Posts Tagged ‘Middlesbrough FC’

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Middlesbrough v Derby County, Saturday 1st March 2025, 3pm

March 4, 2025

I got lucky with my full day back in the UK with both a Boro home game and a stable visit to see Hickton, the Riverside Racing Syndicate horse. I didn’t see him run at all as a two-year-old and so I’m hoping to be more involved in his campaign this season.

We’ve switched trainers for this season to the smaller yard of Declan Carroll and I went along with a couple of other syndicate members to watch him on the gallops.

Declan seems a decent bloke and was happy to spend an hour and a half with us, talking us through Hickton’s progress since arriving. He’s a horse that seems to have some ability, but is reluctant to show it. Hopefully Declan and his team can bring him on a bit.

We watched him run over six furlongs alongside one of the stable sprinters. It’s an uphill track so hopefully he’ll appreciate the much easier gradient next time he’s on the course.

After taking my Mam for quick jaunt around Aldi, I picked up Harry and we set off for the Riverside. Neither of us could work out how to get Radio Tees on the hire car radio, so we missed the team news. The Boro are short of centre halves at the moment, having sold Matt Clarke and then had Van Den Berg and Edmundson pick up injuries.

Jonny Howson still isn’t fit either and so Luke Ayling switched inside. Early in the second half he picked up an injury too which meant that left back Neto Borges took his turn to fill in. It feels as if they’ll all get a go at some point.

Derby are struggling at the moment and came for a point. We had the best of the chances, but it wasn’t until ten minutes from time that Finn Azaz broke the deadlock to give us a second win in four days. Hopefully we can build on that and get back into a play-off spot

Tags:, ,
Posted in Football, Horseracing | Leave a Comment »

Middlesbrough v Burnley, Sunday 29th December 2024, 8pm

February 1, 2025

The second Boro game of my UK visit was at home to Burnley, at eight o’clock on a Sunday night. WTF? Who decided that was an appropriate time for scheduling a football match? It was another cold night and so I kept faith with my Russian coat. If it could cope with the sub-zero temperatures at the final Moscow Torpedo game before a winter break, then I was hopeful that it would do for Teesside.

Chances were at a premium and the nearest either side came to a goal was when Dael Fry managed to chest a goal-bound shot off the line. Burnley were timewasting towards the end and so were clearly happy with a point. I was too, I suppose, although a point a game over the season might well get you relegated.

It was the last match of 2024 for both Harry and I. A year in which I only got along to thirty-five games, albeit in twelve different countries and with thirty new grounds. I saw the Boro on just four occasions, witnessing two draws and two defeats in my visits to the Riverside. I’m hoping 2025 will be better on all counts.

Tags:,
Posted in Football | Leave a Comment »

Middlesbrough v Sheffield Wednesday, Thursday 26th December 2024, 3pm

January 29, 2025

This month marked the fiftieth anniversary of my first Boro match, a home win against Birmingham at Ayresome Park. My second Boro game was actually fifty years to the day, a Boxing Day victory over Sheff Utd. Fifty years feels right for both those games as I was only a kid. What does seem strange though is that I only watched games at Ayresome for twenty years and we are now approaching the thirtieth anniversary of the move to the Riverside. Time moves much more quickly these days.

It’s moving quickly for Harry too as this was his last day as a thirteen-year-old. It barely seems any time at all since I rocked up at North Tees after he was born with some mince and mash for his Mam.

We got to the ground early enough to catch up with Tom and his mate Murgy in the fan zone. There were long queues for the bar, but Murgy very generously gave me a can of Stella from a carrier bag-full that he had brought with him.

It all started very well with Doak putting us one up early on and then Azaz adding a couple more. With half an hour gone we were three up and quite a lot of the away fans were streaming out for an early start back down the A19. Wednesday had a couple of chances towards the end of the first half, but when they went off at the break my main interest was whether we would emulate the 8-0 result against them from the Charlton’s Champions season.

It all went tits up after the restart. Latte Lath had an easy opportunity to square it to Doak for a fourth but took the shot himself. Wednesday went straight down the other end and pulled one back. Even then, I wasn’t worried and was disappointed that the announcer didn’t troll them by referring to their goal as a consolation.

