The Boro team tonight should not require any incentive,
They should go out all guns blazing; be positive and inventive,
A victory is vital, as we start another new year,
To give all the true Boro fans something very special to cheer.

Conditions are quite difficult and a blustery wind is swirling,
But the early play is promising that a good game is unfurling,
Our position is not brilliant and we’ve got so much to gain,
If we score then we must press on and go for the jugular vein.

We’ve played less than two minutes when Ugo gets a caution,
When his tackle from behind caught Louis Saha, but just a portion,
So, whilst a couple of goals at least is the Boro fans’ fervent hope,
We already have one man walking on the proverbial tightrope.

Downing’s now showing everyone quite clearly his intention,
As he glides along the left wing showing wonderful invention,
His ball in is immaculate, but will it a goal now fetch?
“No,” is the immediate answer as Melville saves it at full stretch.

The young lad’s now attacking at a pace that’s even brisker,
And Fulham manage to survive by just the merest whisker,
His low ball was deflected by their goalie, Van der Sar,
It was so close to an own-goal by the lanky Netherlands’ star.

The referee played advantage after a trivial collision,
Followed almost immediately by an incorrect decision,
Even worse for tonight’s visitors, with only thirteen minutes gone,
The score-line is now reading Fulham nil and Boro one.

This lucky break for the Boro brought another corner kick,
Which Downing took and soon we saw how Job then did the trick,
The visitors are all fuming and, to be honest, with good cause,
But the home fans aren’t complaining: just listen to their applause!

Our newfound gem is shining, showing speed, direction, quality,
And bringing to his hometown fans a feeling of great jollity,
And to a man our heroes have competed and they’ve battled,
Leaving the visitors from London feeling well and truly rattled.

Now we have Juninho brilliantly getting in on the act,
As he and Szilard Nemeth in tandem then attacked,
The ‘Little Man’ fed his partner as ever closer they are getting,
And Nemeth lets one fly but sadly finds just the side netting.

Lee Clark will be so lucky to escape half-time admonishment,
When he missed an almost open goal, much to everyone’s astonishment,
He was only twelve yards’ out from goal and, with only Jones to beat,
But “well done” to the debut boy who saved it with his feet.

His reactions were quite brilliant: brought applause throughout the ground,
There is no doubt about it, another Aussie star’s been found,
But Clark will soon recover from this latest of many knocks,
He’s apparently known as ‘jigsaw’ because he goes to pieces in the box.

For several minutes now the Boro momentum has been lost,
We’ve gone missing and been opened up and almost paid the cost,
Then Danny Mills brought some relief with another darting probe,
To win us one more corner after much good work by Job.

In came a made-to-measure corner from the foot of you-know-who,
And Southgate missed a sitter as above the goal it flew,
When only four yards out from goal; the ‘keeper rooted to the grass,
The captain knows he got it wrong and disappointment will soon pass.

Fulham once more in attack; their confidence is growing,
And clearly in the Boro ranks, anxiety is showing,
But, thanks again to Bradley Jones, our last line of resistance,
He got a fist to a great ball and found prodigious distance.

Mills was somehow turned and we were almost made to pay,
But to the rescue once again came Jones to save the day,
The young lad seems to me to be worth a million Aussie dollars,
He’s been most severely tested and come through with flying colours.

Now it is Juninho’s turn to miss a ‘goalden’ chance,
He failed when only six yards’ out and the bench looked on askance,
Some of Boro’s approach work has been truthfully quite delightful,
But that’s another example of finishing really frightful.

Boro’s new star, Downing, is once more oozing class,
As he cuts inside and picks out Ugo with a lovely reverse pass,
Unluckily we didn’t get the second goal we’d expected,
For the ball then bounced off Ugo’s heel and to safety was deflected.

No, we didn’t get that second goal that Boro well deserves,
But that is what we really need to settle jangled nerves,
In the main, throughout the half, we’ve played with immense pride,
We need to push on and become again the Fortress Riverside.

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Within a couple of minutes, we saw more reason for concern,
When we again ignored Lee Clark; will our beloved Boro ever learn?
He brought in Frenchman Malbranque, who quickly cut it back,
Then failure by Djetou quickly ended that attack.

Mills broke up a promising move, involving Boa Morte,
Then made an opening for George Boateng but scoring’s not his forte,
He struck a drive which then flew quite wide and rather high,
But praise goes to the big man for at least he had a try.

A further chance for Downing magic after Nemeth’s pulled to ground,
There’s an air of expectation clearly visible all around,
The awaited dream ball in left Van Der Sar totally deceived,
As he stood alone in no-man’s-land he ended up relieved.

The goal was then wide open, at the mercy of ‘French Franck,’
But he headed high so, once again, no second in the bank,
Some of these gilt-edged chances we do really need to bury,
When we recall last season’s draw, it certainly makes me worry!

Nemeth’s ball was going out and Boro’s play was hampered,
But Downing’s having none of that and after it he scampered,
He seeks but misses Joseph’s head; he’s playing with such vigour,
And Job would certainly have scored had he been two inches bigger.

Danny Mills goes surging on as his opposing player retreats,
He certainly brings excitement and gets the fans out of their seats,
Downing then shot wide and had defenders in a tangle,
It missed by just a whisker from an awfully acute angle.

Finally the Boro got a truly just reward,
When following Downing’s corner, Szilard Nemeth’s through and scored,
So hopefully we’ll now go on to show that we’re the master,
Say “Thanks to Edwin Van Der Sar,” who’s been an absolute disaster.

Stewart Downing has caused havoc with his skill, his guile, his pace,
So much so that Fulham have been pulled all over the place,
And to those Boro fans whose thoughts of Sunderland are usually hateful,
For the way he matured at their place we should be ever grateful.

Boro missed a glorious chance as Fulham’s defence now teeters,
When Nemeth squared across the goal but missed by several metres,
Had he kept it on the floor then we were in there with a shout,
A simple tap-in: three goals up: goodnight: over and out!

Brad Jones made another save to stop Malbranque's long-ranger,
Our man was perfectly positioned so there was never any danger,
Then Juninho let one fly too, with his own brand of humdinger,
Which was pushed around by Van Der Sar with the tip of just one finger.

With only five minutes left to play in a game so good to watch,
Stewart Downing then puts in his first bad ball of the match,
He’s covered every blade of grass, the Boro’s new shining light,
And he must be totally knackered but he’ll sleep so well tonight.

The tiredness doesn’t register and he’s certainly no quitter,
He lays another on a plate and the ‘Wee man” missed a sitter,
I had to smile at this point because of Bernie Slaven’s quip,
When he described young Downing as being “built like a jockey’s whip.”

Djetou was then booked for blatantly blocking Boro’s rocket,
He had finally succumbed to Stewart, who had had him in his pocket,
Though seriously winded he quickly got on with the match,
And Bernie then described him as being “a joy to watch.”

The seconds are now counting down and full-time’s nearly reached,
When almost unbelievingly the Boro’s defence is breached,
There appears to be no real danger ‘til an attempted clearance fails,
And Fulham got some consolation from a goal from Barry Hayles.