It’s a very chilly, grey day, here on Merseyside,
Time now for all the noise inside the ground to subside,
In respect of the Toffees’ fan so tragically killed,
The hubbub all around was most wonderfully stilled.

One thing is for certain: that we’ll not see a repeat,
Of last week’s eight-goal thriller, which was fantastic and so sweet,
In the game’s very opening minute real danger was so clear,
Created by Wayne Rooney when Schwarzer never came anywhere near.

Juninho’s on a good run, well beyond the halfway mark,
With Macca left and Mendi right, both haring down the park,
Although he’d several chances, Juno chose to go alone,
His shot deflected for a corner and the chance was quickly blown.

Everton gave the ball away, much to my surprise,
And gave a chance for Joseph Job to perhaps capitalize,
He chased and chased and got behind the very last defender,
Then lack of power ensured that their ‘keeper wouldn’t surrender.

Then came a cause for great concern and genuine Boro worry,
And quickly to the field of play the medical man did scurry,
Our captain’s been knocked dizzy by the head of Toffees’ Rooney,
But malice wasn’t present and Southgate’s anything but puny.

Once again it’s Rooney going straight for Boro’s heart,
But a great ball for Radzinski saw him rather slow to start,
He then totally fluffed it as the Boro nerves start to twitch,
And, good news for the Boro, our captain’s now back on the pitch.

Great play by Maccarone in front of Boro’s travelling horde,
Was desperately unlucky not to gain a just reward,
A threaded ball to Mendi, who then failed to take control,
But half-a-chance it certainly was and should have brought a goal.

Rooney sold a dummy to the Boro’s Danny Mills,
Who’d switched off for a moment and lost out to Rooney’s skills,
A rifled shot had Schwarzer at full length give up the ghost,
But thankfully for the Boro the ball whizzed narrowly past the post.

Boro now defending with every player back in the box,
A great ball in from Naysmith, which Schwarzer thankfully blocks,
Then again we slept in and were almost torn to shreds,
But Rooney’s miss leaves Mills and Job plainly at loggerheads.

Mills quickly recovered from the blip in his behaviour,
This time he’s a real hero and certainly the Boro’s saviour,
With Rooney waiting patiently to side-foot into the net,
Mills gets in a wondrous block and I’d say better you’ll never get.

So the half’s been rather flat and can be best described as scrappy,
And neither manager, I feel sure, will be remotely happy,
There hasn’t been the slightest thing to bring about a smile,
It’s been totally frustrating, devoid of proper craft and guile.

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Everton start the second half with the first of many subs,
With Unsworth introduced in place of injured captain, Stubbs,
Boro will now continue with their formation still unchanged,
But should things not work out real soon I’m sure that they’ll be changed.

Radzinski’s in the box again in the Toffees’ next attack,
His shot saw Schwarzer parry and then very nearly crack,
“Well done” to young Chris Riggott then the Everton pressure increases,
With Rooney lurking, ready to pounce, and pick up any pieces.

Next it’s the turn of French Franck to head the ball away from harm,
Though an own-goal seemed a danger he remained completely calm,
So a corner to the Toffees was of necessity yielded,
Came Schwarzer to the rescue with the ball wonderfully well-fielded.

Radzinski’s on a run again and tears us all asunder,
But Riggott blocked terrifically as a goal they sought to plunder,
His tackle, well inside the box, required absolute perfection,
But Riggott’s been magnificent and he’s certainly justified selection.

Kilbane pushed a great ball in after breaking through a gap,
For Radzinski rushing in on goal and the Boro all in a flap,
At the vital moment he then slipped as every Boro fan froze,
That would have been a certain goal, and I’m sure Radzinski knows.

Doriva’s on for Macca and perhaps with very good reason,
Reverting to formation which brought much success this season,
However, within minutes, he returns to the pavilion,
A pulled groin muscle means a premature end for the Brazilian.

Queudrue then with Bolo Zenden tried to play a quick one-two,
And a back-pass from Pistone had his ‘keeper in a stew,
Martyn somehow blocked it and the raid was then rebuffed,
Job should have done much better but in the end he fluffed.

Rooney’s on the shoulder of the Boro’s last defender,
But Riggott quickly let him know that there’ll be no surrender,
Though a corner is conceded by the rising Boro star,
Yobo, left unguarded, sent it high above the bar.

With the crowd now loudly moaning and some players’ thoughts on the beach,
Toffees go a goal ahead and possibly out of reach,
Radzinski was rewarded for his show of sheer persistence,
And with Mills out of position he broke down the Boro’s resistance.

This brought about for Boro a speedy change of personnel,
With Nemeth on for Danny Mills who hadn’t done too well,
The boss has made the changes but with nothing much to show,
Now he’s angrily waving them: “For God’s sake; have a go!”

Zenden’s quick short corner found the hosts disorganised,
And within a matter of moments the Boro had equalised,
Joseph found himself caught up in the middle of the action,
To bring the Boro equal and, for him, Job satisfaction.

To be truthful it was scrappy and the scorer wasn’t clear,
And it’s certainly not a candidate for the best goal of the year,
It bounced and ricocheted just like a ball being played in ping-pong,
But it’s nevertheless most welcome and fans celebrate in sing-song.

Watson leaves the field now as the Toffees feel they’ve been wronged,
They bring on striker Jeffers; their attack is now three-pronged,
Yobo finds Radzinski with the cleverest back-heel,
Then Schwarzer saved quite comfortably though his joy he can’t conceal.

So a scrappy game just died and left an end-of-season feeling,
As an advert. for the Premiership it wasn’t too appealing,
Some of it was dreadful and left many fans in despair,
But the final score of one apiece was possibly most fair.