They quickly scored another, Rav got a red, new keeper Sol Brynn knacked his shoulder and suddenly it was three-each. The momentum was all with Wednesday for the last half-hour and from what had seemed a certain victory I finished up relieved to see us hold on for a point. I suppose that after fifty years I shouldn’t really be surprised by such a turn of events.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Football | Leave a Comment »

Middlesbrough v Bristol City, Saturday 10th February 2024, 3pm

August 9, 2024

After the Ireland trip, Jen and I took the ferry back to Holyhead and then the train to Manchester. We stayed overnight so that we could go to the Sea Power gig at the Albert Hall. It’s a great venue and, as always, they put on a decent show.

Next morning we travelled on the TransPennine Express to Thornaby. That’s a grand sounding name for what is a fairly mundane train. It was on time though and we had seats so they can call it whatever they like.

We were back early enough for Harry and I to get to the Boro game. Alistair missed out as he was at a party somewhere and as I didn’t have a car, we were happy to accept a lift from Tom. That meant a bonus couple of pre-match pints for me at the fanzone bar.

The game didn’t go well. Bristol City scored early on and then added a second within a minute. We looked as if we’d pulled one back with ten minutes to go, but it was ruled offside. An added time consolation from Sammy Silvera wasn’t actually much consolation at all.

The defeat left us in twelfth place, only four points off the play-offs, but with a lot of other teams better placed. That’s likely to be my last Boro game of the season and it looks pretty nailed on that we’ll be in the Championship again next year.

Tags:,
Posted in Football, Music | Leave a Comment »

Middlesbrough v West Bromwich Albion, Saturday 23rd December 2023, 3pm

May 23, 2024

In the old days, the Saturday game just before Christmas was usually poorly attended. It was likely due to a combination of people wanting to save money for Christmas and it being the prime day for being dragged around the shops to spend whatever you had put aside. I’m not sure that’s the case anymore with online shopping.

However, this game felt more like a Boxing Day fixture with those who work away already home and with most people finished for the holidays. The main talking point in the car on the way there was the extent of the Boro’s injury list and whether we actually had an entire first choice eleven currently on the sick.

With Howson, Jones and Fry available I couldn’t argue that it was a true stiffs side and with McGree, Coburn and Crooks being fit enough for the bench maybe the tide was turning.

Sammy Silvera was pushed further forward to fill the lone striker’s spot. He’s known primarily by Harry and Ali as the player most likely to hit the roof of the stand rather than the target but with plenty of interchanging between the front four the burden of finishing was shared around.

We took the lead just before the break with a good finish by Morgan Rogers after some excellent build up play. He was rewarded with his name being used in that re-worked version of Last Christmas. He’s looking to be a decent prospect and hopefully he’ll kick on with a bit more game time.

The lack of a second goal meant that I was never comfortable until the final whistle went and whilst the result was just what we needed I think I was probably more pleased by the return of McGree and Coburn. If Hackney isn’t too far from fitness and we can bring in a couple of players in January, then it should all start to look a lot rosier for the New Year.

Tags:,
Posted in Football | Leave a Comment »

Middlesbrough v Leicester City, Saturday 11th November 2023, 3pm

January 16, 2024

With the American trip done, Jen and I had a few days in the UK before heading off again. Fortunately, it coincided with a Boro game and so I was able to get along in person rather than watching or listening on my phone. Alistair wasn’t busy, so he came along with Harry and I.

The Boro had picked up a bit whilst I was in the States meaning that the game against leaders Leicester featured the two form teams in the division. Harry thought that we’d take a point and I’d have been satisfied with that. Leicester looked good early on, but we grew into the game and finished the first half with a flurry of chances.

They put us under pressure after the break and hit the post, but it was the Boro that took the points with a Sam Greenwood free-kick a few minutes from time. As it hit the top-corner of the net from twenty-five yards we celebrated in disbelief. Especially Alistair, who I think might be close to switching his allegiance from Man City.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Football | Leave a Comment »

Middlesbrough v Cardiff City, Tuesday 3rd October 2023, 7.45pm

December 16, 2023

After the wins against Southampton and Watford, I was hoping that we could continue the run against play-off placed Cardiff. Alistair was available to come along with Harry and I and we were there early enough for him to have a go on one of the game consoles in the Generation Red area of the ground where we sit.

I watched him for a while, playing Manchester United against Manchester United. It was the same players on either side and therefore a fairly well-matched contest. So much so that it ended up nil-nil. Thankfully he didn’t opt for a replay, and we were able to let some other kid have a crack at it.

There was a better outcome on the real pitch. After a quiet first half Cardiff had the chance to go ahead when hitting the woodwork, before Jones tapped in a cross from close range for us. We scored a second goal towards the end when Latte-Lath broke at pace, checked his run with a trip and then recovered to finish with the coolness of someone who hadn’t just fell over his own feet in front of twenty-odd thousand people.

