping,
With colleagues forty yards’ away, he might as well go shopping,
Then suddenly from the right-hand side a dangerous ball he whipped in,
Sadly for us their ‘keeper grabbed it just as Juninho slipped in.

“Football is a funny old game,” at least that’s often said,
We’d hardly had a kick all day then suddenly we led,
It’s one-nil to the Boro, an own goal by Sun Jihai,
Totally against the run of play to send the Boro fans sky high.

Mendieta managed to get in his only good cross of the day,
It was then deflected by that Irishman, the well-known Rick O’Shea,
In fact it was the Chinese man left feeling sick, I’ll bet,
As Jihai saw it ricochet into his very own net.

Barton and Doriva clash their heads; both losing lots of blood,
For Doriva in particular the situation’s not too good,
He’s still lying on the turf, looking totally non-plussed,
In fact, he’ll take no further part because, apparently, he’s concussed.

Doriva’s quickly taken off, presumably for screening,
Speedily to be replaced in Boro’s team by Greening,
A couple of minutes later, real controversy, when,
The monitor showed it otherwise but the referee said, “No pen.”

A simple ball in from the right, which ‘keeper Schwarzer dropped,
Then came the dreaded moment, when every Boro heart stopped,
Will it be, or won’t it? The fear inside us welled,
For there was no doubt about it, Wanchope was clearly held.

Danny Mills was the culprit, is what one truthfully must say,
But, fortunately for us, for once, the decision went Boro’s way,
Then Sinclair sent in a rocket, he gave it such a thump,
But, yet again, the Boro survived, courtesy of Cooper’s rump.

Reyna fires a scorcher and in the air it bends,
Brilliant save by Schwarzer, who really makes amends,
It’s tipped over for a corner and City then retrieve it,
The Boro still lead one-to-nil and Bernie can’t believe it.

The pressure is incessant; we defend at times with nine,
And Zenden saves a certain goal when he clears one off the line,
One thing we’re not lacking, and that is loads of pluck,
But not for very much longer can we hope to ride our luck.

Although encamped in Boro’s half, and not meaning to be rude,
City, despite being on top, now look somewhat subdued,
“No wonder” is what you might say, for the lion’s share they’ve had,
Yet find themselves that one goal down and things are looking bad.

Anelka attacks inside the box and, showing real aggression,
From the by-line he then chose to shoot, an impossible position!
Schwarzer once more spills it; for a corner kick it goes,
And Dunn then heads it over, into the very back rows.

Mendieta on the right-hand side now finds himself in space,
Seeks to beat Distin outside but he simply lacks the pace,
The Frenchman was too quick for him; with that he hadn’t reckoned,
So, once again, it came to nought as we sought to score a second.

Sinclair’s being urged right now to run against Boro’s backs,
Seeking to prise open hitherto non-existent cracks,
Wright-Phillips is unlucky as he almost makes us pay,
He shaves the woodwork then looks up, as if about to pray.

His effort is tremendous and really wonderful to see,
As he flicked the ball sublimely with the help of his right knee,
He then lets fly a volley; a truly vicious shot,
Schwarzer stood there helpless as he was rooted to the spot.

Barton’s on a mazy run which the Boro lads never saw,
It looked to me and all the world that City must now score,
But Greening had thought otherwise; great danger he had seen,
And at the very last moment he got in to intervene.

Wright-Phillips is the City man providing all the danger,
And he again warms the ‘keeper’s hands with yet one more long-ranger,
The save was quite incredible as to his right Mark flew,
To push it for a corner as the City pressure grew.

Ever forward storm the City, hoping Boro will soon crumble,
Schwarzer shows his other side as again we see him fumble,
Once more it was a corner, which we somehow managed to clear,
After Danny Mills’ bullet header showed us all he knew no fear.

City now will make a change, to placate all their backers,
They’re obviously going for it now with the aid of three attackers,
Trying to put right again poor Jihai’s earlier howler,
As on the field, to great applause, comes City’s Robbie Fowler.

One has the distinct impression if City score one they will win it,
Because the simple truth is that the Boro are just not in it,
The feeling in the Keegan camp is that earlier they were wronged,
And that is why they’re going all-out with attack that is now three-pronged.

Barton is again involved with a clash to Boateng’s head,
The Boro man’s lying motionless, blood flowing, deepest red,
He’s stretchered off – so sad to see – having spilled blood for the cause,
To be replaced by Nemeth after a fairly lengthy pause.

Anelka beats the Boro defence with one delightful ball,
With Fowler lining up the shot, will the Boro goal now fall?
He’s a player of such great stature, though perhaps he could be fitter,
‘Twas a gilt-edged opportunity and Robbie somehow missed a sitter.

Boro are now, it must be said, hanging on by just a thread,
When, with all the City pressure, we should be well and truly dead,
Fowler is once more at fault; the net just can’t be found,
He misses one from six yards out as Schwarzer goes to ground.

The curtain came down on the game, for Boro fans, elation,
Despite not a single shot on goal throughout two games’ duration,
That’s three more points safely in the bag, to improve our league position,
After hitting the target not even once, surely McClaren’s a magician!