Beeb live reporting at 15.35:
Boro have had 75 per cent possession but have been struggling to break down a stubborn Derby backline.
And quote from Maddo a minute later:
We've got to make this attacking count as there's only one time where we've really tested the keeper.
We've played nice football at times, but we need more bite in the final third.
So what's new?!!
After a slow start by Boro, the game is more or less as expected with Derby getting men behind the ball and Boro looking to find a way past them - not too many clear chances but when Boro move the ball quicker and drive forward it looks more likely. Next goal will decide the result I suspect!
This is the same as the last time we played them, all our possession but no end product.
Still too much sideways and backwards passing at snails pace, they need to up the tempo and drive at their defence more.
On course for my 0-0 prediction unfortunately, if this continues. 😎
I think Burgzorg needs to come on to drive at Derby
Well Boro finally have a left-footed central defender on the pitch- unfortunately it’s Borges 🤔
Ayling crocked - again. Giles on as a sub in the 62nd minute.
Ayling crocked - again. Giles on as a sub in the 62nd minute.
And Iheanacho comes on for Forss 10 minutes later...
The Derby defensive wall is breached at long last: Azaz in the 80th minute! 🙂
The Derby defensive wall is breached at long last: Azaz in the 80th minute! 🙂
CJ:
Boro lead! Boro finally have their breakthrough. Morris does really well to read a ball on the edge of the Derby box and cuts it out. He slides it inside to Conway, who is tackled just as he's about to hit it. Iheanacho's shot is then blocked, but it falls to Azaz, who makes no mistake. Emphatic finish.
$64,000 question: can they now hold out until the bitter end?
SEVEN minutes of injury time to see out...
So, a win AND a clean sheet! 🙂 Is that Travers' first? 8th in the table...
Well thankfully job done - it was hard work and not pretty for most of the game but in the end massive three points is all that counted today to leave Boro 2 points outside the playoffs - phew 😓
Well as I predicted a much harder game than midweek, as expected JE had Derby well organised and disciplined.
We plugged away and eventually earned our reward for all of our possession; DF MoTM for me.
Anyone understand why we purchased MW, a BD he clearly is not and I am trying to see what he adds to the team.
So the hope of a top six spot is retained for another week. 😎
Very happy with the 6 points in the last 2 games. It really is about points rather than performances at the moment. Good to see we can score in the 70th / 80th minute rather than conceding. Let’s keep on plugging away and see where it gets us. UTB
Pleased with the win. A 1-0 result has always to be acceptable at this stage of the season. Two consecutive wins can only improve confidence for the next game.
Philip of Huddersfield 👍😁👍
Winning ugly is always good, but boy did we make hard work of it, stilovstruggle against low block
Hartlepool Mail player ratings (no MotM nominated, but 2/3 7s):
EXMIL CHALLENGE 2025
When I returned buoyant from the Riverside, I found an email entry from Ian Gill (for those who remember him) so I have added his entry, now totals 14.
Come on BORO.
Big hello back to young Mr.Gill. Miss his postings.EXMIL CHALLENGE 2025
When I returned buoyant from the Riverside, I found an email entry from Ian Gill (for those who remember him) so I have added his entry, now totals 14.
Come on BORO.
Hartlepool Mail player ratings (no MotM nominated, but 2/3 7s):
In common with KP, the Echo has Dael Fry as MotM, though Borges & Morris also earned 8s:
The Gazette also gave Fry & Morris 8s, but doesn't single out a MotM:
We hit a post two times, Fry was excellent and a clean sheet - so we deservely won today. Forss should have had a brace in the first half, too.
And we are just TWO points off the play-offs. Let's hope we continue with a few wins, even thogh the next match is far away in Wales. Up the Boro!
I think Burgzorg needs to come on to drive at Derby
I was wondering about Burgzorg and it occurred to me that if I was a tired defender, the very last person who I would want to see coming on for the last twenty minutes or thereabouts is Burgzorg. He is big, fast and a very direct player. If you agree that the subs should be able to make a difference, maybe Carrick is doing the right thing by holding him back. He certainly made a difference when he came on.
The interesting question is to ask who drops out when Doak is fit. Whittaker seems to be getting better by the game and Forss is getting sharper as well. In addition, Azaz seems to have recovered his confidence. The interplay between them, Conway and Hackney is working better but it still seems to take a long time to happen. Does Doak start as a sub for his first game or is he unleashed to run like mad until he gets tired.
Like everyone else, I thought that Fry was immense and Morris was like a giant tube of superglue filling in the cracks as they appeared. What a great find he is.
It was a strange game. It wasn't exactly exciting and it certainly wasn't a great watch but it feels like a hugely important win.
UTB
@selwynoz. “ Does Doak start as a sub for his first game or is he unleashed to run like mad until he gets tired.“
Good point, I would start with him. I don’t understand the policy of bringing on players returning from injury late on in the second half of games.
Surely if a player has been injured it is better to start with them as they will have done all their warm up and stretching exercises rather than let them sit on the bench for 60/70 mins when they are more likely in my mind to do themselves another injury. There again I am not a sports physiotherapist. 😎
I have decided to post this first, THEN look at the other messages left on the Blog after the game against Derby County. It might put me at risk of saying ABC when others saw XYZ at the game, but here goes.
