| Middlesbrough | Newport County | ||
| Ayala | 51′ | Dolan | 90’+3 |
| Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls |
58% 19 4 6 13 |
Possession Shots On target Corners Fouls |
41% 17 5 5 9 |
Exiled Dolan delivers bitter Pill
The battle of the bridges as it had been christened commenced this afternoon at a half empty Riverside. There was a good and vociferous following from South Wales to add atmosphere which came as a welcome break from the Championship after the Millwall stalemate with the emphasis then very much on stale!
Michael Flynn brought his giant killers up North to hopefully add another scalp to their Cup Run after their 2-1 victory over Leicester and with it end the cup hopes of one of their own. The long suffering home fans at the Riverside were hoping for a repeat of the Peterborough second half performance (we have long given up any hope of a full on 90m minute performance from this side) and with it the opportunity to be in Monday night’s draw.
The “Exiles” had a few injury problems and were without defender Fraser Franks and club captain Andrew Crofts along with ex Boro lad Matty Dolan being rated very doubtful. For Boro we were hoping that Shotton may get some game time in his road to recovery because poor Dael needed a break from being shoehorned into RB. Flint also was seemingly back to fitness so the likelihood is he would get a start as would a few others like Fletcher who would be keen to show their talent and give TP something to think about before the transfer window slams shut.
TP made six changes but still put out a strong side with Mikel making his debut, Shotton returned from injury and the contract conflicted Downing also started. Wing and Saville were in a more advanced “attacking” midfield role with Fletcher getting a start along with Assombalonga. The Boro bench also looked seriously strong with Clayts, Hugill, VLP and Tavernier. Matty Dolan was deemed fit enough for a place on the visitor’s bench upon his return to the Riverside. Exiles goalkeeper Joe Day missed the game to be at his wife’s side who was expecting twins.
Newport kicked off on a blustery but unseasonably mild afternoon at the Riverside with temperatures nudging double figures under grey Teesside skies. Mikel was as suspected in the Clayton role as the first early chance fell to Newport was blazed over Randolph’s crossbar in the opening minutes. Newport clearly came to have a go and the opening five minutes were all Newport applying pressure as once again Boro had started at home in second gear.
With Downing right and Fletcher out left Boro started to show some composure and passed the ball around teasing the Newport defence trying to entice them out. A Shotton long throw into the box ended when the attempt was adjudged to have been a foul on Townsend in the County goal who looked edgy. Our first serious attempt came from Britt who hit a curled effort that unfortunately didn’t curl but instead went well wide on 12 minutes when Fletcher was screaming for it to be laid off for him in the “D”. On 15 minutes Britt was played in via a Wing cut back from the flank and this time left footed he tried to curl it into the opposite corner as Boro now started to control the game.
Downing was then blatantly hauled back around the neck by Butler who incredibly escaped a yellow card. Lewis Wing launched a brilliant resulting free kick straight to Flint’s head who disappointingly headed unopposed over the bar. Dan Butler was again involved on 20 minutes meeting a Willmott corner via Semenyo which was charged down by Friend from ten yards out. The next minute was all a series of crosses into the Boro box causing some drastic action in defending from Ayala and a poor Randolph punch clearing. Boro broke with Wing and Downing but Stewy’s shot was deflected to the far side of the Newport box where Saville chased and was very unlucky to not get a free kick. As poor as that Officiating decision was an even worse one was to follow seconds later with Friend adjudged to have fouled Poole after a seemingly innocuous header on the Newport penalty spot.
A cheeky Saville “drag back” tackle regained possession and set up Wing who dinked the ball just over the County Crossbar from 19 yards out. Semenyo then should have put Newport ahead after he pounced on a through ball cut out by Flint but fortunately for us the Newport striker blasted well over. Another strange Refereeing decision saw a free kick awarded to Britt who had looked suspiciously offside much to the annoyance of Flynn in the visitor’s technical area. Wing then hit the free kick which came straight back at him off the wall but then cleared the same wall as his follow up effort dropped onto the crossbar leaving Townsend beaten.
A Newport corner was cleared but came straight back into the Boro box and a series of less than impressive clearances was eventually saved by Randolph’s feet from Padraig Amond. Jamille Matt went down a few minutes later requiring some treatment which allowed for a water break and a tactical update from both benches with about 8 minutes of the half remaining. A brilliant piece of skill from Smenenyo saw Matt blast wide. Willmott was causing us problems down our left flank and some low key rumbles of frustration were audible from the home fans. Friend then made amends by driving down the same flank and putting a dangerous low cross into the Newport box which was deflected clear.
A last minute corner was delivered in by Wing but Ayala was a little late in connecting and the ball cleared the far side of the Newport goalmouth. Two minutes added time was held up and apart from a late over hit cross from Boro the half then petered out disappointingly as rain now started to drizzle down. Newport were good value for the half time 0-0 score line but Boro just didn’t look like they were capable of taking this team apart despite the chasm in League placings. Wing looked to be our best and most likely to score player, Stewy had been involved in a lot of attacks, Saville was lively but we just lacked creativity. Fletcher hadn’t taken his chance out on the left and the suspicion was that he may be at risk of being hooked in the second half.
