The question is, can Boro somehow manage to contrive,
Their first win away to Chelsea since 1975?
Without the services of Southgate, our own Mr. Reliable,
We wish him well: We’ll miss him, too: that’s really undeniable.

Stamford Bridge is heaving and the atmosphere is cracking,
It’s a ‘must win’ for Ranieri under constant threat of sacking,
He acknowledges the crowd and the show of adulation,
One of nature’s gentlemen, who’s won the heart of this great nation.

It’s great that Colin Cooper’s back; recalled to fill the breach,
With Chelsea striving valiantly and Arsenal almost out of reach,
The Boro’s task is daunting as the Blues are currently flying,
So to come away with at least a point would be totally satisfying.

Early danger threatened which one felt within one’s tummy,
As a cross came in and Hasselbaink sold a most delightful dummy,
Babayaro was the first to pounce; he struck with all his might,
But Schwarzer saved it comfortably by diving to his right.

Greening’s on a mazy run but Boateng suddenly stumbled,
Queudrue chipped a lovely ball, which the goalkeeper then fumbled,
A good chance fell to Juno and it looked a certainty,
But he sent his effort high and wide as he lashed it carelessly.

The following move from Chelsea was the best we’d seen so far,
And Joe Cole was unlucky as he shot high above the bar,
He combined with Gudjohnsen as we felt the pressure mount,
And although Cole missed the target he almost opened his account.

Mendi’s on a good run, with the defenders in pursuit,
Still he got a shot on goal though the angle was acute,
It took a slight deflection but he’d shown great expertise,
The sting was taken off it and Ambrosio saved with ease.

McClaren shows how keen he is to keep the game well flowin’,
As he then clung on to the ball as if to take the throw-in,
The decision went against him but he’d better be most wary,
As he was consoled then given a hug by Claudio Ranieri.

Juno released Maccarone, who he’d spotted in full flight,
His wasted opportunity just trickled past the upright,
With defenders right off balance he must have thought he’d done enough,
But the goal was never threatened as his shot just lacked the puff.

With Chelsea getting little joy, Ranieri shows concern,
And switches players in a search for all three points for which they yearn,
But Boro quickly counter with Szilard looking set to bury,
Then he’s thwarted at the ‘death’ by a wonderful block by Chelsea’s Terry.

Great timing was essential or it would have been a ‘pen,’
A corner was the outcome and the pressure’s on again,
The ball in was a good one that the ‘keeper somehow fumbled,
He might well have been punished but no-one for Boro gambled.

Queudrue tripped Gudjohnsen so a free kick’s on the cards,
No doubt from J. Floyd Hasselbaink although it’s more than thirty yards,
He totally fooled the Boro, who had wrongly read his thoughts,
When he clipped a ball and Lampard brought a wondrous save from Schwarz.

Lampard is again the man to get the home fans roaring,
As he released a venomous drive that came very near to scoring,
Schwarzer’s push to safety had the Boro fans all engrossed,
Then Gudjohnsen shot the rebound off the inside of the post.

With four quick shots on target, the Chelsea pressure is so sustained,
You can see that Lampard’s thinking, “Nothing ventured, nothing gained,”
It’s ‘all hands to the pump’ now for our favourite Boro Reds,
Just let us get to half-time at nil-nil then clear our heads.

The long-awaited whistle sounds, with honours still all-square,
As Boro manage to survive the belated Chelsea scare,
We’ve had our own half-chances though we’ve also been hard-pressed,
But so far the Chelsea ‘keeper has not been put to the test.

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Gronkjaer has been subbed but he’s done nothing much of note,
He’s been replaced by Geremi, to try and keep their hopes afloat,
Greening and Queudrue attack, displaying great resistance,
Then Macca put his header wide: he missed by quite a distance.

Makelele’s stretchered off the field: unable to carry on,
Seeking glory now for Chelsea on comes their man, Veron,
The injury wasn’t caused by any type of misbehaviour,
But Veron will no doubt hope that he’ll become the Chelsea saviour.

Mendi’s run was wonderful and showed such tremendous vigour,
And when twenty yards from goal he should have pulled the trigger,
Instead he sought out Nemeth when he should have had a clout,
And in the end it came to nought and simply petered out.

The tempo of the Chelsea side is certainly increasing,
And pressure, led by Veron, is currently unceasing,
He’s brought to ground by Boateng as he nears the danger zone,
‘Foul play,’ the referee decides, and the yellow card is shown.

Boro built a three-man wall as the going’s getting rough,
Veron sent it inches high though he struck it well enough,
He curled it with his right foot and one saw clearly how it dipped,
But thankfully, not far enough and on to the net it zipped.

The Chelsea pressure’s ceaseless over about the very last minute,
As they’ve obviously realised that they really need to win it,
But the outcome of this tussle one could certainly not pre-empt,
As Schwarzer saves a header, albeit at the second attempt.

Nemeth’s disappointed once again; he finds himself withdrawn,
And off the field he trudges looking seriously forlorn,
He’s being replaced by Ricketts, and something from him’s long overdue,
Let’s hope that he’ll do better than what he’s shown us hitherto.

Babayaro played a great ball in but Colin Cooper read it,
And the Boro man was magnificent as he rose and rose to head it,
But his and Jimmy Floyd’s heads then met quite forcibly in collision,
Leaving Chelsea’s striker suffering at least from double vision.

Chelsea play their final card when they bring on Robert Huth,
Who replaces Babayaro as their final substitute,
Seeking ever further to heighten their offensive,
Then Schwarzer missed a simple kick that might have proved expensive.

Now it’s the turn for Boro, their men to rearrange,
And Downing on for Macca is the indicated change,
So Stewart verses Geremi would now seem the ‘battle’ ensuing,
For the latter has now several times almost led to our undoing.

Boateng was most fortunate when already on a yellow,
He fouled Chelsea’s John Terry and was a very lucky fellow,
But, credit to the man in blue, who got straight back up: no messing!
What would the ruling otherwise have been? No prizes here for guessing.

Downing on the left side stopped the ball from going dead,
Then placed a pin-point cross direct to Michael Ricketts’ head,
He totally missed the target and the Boro fans still all suffer,
The ‘keeper wasn’t troubled and the effort was a duffer.

Just after the Boro fans had good cause to feel quite bitter,
Up stepped Chelsea’s Lampard to miss an absolute sitter,
Joe Cole whipped a great ball in to the man whose form’s so hot,
Thankfully for us he totally failed although he’d time to pick his spot.

Ambrosio in the Chelsea goal deserves the highest praise,
As the game draws slowly to a close and a truly critical phase,
The free kick struck by Mendi was really quite fantastic,
But the ‘keeper stretched and somehow parried, with arms as of elastic.

Chelsea pound the Boro defence with their unending swoops,
But ‘shedding blood’ for Boro’s cause is the one and only Coops,
Right to the death he stood so brave and then the Boro fans roared,
As the whistle blew to end the fight, as Hasselbaink might have scored.

So, a valiant point for Boro who, throughout, were most courageous,
And had the result been different, it would have been outrageous,
Had we been a bit more ruthless we might have won all three,
Though I feel that Mr. Ranieri, among others, will disagree.