Let battle commence as expectation abounds,
When we finally kick off for the third of four rounds,
We’re not expected to win but we don’t want to draw,
Our schedule’s congested and we could do without more.

The weather in London is gloriously sunny,
But, Boro to win? I wouldn’t bet any money,
The fact that we won here just a few days ago,
Will now count for nothing; that, I’m sure, you all know.

The first corner was Boro’s and “Well done, Michael Ricketts,”
Then the decision was taken for Downing to kick it,
This led to a let-off with Lauren mis-cueing,
And an earful from Campbell, to “Watch what you’re doing.”

Pires has, in my view, a somewhat peculiar gait,
But most things he does, playing football, are great,
With one world-class ball he beat our back four so well,
But the pace outfoxed Ljungberg who couldn’t quite make it tell.

Chris Riggott again shows that he’s so quick to learn,
But already there are ominous signs for concern,
For victory I think that we’ll all need to pray,
But the way things are going we’ll be soon made to pay.

The first sign then came that real danger was dawning,
But luck’s with the Boro who must now heed the warning,
Bergkamp was the front man of an incoming tide,
And, although Pires netted, the flag’s up for offside.

That meant that the Gunners could not yet celebrate,
And Pires picked the ball up, looking disconsolate,
So, thanks to the linesman, that particular sequel,
Means that, for the moment, the scores remain equal.

Michael Ricketts’ time with the Boro has been rather torrid,
He is currently down injured and it really looks horrid,
A stretcher seems necessary at the very first glance,
But he walks down the tunnel: he’ll be given every chance.

Now we’re down to ten men Arsenals attacking’s unending,
And they go one-nil up due to sloppy defending,
Parlour was brilliant and laid on instant menace,
Despite a deflection it was credited to Dennis.

We had plenty chances to boot the ball clear,
Though Parnaby tried he couldn’t get anywhere near,
He flew over the hoardings and far into the crowd,
And although he was hurt there’s no way he’ll be cowed.

Well, can we come back, or is that asking too much?
Then in less than three minutes Job showed wonderful touch,
He turned in the box and was instantly set,
And then blasted it high into the roof of the net.

The strike was fantastic from an angle so tight,
But Job remained calm and he caught it just right,
This could be the goal to keep our Cup hopes alive,
With Lehmann left helpless despite his despairing dive.

It’s said teams are vulnerable after scoring a goal,
And that’s instantly confirmed by the Gunners’ Ashley Cole,
He raced in on goal leaving Mills like a ghost,
But magnificent Schwarzer palmed the shot ‘round the post.

In our penalty box Frenchman Pires went tumbling,
“No,” said the ref. setting Gunners all grumbling,
Mike Dean said that there had been nothing too physical,
McClaren was ranting whilst Wenger looked quizzical.

After just five more minutes Gunners’ lead was restored,
When Freddie Ljungberg shot through numerous ‘bodies’ and scored,
He managed to change feet with the minimum of fuss,
There’ll be more goals to come: let us pray they’re for us.

Boateng starts an attack but Jens Lehmann’s not fretting,
And ‘great prospect’ Downing only finds the side netting,
Two corners by Stewart left the home fans all howling,
And a free kick was given because Ricketts was fouling.

Zenden was booked in the thirty-seventh minute,
For a foul on Vieira but there wasn’t much in it,
Schwarzer came to the rescue exactly on cue,
And got right behind a great strike by Edu.

The remaining few minutes were so dull and quite scrappy,
And manager McClaren can’t be feeling too happy,
For whilst Arsenal, perhaps, haven’t been at their best,
This remains, for the Boro, there’s no doubt, a stern test.

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As the second half begins much more needs to be done,
Because, by and large, we have been overrun,
Though they’re in third gear we can’t get the ball off ‘em,
If we were wearing our hats I feel sure that we’d doff ‘em.

We’ve not troubled the Arsenal as onwards they’re spurred,
They’re almost queuing up, no doubt seeking a third,
And find it they did, when Ljungberg took a gamble,
From a corner by Pires and one almighty scramble.

Is it already too late for us to come to our senses?
If we don’t do so now there’ll be dire consequences,
It hurts just to look at the poor Boro fans’ faces,
For they know that their team hasn’t been at the races.

They’ve spent much good money on travelling and tickets,
Now we see the departure of Job, Downing and Ricketts,
They’re replaced by Juninho, then Nemeth and ‘Macc,’
To try the impossible and to bolster attack.

Edu fires past the post: our goose very nearly cooked,
Then Boateng was quite furious after needlessly being booked,
Moments later saw him booked again but what now really matters,
Is we’re now down to ten with our Cup hopes in tatters.

Shortly before the last whistle young David Bentley’s unfurled,
And he quickly had our ‘keeper beaten to the wide world,
Six-feet-four Schwarzer stands, when he’s guarding Boro’s sticks,
Yet the young lad beat him stunningly with the most delicate of flicks.

That was a strike of world class and had B. Slaven drooling,
The icing on another game, which saw Arsenal ruling,
The ball in from the left side was despatched with alacrity,
Only helped emphasise the poor Boro’s mediocrity.

So our F.A. Cup dream is over for at least one more year,
But “Hats off to the Gunners,” a team everyone will fear,
A team that, on the day, we didn’t manage to match,
Leaving changes now needed for we were not up to scratch.

Well, that’s three games v Arsenal with the fourth soon to be staged,
If they meet up many more times they’ll be they’ll be getting engaged,
Thankfully there’s just one more game coming up,
At the Riverside, next Wednesday, in the second leg Carling Cup.