Although the Carling Cup Final is a nice little earner,
Any thoughts of Cardiff must now stay on the back burner,
The teams are coming out and we’ll kick off in a minute,
In a fixture which, quite often, has plenty goals in it.

There’s a carnival atmosphere that is really happy and glorious,
And for that to remain the case we have to be victorious,
Forget the Carling Cup Final and that long journey ‘abroad,’
We must focus and get three further Premiership points on-board.

The start was an awfully scrappy one by and large,
Then suddenly Mendieta was seen on the charge,
He raced into the area as the visitors claimed ‘offside,’
Then he seemed to snatch at his final shot and sadly put it wide.

A corner then resulted from a poor back-pass from Babbel,
Up stepped Mendieta who thought he’d have a dabble,
The six-yard box was crowded just as the ball appeared,
Disappointingly for the Boro fans the danger was soon cleared.

Bolo Zenden, with his left foot, took the following corner kick,
And no-one in a Boro shirt stood near to the back stick,
The ball in was a good one but Southgate mistimed his leap,
When everyone around him seemed to be standing half asleep.

A brilliant ball into our box and Rovers’ danger neared,
Thanks go to Bolo Zenden although he really just half-cleared,
From being hemmed in on the corner flag the visitors’ intent was plain,
As Todd raced in on Boro’s goal at the speed of an express train.

Finding space out on the left, and with defenders in a stew,
A dream ball was put over by the priceless French Franck Q.,
Juninho then missed it and Maccarone didn’t move,
Play is certainly very ragged and we’re not yet in the groove.

The weather was quite wonderful when we kicked off this fixture,
But now it’s black and sleeting: it’s a most peculiar mixture,
The play’s not a good advert. for the Premiership’s so-called elite,
And it can be seen both managers are starting now to bleat.

Juninho once more endeavours to set up a Boro attack,
But ‘Macca’ is sixty-yards away as if he’s playing at left back,
Boro appear lethargic compared to last week, when ‘electric,’
And manager, Steve McClaren, is looking apoplectic.

It took almost half-an-hour before the first real Boro attack,
As Doriva brought in Zenden who had a tremendous crack,
He struck the ball so sweetly and it swerved about in space,
Then missed by just a fraction: and what a look on Friedel’s face!

Free kick given against Babbel, for his handling of the ball,
Juninho took it speedily before the Rovers built their wall,
It was a golden opportunity: just you watch it on the telly,
But the effort was a poor one right into Brad Friedel’s belly.

Great run by Bolo Zenden who came sprinting down the left,
Then he passed to Maccarone, who left the Boro fans all bereft,
He was brilliantly placed but sought Juninho who then stumbled,
So another great chance went missing and, no doubt, McClaren grumbled.

Well, chances we have certainly had, with all of them being squandered,
When Riggott slipped unfortunately after Danny Mills had wandered,
Recently-acquired John Stead left the Boro fans devastated,
And with half-time coming up I’ll bet that change is contemplated.

With a matter of seconds we almost endured further pain,
When the lead was nearly doubled by that man John Stead again,
Mills and Mendieta, among others, are going astray,
Also discipline is lacking and we’re now being made to pay.

As referee Rob Styles raises the whistle to his lips,
Rovers launch another attack just as Danny Mills suddenly slips,
Michael Gray then launched a long ball: a case of hit and hope,
And Stead again tested Schwarzer who somewhat luckily managed to cope.

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It’s time now to get serious so let’s cut out all the clowning,
As Parnaby and Maccarone now make way for Job and Downing,
All-round improvement must be seen, or the result? I’ll let you guess,
Will go the way of Rovers and of their manager, Graeme Souness.

Out on the wing and at great pace young Downing now is running,
He curls the ball to Zenden and the delivery is quite stunning,
But once again it came to nought as the danger was averted,
By great vision from Brad Friedel, who was instantly alerted.

Mills then played a great ball right into the danger zone,
It was struck first time by Joseph Job, who was standing all alone,
‘Goal’ was written all over it until came the mighty shock,
As Friedel rescued Rovers with a quite remarkable block.

Queudrue puts the ball back in to extend this Boro probe,
And he picks out most precisely the ever-eager Joseph Job,
He then brought in Juninho standing slightly to one side,
But the ‘Wee man’ failed quite miserably when he put it high and wide.

Downing then rolled in a ball with absolute precision,
But Joseph Job was ruled offside; a very close decision,
He’d got behind his marker and a goal seemed in the bag,
But he’d strayed a bit far forward and the linesman raised his flag.

Mendi’s on attack again and leaves his man for dead,
Ahead of him he clearly sees plenty colleagues wearing red,
He, in turn, picked out Juninho, who cleverly slipped his marker,
And finally it seemed that Rovers’ position’s looking darker.

But we’d all forgotten Friedel, the big man between the sticks,
Who brought off another wondrous save to thwart Juninho’s tricks,
“World class” it was described as: by Bernie Slaven, in the stand,
And Juninho acknowledged it as he shook the ‘keeper’s hand.

With time now slipping by and new plans required quite drastically,
Nemeth’s on for Mendieta with many changes needed tactically,
We need to take some chances and settle nerves that are now frayed,
This is our last chance because the final card is now being played.

Nemeth sends a fine ball in towards the Rovers’ goal’s back stick,
And Gray, at full stretch, diverts it for another corner kick,
Downing puts the ball in and, my, how this young lad is toiling,
Trying to pull out all the stops and keep the Boro kettle boiling.

Another great ball from Downing looked set to bring the Rovers grief,
Until Friedel pulled off another save which was quite beyond belief,
Southgate was at point-blank range and instantly pulled the trigger,
But couldn’t beat the ‘keeper whose reputation’s big and getting bigger.

Zenden hits a great shot which appears to be goal-bound,
As Boro are encouraged by a tremendous wall of sound,
It flies towards the goal and it’s moving quite dramatically,
But Friedel’s equal to it as he parried it acrobatically.

The effort was a great one but I think I have to say,
That Friedel is the master and this is not to be our day,
My fears, I feel, are genuine and they’ve just now been confirmed,
As Nemeth fluffed another good chance and all around him squirmed.

Four chances in the second half we’ve seen the Boro create,
But the finishing, it must be said, has been anything but great,
Yet another fine ball from Zenden needed just a head to glance it,
But nobody reacted and got right in there to chance it.

Soon we’re put out of our misery and the game’s come to a halt,
And we’re all brought back to earth with a truly massive jolt,
After all of Tuesday’s glory the Boro’s great fans are feeling glum,
And the crowd registered disapproval after seeing their team succumb.