Boro kicked off the second half and Nick Townsend was very fortunate to be awarded yet another poor refereeing decision where an imaginary foul by Britt saved his blushes as he came out too far and flailed at waist height. A quick Wing free kick on the half way line found Fletcher who alert, read it well, cut it back to Britt whose shot was parried away for a corner. A second quick follow up corner was lofted onto Ayala’s head on the six yard box beating Demetriou to put Boro one up. Just after the restart Fletcher upended a Willmott in an effort to prevent them breaking and collected a yellow card for his troubles. A close range Matt header from the next passage of play after the free kick was easily collected by Randolph.
A 50/50 challenge saw Mikel and Butler collide with Butler coming off the worse for wear. Fletcher tried to play Friend in near the goal line but his touch was too much and George was never going to catch it as Fletcher had now upped his game since the restart. In another eccentric Refereeing decision Saville was spoken to after Wilmott caught the underside of the Northern Irishman’s boot. A Shotton cross was then put out for a corner and Downing’s delivery was cleared out but only for Wing to crack in a 35 yarder that went out for another corner. Again it was cleared and this time it was cracked back in by Saville only for Fletcher to be adjudged offside in the six yard box.
The action paused there on 61 minutes as Mikel went off for Clayton to come on after a sensible, calming and measured rather than a spectacular debut. The rain now started coming down heavily as Boro took their foot off the gas, sitting back with Newport now having to find something to trouble Randolph. Boro then had a few half chances without really looking like adding to their solitary goal. A poor decision by Clayton saw him dwell too long and having to be rescued by Ayala in an almost carbon copy of his Millwall error.
The game had now entered a meaningless almost neutral spell with Boro content to allow Newport to commit themselves chasing the game. A clever back heel by Britt was played back in to him but his shot ended up near the opposite touch line as Wing chasing rescued the throw in. Antoine Semenyo beat Shotton and played the ball out to the opposite flank and Willmottt again sent in a good cross to be met by Matt who had apparently and questionably fouled Shotton in his efforts to head in an equaliser. This was a warning to Boro that they needed to seriously up their game from their timid possession and probing game and is if to rectify that Lewis Wing hit a 35 yarder that was pushed back out by Townsend but fortunately for Newport it fell to the offside Assombalonga on 72 minutes.
McNair then came on for Shotton as he had hopefully eased himself back to fitness. Paddy was soon in the thick of it with a headed clearance which came back in for Ayala to repeat the feat and get the ball a little further up the field. Wing repaid Saville’s first half tackle that set him up in the first half with Saville’s resultant deflected strike being pushed clear by Townsend. A Willmott cross was deflected off George Friend for a corner which then allowed Flynn to make the first of a couple of Subs with Joss Labadie replacing Tyreeq Bakinson. The cleverly worked corner allowed Semenyo a header which went just wide. The second Sub by Flynn was then made with Amond going off for Sheehan and for Boro Tavernier coming on for Fletcher to add a little more creativity and pace with just over ten minutes of normal time remaining. A blocking tackle by McNair stopped a Newport onslaught in its tracks then linked up with a series of one twos with Wing who played him in as he cut inside shooting from twenty five yards out but his effort went meekly wide.
A Newport throw in almost level with the Boro 18 yard box saw some impressive skill again from Semenyo who dribbled through an anxious Boro defence careful not to upend him where the ball was then crossed to the opposite side of the Boro six yard box to be headed back across by Butler for Semenyo to equalise except he incredibly blasted it over from 6 yards. Matty Dolan then came on for Demetriou with three minutes remaining. Jamille Matt then had a chance which needed Flint and Randolph to clear conceding a corner which was cleared by McNair allowing Tav to break but back again came the lads from South Wales as they pressed for a deserved equaliser. An Ayala headed clearance was lighted upon and taken down the pitch by Britt who then went down cheaply claiming a foul which was ignored. Again Newport pressed relentlessly and yet another cross aimed at Semenyo was fortunately over hit.
Into the four added minutes the telegraphed inevitable “Typical Boro” moment happened with the last cross of the game and Matty Dolan tapping in from four yards out. Boro then ended the match with a despondent Clayton knocking the ball out too far ahead of Friend for a throw in. The final whistle went before that throw could be taken in what had been a spirited and well-earned draw from Newport. A poor second half showing after the goal had given Boro a misplaced sense of security and once again a negative deep sitting display proved their undoing. Predictable failure to deal with late Newport attacks meant that the overwhelming fear that eventually they would be rewarded came to fruition. Mikel’s understandable departure along with Shotton coincided with handing over the initiative to Newport and turned the game. Tavernier was poor when he came on and neither attacked nor defended for his short cameo run out which didn’t help a side that was in dire need of an injection of something at the sharp end.
MOM for Boro was Wing but a draw was the last result Boro needed as they now face a trip to South Wales sandwiched in between a challenging run of Championship fixtures. A strong Boro side should have blown their weaker opponents away but once again the familiar home frailties came to the fore by sitting deep and offering no credible attacking threat in open play apart from Wing having pot shots from distance and set pieces. A final word of congratulations goes to Michael Flynn and his side as they came to attack play football and were full value for the draw and indeed unlucky not to have put away some of their other gilt edged chances.