Boro won 5 - 4 on penalties.

For football it really is a brilliant night,
It is totally windless with no rain in sight,
The lads know exactly what they have to do,
Let’s get straight among them and then score a few.

There are bound to be chances, which I hope we can take,
As a quarter-final place is the prize now at stake,
And a feeling of triumph starts welling inside,
As a night of cup drama sets alight Teesside.

The visitors forced a corner really early on,
But Carsley headed well wide and the chance was gone,
The opening for Everton was really most presentable,
But the finish, one can only say, was nothing but lamentable.

Carsley looked a certainty to open up the scoring,
As onwards to a corner, the ‘Toffees’ went a’ soaring,
That was their greatest opportunity of the game so far and yet,
Thankfully for us it flew well wide of Boro’s net.

A great ball in from Queudrue almost brought early reward,
But a wondrous save by Martyn and the ball somehow he clawed,
Mendi’s magnificently-taken header; one couldn’t ask for more,
Saw the ‘keeper working miracles; absolutely real top drawer.

The Boro’s attack can now be seen as it finally starts to glow,
And ‘Mendi’ really looks all set to put on a super show,
As his pals all around him he is seeking to inspire,
For at the moment it looks as if we really are on fire.

A great chance then did fall to the visitors’ young ‘star,’
But the free kick that he then took, flew wildly o’er the bar,
Every Boro player had come well back to defend it,
Then Rooney only managed high over the bar to send it.

Greening then to ‘Mendi’ who is currently all the rave,
He brought from Nigel Martyn yet another wondrous save,
You could see as ‘Mendi’ hit it that he’s thinking, “I’ll test you,”
But once more we observe Martyn as he comes to Everton’s rescue.

Carsley’s terrific ball in will fill his boss with great remorse,
When another great opportunity was totally wasted, of course,
The blue shirts were all queuing, Jeffers and the rest,
But they still all failed quite sadly in putting Schwarzer to the test.

A foul on Mendieta could be described as a disgrace,
As Graveson’s flailing elbow caught him painfully in the face,
Mills and the ‘Toffee’ squared up but somehow they weren’t seen,
Until the match referee, Mark Halsey, quickly stepped in between.

Neither man came, it seems, to any significant harm,
To his eternal credit Danny Mills remained totally calm,
The official seemingly told them, “Lads, please do not spoil the day,”
“Shake hands, get on with things and put your handbags well away.”

Queudrue now sends over a great inch-perfect cross,
But Maccarone couldn’t quite apply the finishing gloss,
The ball in was a screamer from the big Frenchman, Franck,
So, ever so very sadly, the score remains totally blank.

Jeffers, having tried all night, the target then did find,
But a super save from Schwarzer managed to turn the ball behind,
That’s the first shot on the target that the visitors have managed to get,
But Everton still are dangerous and remain a genuine threat.

Rooney then lined up to shoot and found that he’d been robbed,
By magnificent defending as up George Boateng bobbed,
Then the young lad, Rooney, came back, with goals still in his thoughts,
But his effort was again frustrated by the hands of ‘keeper ‘Schwarz.’

Szilard Nemeth was now threatening but Martyn quickly read it,
And the former England ‘keeper deserves to get the credit,
‘Mendi’ sought to chip him as the goalmouth he had neared,
Nemeth was so unlucky for the goalkeeper then cleared.

The first half of this cup-tie has been balanced really well,
Though how the Boro don’t have the lead, simply no-one can tell,
We’ve had several good chances, numbering at least four,
When the players resume, it’s to be hoped, that we’ll have many more.

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Greening sought out Zenden who was standing way out wide,
Just as Maccarone took a gamble, only to be denied,
Communication it was lacking, twixt their ‘keeper and defender,
Unsworth then almost scored for us, with his last-gasp toe-ender.

A corner then resulted, which was very easily cleared,
To see the visitors counter, just as I, for one, had feared,
Jefferson is on target, though he’s very clearly stretched,
And the worried look of sheer relief on Schwarzer’s face is etched.

