There’s a decent crowd and brilliant atmosphere,
The majority, no doubt, will be hoping to see a
Repeat of last Wednesday’s Carling Cup Thriller,
On a December day that’s a real bone chiller.

No doubt at all Pompey will show tremendous fight,
As they seek to establish life in the top flight,
Yakubu’s run’s endless: are we in for a shock?
No! Thanks to another Southgate last-minute block.

The visitors are constantly seeking to press,
And the home fans already appear restless,
The Boro are showing no fluency yet,
As a Yakubu header flies over the net.

Sheringham went down: a free kick he’d sought,
Trivial contact but one the referee’s bought,
Using all the experience of his 37 years,
Terry gains the free kick, which Juninho then clears.

Yakubu is causing us problems galore,
And Portsmouth appear the most likely to score,
He lines up a shot, which he fiercely unwinds,
Boro haven’t yet erased Wednesday night from their minds.

Mills then showed everyone how the job should be done,
Setting off down the right side on one more trademark run,
Seeking to end the first quarter-hour’s frivolity,
He managed to get over the game’s first ball of quality.

Wonderful accuracy was what Mills was delivering,
A ball which had Pompey defenders all shivering,
Ricketts reacted but perhaps, on reflection,
Although he did well, what he lacked was direction.

When some of his colleagues were much better placed,
Sheringham ignored them and onwards he raced,
He chose the wrong option; ever closer he’s getting,
Then he shot with his right foot and hit the side netting.

All that Boro fans wish for, as some kind of tonic,
Is a home goal and not Sheringham’s histrionic,
As he tangled with Franck and immediately tumbled,
Both the fans and the ref. had the Pompey man rumbled.

Corner kick for the Boro and their ‘keeper just flapped,
It fell very kindly and was almost gift-wrapped,
Our Brazilian’s reaction was quite automatic,
He missed very narrowly but was so acrobatic.

Greening’s good ball in, a dangerous-looking curler,
Srnicek then fell over; he’d taken a pearler,
Chaos in the area then immediately followed it,
And, to Boro’s dismay, the referee then swallowed it.

There wasn’t any contact and the ‘keeper simply slipped,
The free kick for Pompey means the scales have now tipped,
A chance then came for Zenden, suddenly showing much more vigour,
Unfortunately he slipped when about to pull the trigger.

As Boro seek to crank it up in the shape of Mendieta,
You could almost hear Boro’s fans saying, “Well done, lads. That’s better.”
For a little while Pompey’s goal we sought to assail,
But every assault saw us miserably fail.

Juninho was racing through and towards the box,
When he was crudely brought down by Pompey’s man, Foxe,
A yellow card’s brandished for the foul clear to see,
Srnicek spilled the free kick so today he’s dropped three.

It would appear now the Boro may be starting to tick,
When Juninho, covering half the field, fails his final kick,
He’d others to the left and right but then space opened up,
Though wide of the target he was right to have a pop.

Quite clearly he had seen the chance and thought that he’d grab it,
And pull out of the Boro hat that most elusive white rabbit,
Unlike that recent cup game, this crowd’s not been thrilled,
So, although potential is there, it remains unfulfilled.

We’ve not clicked at all so far, nor fired imagination,
And it’s left loyal Boro fans feeling total frustration,
After fifteen minutes’ pep talk and, perhaps, a cup of tea,
We’ll expect some improvement, that, I’m sure, you’ll agree.

Only seconds have been played, a free kick comes already,
Twenty yards out and placed ideally for Teddy,
Despite great preparation, his effort missed by quite a bit,
It certainly wasn’t the best one that he’s ever hit.

A super ball from Queudrue ends with Zenden going near,
When he failed to spot ‘Mendi’ who was standing well clear,
Could it possibly be that in the time still remaining,
The effect of Wednesday’s extra time means that our lads are draining?”

Encouraged by the home fans as they create a real din,
For they realise it’s vital that these three points we win,
Like an express train goes Mills; just listen to the roar!
But it ended with a corner when we hoped we could score.

Unless things improve soon, and I mean goals, of course,
It seems there’ll be changes to our attacking force,
For McClaren is wondering what he’s got to do,
To win for the Boro that elusive breakthrough.

Another wonder-run by Mills, as a hero I’d define him,
And we must pull out every stop, permanently to sign him,
His final ball’s rather poor, but he couldn’t have done more,
He’s certainly won the Boro fans’ hearts; what else lies in store?

Lovely ball from Zenden; Ricketts rose and danger beckoned,
But credit, please, for Taylor, who cleared at the last second,
The corner that was flung in, Pompey somehow managed to block,
And play was quickly halted after Berger took a knock.

Fans are getting worried now and hands are feeling clammy,
Then it seems as if the manager is planning a double whammy,
For several minutes now, Steve McClaren’s on the ‘phone; he
Plans to bring on Nemeth, along with Maccarone.

Yakubu forced a breakaway; this lad is in his prime,
But brilliant George Boateng stopped him in the nick of time,
This fixture’s certainly proving, in no way to be the romp we
Envisaged earlier today when we kicked off the game with Pompey.

Further proof, if needed, that Mills is Boro’s star,
Was shown when he attacked again and shook the Pompey bar,
His run from deep can be described once more as truly wondrous,
And the shot that hit the woodwork was nothing short of thunderous.

That certainly was some Boro move and the closest we’ve come yet,
But it found the underside of the bar and not the Pompey net.
With Srnicek well beaten every Boro heart was left aching,
It’s still nil-nil; I’m so amazed; and the crossbar is still shaking.

Surely, Boro’s bad luck can’t go on for very much longer,
The players now have their tails up and Mills looks ever stronger,
We’ve seen the best of him today; he’s proving so resilient,
His contribution to this game is best described as “brilliant.”

Maccarone was flung to the ground and Boro then appealed,
That meant a second card for Stone who then went rolling off the field,
Pompey then pull all men back to stem the Boro tide,
As expectation now reverberates around the Riverside.

With Pompey obviously thinking “we needn’t be too bold,
We have our hands on one point, and what we have, we hold,”
They did all that was now needed, the Boro lads to stop,
With extra men across the middle, they simply chose to shut up shop.

The tactics worked for Pompey and with full time fast arriving,
Nemeth went into the referee’s book for theatrically diving,
He was looking for a penalty, right at the very death,
To boos of disappointment and the players left out of breath.

So, that’s yet more points we’ve now seen going down the drain,
And 28000 loyal fans have suffered once again,
They’re going home disappointed and I’d say with very good reason,
Clean sheets are fine but lack of goals may count come end of season.