Browne’s Bourne Ultimatum
Redcar Red reports on Boro's first home game of the season...
Bournemouth made the long trek up North to take on Boro at a sparely populated Riverside Stadium. Normally an attendance of a thousand fans would have been a stick to beat the club with but under the present circumstances, it was a welcome sight to see some life back even if it was only in the West Stand.
The likely Boro side was probably predictable in that only Sam Morsy would be an additional or alternative feature in a squad that was laid bare on Tuesday night against an equally weakened Barnsley eleven. With NW sidelined with a positive Covid test and an unnamed player who everyone knew was Stojanovic there was genuine concern that the virus may spread and on Friday evening nervy concerns that the game could be called off fax machine permitting.
Bournemouth are now minus Eddie Howe plus a fair few of their Premiership players, including Callum Wilson, Ryan Fraser, Simon Francis and Andrew Surman following the drop. Former assistant and former player Jason Tindall has taken Eddie Howe’s place in the dugout as he endeavours to rebuild and to continue the same footballing philosophy as Howe.
Boro announced the arrival of Chuba Akpom to boost the Striking ranks early this morning but too late for inclusion this afternoon. The Boro side was unchanged from the Watford one with Morsy having to settle for a place on the bench in place of Wood. Pears was restored as the backup Keeper to Bettinelli in place of Sol Brynn in midweek. Bournemouth handed a Championship debut for right-sided attacker David Brooks and went with the same back five from their win over Mogga’s Blackburn.
Bright sunlight greeted both sides as they took to the pitch under the watchful eye of Kevin Blackwell and a video link to Cornwall. Bournemouth kicked off to the sound of Referee Matt Donohue’s whistle. Bournemouth enjoyed possession in the opening moments but it was George Saville who had the first shot of the game albeit scuffed and going well wide. A Boro corner in the 4th minute was well delivered in from McNair but a defender cleared to prevent the intended recipient Britt from making contact. A second corner won from a Spence cross on the opposite side quickly followed and as Tav sent it in Begovice punched clear, Johnson played it back to Tav whose shot was comfortable for the experienced Begovic.
A lofted ball from Britt on 5 minutes after he ran back winning a challenge which he wasn’t the favourite for on the halfway line nearly set Fletch free but he was strongarmed off the ball by a defender as Begovic came out. A third Boro corner was overhit as Hall tried desperately to meet it at the far side but there was just too much on it with almost nine minutes gone. So far Boro didn’t in any way look overawed against the former Premiership outfit.
A series of slick interplay between Johnson, Britt ,Saville and Tav had Bournemouth looking anxious and starting to look rattled on 12 minutes with Boro still looking the more accomplished side. In the 14th minute, Britt chased a lost ball down to retrieve it on the byline, cut into the Cherries box and nearly collected a neat backheel near the penalty spot but it was just nicked away from him in a very enterprising start from the Boro captain.
Bournemouth’s first corner came in the 18th minute but Fletcher headed Danjuma’s delivery away and Saville tidied up but back came the visitors whose attack ended in a looped close-range shot from Brooks who was adjudged to be offside. Boro’s defence looked tight on the Bournemouth attackers giving them little room and overall looked solid and convincing for the first time in a very long time. In the 24th minute Britt broke into the edge of the Cherries 6-yard box but his cut-back was intercepted as Boro once again looked by far the livelier side. The danger was that as good as Boro looked, Bournemouth would sneak a lucky goal against the run of play.
Pleas for a deliberate pass back from Bournemouth went unheeded by the Ref as a Boro sliding challenge and then a ball played in the direction of Bettinelli was picked up but play went on. A minute later Saville earned the attention of the Referee who this time did take action and booked him for a “professional” tug back on the halfway line with the game approaching 30 minutes.
McNair in a foray conceded a free-kick against Gosling in their half but Bournemouth made a hash of it and Boro pushed forward again forcing confusion between the Cherries defence and their Keeper. In the chaos, Lerma conceded a free-kick to Boro which came into the box and cleared out for a corner. Quickly taken it was just too high for Hall who got underneath it as Boro came closest to scoring. We were knocking on the door but we just couldn’t find that killer ball.