That was almost one-nil and the Boro are presently rattling,
For it’s very obvious now, to me, that the visitors are battling,
Hibbert almost delivered an early massive shock,
But Mills came to the rescue with another fantastic block.

Danny Mills’ interception was timed almost divinely,
And this game is definitely balanced; well, ever so very finely,
The corner is accurately fired right across the Boro’s goal face,
Then the offside flag is quickly raised, bringing us some breathing space.

There then came an awful tackle, potentially a leg-breaker,
Which saw goalkeeper Schwarzer acting as peace-maker,
With a truly cowardly tackle, this great game has been marred,
And the punishment, in some folks’ minds, should have been a straight red card.

Li Tie was the culprit and a really lucky fellow,
For he managed to escape this time with just a warning – yellow,
This tackle was seen by everyone to be clearly over the ball,
And deserved without a shadow of doubt, the most serious punishment of all.

Mills’ overall performance can not be too highly praised,
Now he signals to the Boro fans to “Get those voices raised,”
As Greening fires one really high and not particularly handsome,
But at least it has now managed to warm up the Boro fans some.

A good run in by Rooney which, today’s been something rare,
Deflection was quite vicious; it could have spun anywhere,
They’ll score a goal, for sure, if we leave the door ajar,
Because we’ve been, in this current half, second-best, by far!

Zenden’s free kick was then grabbed, quite firmly on the line,
Martyn’s display in this game has been absolutely fine,
And, bravery on his part? That certainly hasn’t been lacking,
As he saved the ‘Toffees’ yet again, by some very quick backtracking.

Ricketts is now brought on; can he be Boro’s hero?
And change in Boro’s favour the score, which still shows double zero.
Nemeth leaves the field of play, feeling so disappointed,
But his game – one must be truthful – has been terribly disjointed.

Maccarone then was once more fouled; opportunity now gone?
No! Credit to the referee who waved to carry on,
A great effort then by Mendieta and he almost achieved it,
But it narrowly skimmed the bar and the ‘keeper then retrieved it.

Ricketts was unlucky, his shot had bounced straight off his marker,
The picture now for Everton is looking ever darker,
The Boro striker’s face now wears a gradually deepening frown,
But a goal right now would certainly have brought the Boro house down.

The pressure from the Boro lads, is ever so intense,
And the nil-nil score-line that we see, it simply makes no sense,
A ball from Bolo Zenden was simply quite sublime,
Then Maccarone once more missed a chance of any lifetime.

The agony goes on and on; that needed just a touch,
But it proved again for Maccarone, well, just a bit too much,
Just as all the Boro fans their fervent hopes are raising,
That chance had gone a’begging; quite simply, it’s amazing!

As Boro now are building up a massive head of steam,
Stubbs is seen collapsing with that very old back routine,
For the Boro machine has, clearly, got well back on the track,
And someone, I’ll not say who, suggests Stubbs needs Fiery Jack.

It seems to matter not a bit what our favourite team tries on,
And extra time – thirty minutes – now looms on the horizon,
I hope that’s not to be as the teams look tired and jaded,
And some of the earlier sparkle has understandably now faded.

Stalemate it remains as the normal playing time closes,
Now one must consider the problems that extra time poses,
If it is still unresolved, which I certainly pray not,
Then the game will be decided from the penalty spot.

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Chances came and chances went,
The extra minutes were quickly spent,
And just as the time was almost up,
Schwarzer’s agility kept us in the cup.

McClaren then displayed all his managerial nous,
When he chose the right men to score a Boro ‘Full House,’
Skilfully, the five men all got it perfectly right,
And the Boro went through at last, 5 – 4 on the night.

Wonderful celebrations by fans following the thrills,
From Ricketts, Maccarone, ‘Mendi,’ Zenden and Mills,
Oh, how they enjoyed it when the wonderful five,
Chose to end the long night with the ‘Klinnsmann Dive.’