Interesting comment by CJ in the 71st minute:
Oxford want the draw and the dark arts are starting. Vaulks sits down off the ball with an 'injury' and forces a stoppage in play, much to Boro frustrations on and off the pitch.
That was sandwiched between comments about "huge" chances for Conway (66th minute) & Whittaker (74th minute)...
Get in Neto Borges with a superb back heel. Now see it out. 😊😎
What fantastic back-heeled goal from Borges !!!
Borges (!) bags a second in the 80th minute, the assistance again coming from Iling-Junior. CJ:
Boro lead! A naughty finish from the Brazilian! Lovely flick from Morris to give Iling-Jr another crossing opportunity. Hit low and hard, Borges produces a wonderful flick to turn it home.
What a win and what a set of results. I'm going to bed happy.
UTB
Will this finally stop the Gazette going on about the play-offs? Poor, very poor. All that possession and it counts for nothing.
UTB,
John
I doubt it, given that Boro's now 7th in the league, level on points with WBA, but with an inferior GD (three goals fewer).
Well Boro came out in the second half and played with the intensity that I thought they'd start the game with and Iling-junior's superb cross converted by Iheanacho to show he is actually a striker not a midfielder. Then converted centre-half/centre forward Borges scored a goal worthy of winning any game and Boro saw it out to get an unlikely 3 points! With all other results going our way Boro only outside the play-offs on goal difference. Unbelievable how 45 minutes change a season - phew...
Sack Carrick as everybody was shouting at halt time on BBC Tees.
We had only 74 % of the possesion and just narrowly beat Oxford United. And we are nowhere near the playoff places. Already three goals behind WBA in the sixth position. And two points behind Coventry in the fifth.
Misery everywhere. No chance of playoffs and only 2.2 points per match from the last six games. Pathetic as someone said on the radio. Must be relagation form, me thinks.
Up the Boro!
@stircrazy You are right! It'll be dragged out to the bitter end. Only Boro could do this to us. Still they won and that winner was a beauty... This the end of the fingernails I think.
UTB,
John
Another poor performance but a good win . Talk about luck !! All the other results went Boro’s way. Can’t remember this happening this season.
Could Borges from being written off as useless be a new star.
Philip of Huddersfield
And breath
Howson motm
Good Borges interview on Tees
I don’t think that was a poor performance at all. The first 15 minutes were very poor but the last 80+ (inc. stoppage time) was a pretty dominant display, albeit we didn’t cause their keeper any real difficulties until the second half. Still, you can’t expect the other lot to just roll over. They had everyone defending deep for their lives for most of the match.
The playoffs are, of course, very much alive but I stand by my view that this team will not be promoted. We’ve seen promotion winning teams plenty of times over the years and this just isn’t one. I’d be delighted to be proved wrong and hope we keep the flame alive as long as possible.
Satisfied with us today and very pleased with the other results.
Boro may have dominated possession in the first half but were too slow moving the ball and nobody wanted to get in the box and play as striker with everyone preferring long shots - albeit wild ones.
Much better in the second half with more intensity and more drive and the early goal made the difference as did the arrival of Whittaker who offered more than Burgzorg on the right.
Howson was superb and pleased for Borges who is turning into something of a cult hero - must be in competition with Dijksteel in who gets the best unexpected goal 😏
@andy-r You’re probably right about promotion and I’d fear for us if we had to play our current team in the EPL, but keeping the season meaningful until the very end would be a bonus.
If Boro win their next game against Blackburn - who are bottom of the six-game form table with just one point - then they will be 5th. OK, we play on Friday but Coventry play Burnley and West Brom play Sunderland on Saturday with both knowing they need to play catch-up.
Love the smell of optimism in the evening
I see the Boro didn’t read my preview !
Oxford goal came from a long throw !
OFB
I agree, Andy. I thought this was a better performance overall than many people are giving Boro credit for. We certainly started slowly and allowed Oxford a couple of very good chances. But I thought we played some nice football first half, once we got a grip, but without any penetration. Oxford’s deep low block was frustrating and forced us into a number of wasteful long shots.
Did anybody else see Conway grab Iheanacho when the latter hit the bar, btw? It seemed to me, and to my brother, that Conway geed him up, as if to say, ‘Unlucky mate. Keep going. Goals will come soon enough.’ I thought it was a key moment which perhaps showed how together the players are. Up to that point the loanee had had a poor game and the crowd were getting on his back.
The second half was a huge improvement. Boro came out with real intent and intensity. Iling-Junior, who had a great second period, flung across several good crosses that an erstwhile Ryan Giles would have been proud of. From one of these, Iheanacho swept home our equaliser. His joy and relief at breaking his duck at long last was palpable, and he was mobbed by delirious teammates, another sign perhaps that the players back one another. Iheanacho’s confidence came flooding back and from then on he was much more involved and showed many strong and inventive touches.
Another who was a revelation was Whittaker, who had a quite brilliant 25 minutes. He dribbled beautifully, beat his man (nay, men, often) several times, passed the ball sweetly and set several promising moves going. At last he looked the player we thought we’d bought: let’s hope he can maintain this form over our remaining games.
Boro were totally dominant second half and played some scintillating football. Above all, they dug in, showed character and determination and found a way (and what a way, Borges!) to beat a stubborn and resilient opponent.
Well Boro delivered the birthday present I wanted (3 points), Howson had a great game, Iheanacho got off the mark (although he should have done in the first half, I too saw Conway console him, showing the togetherness of the team) Iiling-Junior proved two great crosses which led to the goals, Borges finish was sublime.
Come on BORO.
Well, a perfect day for most of the results. Boro, Darlo and Hartlepool all won yesterday and our closest rivals in the Championship lost points, too. Life is good and we still have Carrick and Woody.