Brooks had a great long-range deflected opportunity to test Bettinelli who was equal to it with a great save but clearly, Boro didn’t learn from it and conceded immediately afterwards. Bettinelli punched the resulting corner out for another corner which was then deftly back-heeled by Solanke off Hall to deflect into the corner of Betinelli’s goal. Disappointing after what had been a good game from Boro so far. It was unfair om the effort shown by Boro but a salutary lesson in what happens if you don’t make your dominance count.
A Boro free-kick by Tav to McNair gave us quick hope but hit low it went straight at Begovic who blocked easily. A minute later action man McNair then fired a wicked ball into Fletcher but it glanced past the upright with two minutes remaining of the half. Fletcher collected a rebound out on the right-wing and as he cut in he found Britt but the Bournemouth defence closed down and quickly smothered the threat. Two minutes added time came up on the fourth officials' board but the half ended with Boro still that frustrating solitary goal down despite being by far the better side falling behind in a “Typical Boro” moment of misfortune.
No changes at half time as both Coaches went same again with Boro kicking off towards the North Stand. An early Tavernier 25 yard shot came off a Tourquise Bournemouth shirt after some very patient build-up play for a corner which Hall met but it went straight down the throat of Begovic. Hall had been the most dependable he has looked defensively but he was proving to be a key part of Boro’s set-piece plays and a real threat in the opposition box. Good early intent from Boro which hopefully would bode well for what was to come.
McNair cleared down the left but as Britt chased he was cynically brought down and then Fletcher chasing the resultant loose ball was tackled as the game suddenly boiled over. It ended with a free-kick to Boro on the halfway line and a yellow card for Mepham. The fee kick saw Johnson sending a cross over the goal after Saville had set him up. Britt was involved in another tussle with Mepham a minute later but incredibly the Ref turned a blind eye to yet another indiscretion from the Cherries defender. At this stage, Bournemouth were lucky to still have eleven players on the pitch.
McNair was floored by Solanke as he headed clear with the game now getting very feisty with dubious challenges growing by the minute especially from the visitors. Johnson won a challenge against Stacey who surely was expecting a yellow after a tug back identical to Saville’s in the first half but the Referee once again abdicated his responsibilities as the game was now in serious danger of getting beyond him with 60 minutes expired.
A Bournemouth free-kick just outside the “D” saw Danjuma wait for the Boro Wall to get pushed back by the Ref only to hit his effort off the wall for a corner. The corner was cleared by Dijksteel and as Boro broke the ball went out of play and Stacey who should have been booked just minutes earlier this time was booked for deliberately wasting time as he grappled with Johnson in the Bournemouth technical area. Mepham then took Britt out “again” as the Ref Donohue had now completely lost any sense of authority. A minute later Lloyd Kelly pulled back Britt allowing Begovic a split second to smother the danger as once again the Ref seemed almost afraid to make a crucial decision.
Johnson was then brought down by the seemingly Teflon coated Stacey with the Riverside thousand screaming “off, off, off”. Fletcher meanwhile was floored with what looked like a hamstring tweak and requiring treatment but had to go off forlornly as Marcus Browne came on to hopefully make his mark. On the restart Djed Spence done well to pull the ball back to Saville who crossed to Britt but his effort agonisingly looped just over and the scoreline remained 0-1.
A free-kick to Boro saw Britt hit it firmly and over the wall, pushed out by Begovic to the feet of Browne who shinned it to Saville, slotting home but he was at least a yard offside. Close but not close enough but at Browne was making an impression. Stacey and Danjuma then went off for Bournemouth with Rico and Billing coming on. Solanke broke free after a Boro onslaught, closed in on Bettinelli who stood his ground, took aim, but the big Keeper saved with an outstretched right leg.
Entering into the final ten minutes of normal time Paddy McNair sent in another great ball to Britt who was seemingly barged whilst attacking it only for the ball to bounce behind him and Browne to arrive, heading home past Begovic to deservedly level the scoreline 1-1 with nine minutes remaining. That goal was just reward for Boro’s credible efforts all afternoon but a very important personal one for Marcus Browne who took the opportunity to showcase his obvious talent to the Boro Coaching team.
What then ensued was a Bournemouth assault with nails bitten to the quick as Billing went down from a challenge by Johnson on the Boro “D”. Justly the Free kick went out for a corner and was eventually cleared by a Britt half volley but an up and under response from a Tourquoise shirt sent the ball straight back into the Boro danger zone and a timely foot in the right place from Dael Fry who had just come on for Spence kept Bettinelli’s goal secure. The resulting corner saw Bettinelli produce an athletic diving save, pushing the ball away to deny Bournemouth a late winner.