I didn't enjoy the game. I almost felt like going to sleep during the first half. When my mate said he would get some chips at half time and asked if I would like some, too, I realised later that I'd spent the next 15 minutes to half time thinking and looking forward to the chips rather than paying attention to the football. The first 5 minutes or so after kick off saw the two teams repeatedly losing the ball, having passes intercepted or passing straight into touch rather than to a colleague. And then the other side took over in the same manner. All of that was in a narrow strip of the pitch near the touchline of the West Stand at the River end of the ground. It took AGES to get the ball out of that area and that was the result of both sets of players not being good enough to get the ball through what I can only assume was a minefield. The lad next to me left the ground after 60 minutes or so, and I've never seen him do that before. It was like watching The Wheatsheaf against The Royal Oak.
I listened to BBC Tees on my car journey home and apparently my mate at the match did the same. We discussed it later in the pub. Neither of us agreed with Maddo or Dana in some of the uplifting comments I remember them making. I didn't think that Derby was a particularly well-organised team. I thought Derby to be a particularly poor team (as its bottom-of-the-table league position attests). If Stoke looked worse than Derby did, when Boro won away there midweek, then Stoke must be poor indeed. I didn't have the benefit of watching the Stoke game but had only the radio commentary by BBC Tees, but I seem to recall Maddo saying Stoke was the poorest team he has seen all season. Yesterday I was not impressed by Derby or by Boro and if Boro had failed to beat Derby that would have been a VERY bad sign after a number of games where our Heroes have failed to put teams at the bottom of the table or in a poor run, or both, to the sword.
It turned out that Boro proved SLIGHTLY the better by virtue of the late goal by Fin Azaz, and the team ended up with almost two-thirds of the possession (64.8% playing 35.2%) during the game. Derby offered little up front with only 6 shots during the game (a measly ONE on target) with Boro on 16 (6 on target). Boro hit the woodwork twice as well as scoring the game's only goal but that didn't make it appear an exciting game, merely that these were three unusual and untypical highlights from a game played in the shadows.
It felt as though I had eaten some food. Not exciting cuisine, not well cooked, not a meal I particularly like, but fuel. Enough to keep me going until I need my next refuelling. Boro won three vital points. Thank goodness for that. Had Derby managed to score instead of Boro in that 80th minute, and then held on until the end, the booing would have been loud and clear. The win, the three points, took away what would otherwise have been a very bitter taste after the match. Not, however, that this will be an afternoon that will live long in the memory. I suppose it was a bright spot that it didn't rain and the walk back to our cars was in daylight with a bright red sun shining as I drove home, before it set on the Western horizon. And we should be pleased that Azaz after his goal and his assist at Stoke, scored the goal against Derby and therefore appears to be back to the scoring and assist-form he had earlier in the season. Boro will certainly need that in the matches to come.
Now, let's see what others have said....
Well, at least there wasn't a slab of posts suggesting it was a great, dominant peformance by a free-flowing Boro team that deserved a 3 or 4 goal margin over Derby, and which is clearly now setting itself up for an undefeated run into the play-offs and beyond! I mean, I'd like to believe that could be the case but I won't bank on it.
I thought that Fry had a very good game and he even had time to play a game of statues (remember that ?) when he stood over the ball for a couple of minutes.
All the Derby and Boro players just stood still and everyone wondered who would move first ?
Azaz back to his best and even our on loan Nigerian striker started to run about a bit and caused their goalkeeper to panic and get rid of the ball quickly!
Do we have a left Back ? Or indeed do we have a centre back ? Our Brazilian import deserves some praise for settling in and starting to make an impression!
OFB
I didn’t see it in quite the same light as you did. It wasn’t a great game, by any means, but it had its moments. We had 16 shots, created some chances and unluckily hit the post twice. We restricted (an admittedly poor) Derby side to very few opportunities. I thought The Rams were deliberate spoilers for much of the game, which I suppose their league position demanded, but I was doubly glad to beat them because of that.
Above all, we found a way through, which we have so often failed to do previously.
The last two games have pitched up six welcome points. Now whether that will be a “false dawn”, the beginning of another disappointment next Saturday or even prolongation of hope in achieving a sixth place spot. Who knows, although I would unfortunately still go for option three.
Stoke and Derby were rank poor teams as proven by their league table positions. Once more Boro played some nice football with thankfully an excellent goal to win the 3 points.
But, was it hard working watching them, almost like watching paint dry. We had almost no crosses from the wide positions and the bylines into the box. Everything came from the central channel and ultimately hit a brick wall of defenders.
As OFB pointed out, Fry who had a decent game, stood too many times, stock still, not knowing what to do with the ball that had been passed to him. No movement from the Boro players, Derby defending high up and no outlet, other than to give back to Travers.
Without Doak, we just appear to have no idea as how to get behind the opposition defence. I assumed possibly Junior was supposed to be able to take on men and cross the ball.
Whittaker is classed as a “winger” but is not a Doak or even a Jones of old. He looks more a copy of Azaz, but maybe not quite as good as when Azaz is on song. Plus whilst Azaz can use and score with both feet, Whittaker is really only left footed. In the longer term, I am not sure if there will be space in the team for both at the same time.
The team just does not look to be balanced properly. Some will blame injuries, I would blame poor recruitment.
@pedro. I agree with you analysis Pedro, to which I would add that we are still very pedestrian when moving from defence to offence and as a consequence, as yesterday, contained for long periods by a well organised and disciplined defence; until we address that issue we will continue to struggle to beat teams that set up in that way. 😎
@original-fat-bob - Yes, I thought Dael Fry was probably MoM and Ayling had one of his better games before he was injured, and Borges did OK when switched inside after Ayling had to be subbed. But far from a classic game.
The statues part was a highlight.