I am already thinking about the next match at Blackburn on Friday. Should we line up like below?
Travers
Howson - van den Berg - Borges - Iling-Junior
Morris - Hackney
Whittaker - Azaz - Burgzorg
Conway
I think we showed yesterday that we need Howson in the team. If van den Berg is fit, he needs to start and Howson could play at right back. He has done that before, and Dijksteel looks like losing the ball far too easily when trying to go forward.
I think both Howson and Borges were superb moving forward in the game yesterday. They were very often near the D of the Oxford penalty area. Or further when Borges finished superbly.
A enjoyable game yesterday. I hope McGree and Forss could come off the bench on Friday to further strenghten the team.
As said 2.2 ponths per match in the last six matches, I am really looking forward to the next seven matches ( and with possibly more to come).
Up the Boro!
@exmil. Belated birthday wishes Exmil and pleased that Boro delivered you a birthday present we were all pleased with, at the end.
Two good goals and the loanees coming to the table at last.
Big question is can they continue to deliver or is this just part of another inconsistent season; Friday night might give us a clue. 😎
I’ve got the starter ready for the Blackburn game, but I’m holding off until we’ve all finished basking in the glory of yesterday’s come-from-behind win.
From despair at half time to elation at the end. It’s a funny old game.
The scary prospect of meeting Sunderland in the playoffs is beginning to become more than just a fleeting nightmare. It could happen, no matter how much we'd like to look the other way.
@peter-surtees - It may well now look as though, if Boro were to have to play Sheffield United, Leeds or Burnley in the Play-Offs, Boro would be fated to lose. But Play-Offs are a lottery. You've got to get there first, then worry about the Play-Off games. And if Boro were to play one of that list of three teams, (on the basis that the other two will go up automatically), the third team in the table will probably be worried. "We should have gone up in the top two. It was only our form in the last few weeks, in the business part of the season, that let us down. We are entering the Play-Offs in a downturn of form but Boro is now on an upturn. We can't lose to a Boro team we have been above all season, can we...?" Nerves come into it. In the case of Leeds, the annual "bottling" process has almost become a traditional part of the season that we avidly look forward to.
That was a real "game of two halves" against Oxford United. Oxford should have been at least two goals up very early in the game and before Boro had woken up. The away team had three good chances in the first 15 minutes. When Oxford scored, it was no surprise. There was fairly loud booing as the teams left the pitch at half time. People no doubt feeling that this was going to be the final nail in the Play-Offs coffin.
Boro's goal, from Iheanacho of all people, came early in the second half, as we all hoped it would. His finish was fairly easy but the move was good and spirits in the stadium seemed to rise immediately. The winning goal was a beauty scored by Borges' back heel (with an earlier back-heel on the left wing before the cross to Borges came into the penalty area). Boro played much better in the second half than in the first. But let's not get carried away with it: Oxford is a team now lying 19th in the table and only 4 points away from a relegation position.
Meanwhile Boro currently lies 7th and is out of the Play-Off places on goal difference (three goals worse off than WBA in sixth place). So, remarkably after all the downs (and what has seemed like a few fleeting ups) this season, Boro CAN still qualify for the Play-Offs. What a mad Championship this is. And, as the clocks have gone forward an hour overnight, we are now "officially" in the summer. So maybe we can still dream of sunlit meadows ahead.
Yes wouldn't fancy playing any of the top 3 over two legs in the play-offs - all the more reason to finish 5th and avoid one of them until the final (if they get there) 😉
Incidentally, I wonder if Leeds are the team feeling the pressure the most and it wouldn't be the first time that they've choked from looking a cert for the automatic places.
So if I'd have a wish list it would be Sunderland over two legs and West Brom in the final...
Spare a thought for PNE forum favourite, Dave Allen today. He’s at Deepdale watching his first ever FA Cup quarter final. Good luck to the Lilywhites.
goalless at half time. Wouldn't it make a feel good story if Preston make it through. 🤞Spare a thought for PNE forum favourite, Dave Allen today. He’s at Deepdale watching his first ever FA Cup quarter final. Good luck to the Lilywhites.
I have just been catching up after a rather hectic week or more.
So thanks OFB for the Headliner and I am pleased that you appear to be on the mend after your hospital stay. Did you manage to go to the game? Also pleased to see exmil is still getting there.
As for the game itself, I thought that was one of our worst first half performances alongside Swansea. We just had no idea how to break Oxford down and they could/should have been probably two up before they scored.
It was all possession without making anything out of it. We just tried to play through them with short passes that ultimately failed and resorted to long range shots that went wide or over the bar. All of which we have seen on countless occasions.
One has to remember, that apart from the back four, that team and bench are our strongest players. There is nobody injured, although some would say we have lost LL.
I did expect at least one change at half time up front. Then something happened, that we have not done for a long time. The play went out to Iling Junior and he started to try and cross the ball, the best way to attack a packed defence. Bingo, a great pass behind them and Iheanacho was on the spot to stroke it home. Then another cross in from wide and Borges does very well to get his shot off.
Why has it taken so long for the penny to drop. Maybe Iling could possibly be the old Giles.
Three more points added to our tally, and aided by all the other results going our way, probably prolonging our mathematical chance of making the top six.
So Friday night and another “must win” game. On Saturday, Coventry, WBA and Bristol are all at home with the latter two having the easier games, Coventry playing Burnley
Then, the midweek games see Boro home to Leeds, Bristol home to WBA and Coventry home to Portsmouth. Will the season have come to an end by then or will the hope continue??
@martin-bellamy send our commiserations to Dave. I see the 2nd half didn't go to plan....