Entering added time Tav then made way for Morsy to tighten things up to quell the Bournemouth siege. A late clearance down the left flank saw Browne bundled over just outside the dugout area. The last-ditch free-kick was sent into the Bournemouth box with Begovic flapping under pressure from two red shirts, generously adjudged to have been “fouled”. As the Cherries Keeper lined up the free-kick the final whistle went to deserved applause from the Riverside thousand.
The overall performance from Boro was much improved and looked more knitted together than previous recent displays. The defence looked more comfortable and solid, even credible. Britt led by example chasing and running tirelessly but Paddy McNair was the MOM for his sterling defensive work and putting tasty balls into the danger zone earning an assist for Browne’s equaliser.
That's a fair report. On the positive side it was an energetic reasonably well-organised performance. Bournemouth were poor but that was partly because we made it hard for them to play.
McNair and Dijksteel played excellently but the reason we let in goals from set-pieces is because neither of them are instinctively defenders and they will both make errors.
I wonder if Fletcher has been carrying an injury because he's been off the pace in the recent games.
Browne, like Tav, seems to have an instinct for scoring goals.
Fundamentally, we still have no idea how to attack. We pass the ball carefully and slowly to players who are standing still. Spence and Johnson didn't get a single ball played in front of them to attack and run onto the whole match. Our only hope for a goal is a cross or a shot from a knock down or a moment of individual brilliance. However, by working hard and staying organised we earned ourselves a point and something to build on.
Thanks again for another great report, RR.
I must admit that I shared fellow bloggers’ concerns pre-match that Bournemouth might give us a football lesson. They didn’t, largely, as Deleriad said, because we didn’t let them. Instead, we chased and harried them all game, showing tremendous work-rate and good fighting spirit.
This was a very encouraging performance, especially after the midweek horror show. There remain the obvious problems of creating and converting chances, but this was a solid team effort. We were sound defensively apart from the one lapse. We were the better team almost throughout, despite the Cherries just having come down from the Prem. Amazingly, we matched them for possession.
I think if we can play like this in most of our games, then we’ll be alright this season. I’m not over-excited by the Akpom signing, as his record isn’t exactly prolific, but if he can supplement what Ashley and Britt get - let’s say 6 or 7 goals - then that would be a bonus. But I agree with you, Deleriad, we still need to develop other ways of creating good chances, though we did get behind the Bournemouth defence on a couple of occasions today.
I have to add it was quite humbling to see the players take the knee live - with a decent round of applause from the crowd as well.
Thanks for report, RR. Agree with everything said and Deleriad’s post above.
Whilst there are no easy fixes, I still think we could be more creative if we took out one of the strikers and replaced him with an attacking midfielder, either wide or central. More short-passing options through midfield is what we need I think.
That could be Browne (central or wide) or Wing (central). Preference would be for Wing at this stage playing alongside Tav, behind the striker. Browne I think can be a mobile and energetic impact sub for now.
Interested to see what Akpom brings to the party in the coming weeks.
Thanks RR for another spot on report of a match which was more enjoyable to watch and displayed some encouraging aspects. Fingers crossed that we build on this performance; had enough of false dawns! 😎
Thanks for the expansive match report RR. A little easier to scribe as there were some good and improved ponts from the display.
However there are now a number of postings now highlighting the lack of real goal scoring opportunities from the team. We never tested Begovic and fortuanately Bettinelli was in fine form and earned us our point.
Just were we go from here in I am not sure. I think NW has to try a different option up front as the midfield and “wide” players are not creating enough opportunities for Britt and Fletcher.
if Fletch is injured maybe NW will be forced into changing things round. However it does look as though he will probably stick with his direct route of play?
Britt is the wrong player for it, but as Captain won’t be benched. Whether Akpom will bring something different remains to seen. So more pace would be helpful.
Happy with a point, but like other people have said we created very little and we lack guliexand pace. Solanki should have scored when he was alone in the box. Saying that it was a very good cross for the goal and it was nice to see a few fans there.
appreciate your match report as always RR and pleased it was a good performance by Boro.
i thought the performance by Kevin Blackwell at the interviews was also great when the journos were alluding to the fact that they would miss NW during his period of isolation. He just wryly pointed out that they (he Ron Jepson and NW) have collectively won 9 promotions!
OFB