That was enough to clinch the points and move us up from the edge of the relegation area to the dizzy heights of sixteenth place in the table.

Tags:,
Posted in Football, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Middlesbrough v Queens Park Rangers, Saturday 2nd September 2023, 3pm

October 15, 2023

I’d had an interesting couple of days leading up to this game with a visit from one of Jen’s American brothers and his wife. We met them in York, showed them the delights of Norton and then spent a couple of days up at Hadrian’s Wall.

We walked a section at Cawfields and called into the Museums at Vindolanda and Birdoswald. If I’d been to Vindolanda when we walked the wall a few years ago I’d forgotten it, but both were well worth a visit.

With David and Jackie having left us for the Scotland leg of their holiday I was free to turn my attention to the Boro game. It had been a poor start to the season for us with just the point against Huddersfield from our opening four games.

I was reasonably confident that we could turn things around though. There’s been a lot of change in personnel and whilst we’ve lost some quality players from last season’s team, once the new fellas gel I’d expect us to start picking up points.

Harry’s cousin Alistair was free for this one and so we were treated to his parkour skills as he scaled every wall and jumped every bollard on the way to the Riverside.

One of the reasons I was hoping for a good performance is to try and convert Alistair. He claims to be a Man City fan, although I view it as a good sign that he’s happy to wear the various Boro tops that one of his Grandads gets him.

My hopes weren’t to be fulfilled though. QPR took the lead just before half time with a shot that could either have been a ‘worldie’ or, more likely to my mind, an outrageous fluke. We had our share of the chances, more than our share in fact, but with a second goal for QPR coming twenty minutes from time, we slipped to another defeat.

I doubt a position at the foot of the table with just a single point from five games will encourage Alistair to switch allegiance but with an international break coming up there’s an opportunity for Carrick to try and sort things out.

Tags:,
Posted in Dead people and stuff, Football, Hiking | Leave a Comment »

Middlesbrough v Huddersfield Town, Saturday 19th August 2023, 3pm

October 12, 2023

The new season hadn’t started well for the Boro with defeats in both of the first two fixtures. I hadn’t seen either match live as I’d been working away but Harry hadn’t been too impressed with the home game.

I’d got back into the country the day before this match and took the opportunity to do something with Harry’s sister Isla. She’s into horses rather than football and so we went for a trek on the moors near Boltby. I’d forgotten how strenuous horse riding can be, particularly if you have a cantering posture that involves standing upright. I was still stiff legged as Harry and I walked to the Riverside twenty-four hours later.

I wasn’t confident at all that we’d take anything from the game. It wasn’t so much that we’d lost a lot of the key players from last season, or that it would likely take their relatively unknown replacements time to settle in. No, it was the presence of former Boro boss Neil Warnock in the away dugout. I don’t know the stats but he always seems to take points from us. His time with us might very well have been due to a desire by Gibbo to eliminate that annual six-point handicap.

The summer recruitment had stepped up in the days before the game with Latte Lath and Engels arriving and starting. Chuba had secured himself a move to Ajax which probably looks a little more impressive than it may turn out to be. Unless, of course, he gets to wear the ‘14’ shirt.

Huddersfield could easily have built on their opening goal, but once we’d equalised it looked more likely that we’d get the winner. Silvera was a handful but struggled to get his efforts anywhere near the target. It finished level which, on past experience, I consider two points dropped by Colin rather than us.

Tags:,
Posted in Football, Horseracing | Leave a Comment »

Middlesbrough v Burnley, Friday 7th April 2023, 8pm

May 7, 2023

I’d been out of the country since just before Christmas and so hadn’t seen the Boro live since the corresponding away fixture at Turf Moor. Disappointingly, the fixture had been switched from a 3pm kick-off to 8pm. After flying in that morning, I’d planned to spend the afternoon at the match and then the evening having a drink, but the need to drive to the game and the late finish meant that getting re-acquainted with beer would have to wait one more day.

I caught up with the grandson, Harry, and noted that he had grown about three inches since December. I suppose that’s how it works, and it may not be long before he’s taller than me. Maybe I should stop taking the piss out of him.

He reckoned that a point would be a decent result and I tended to agree. Burnley are having a great season and even with our outstanding form since Carrick arrived, we’ve not really made any inroads into the gap between us.

The other reason why a point wouldn’t be too bad was that automatic promotion now looks out of reach. There’s a chance of overtaking Luton for the third spot but really, who cares? Third or fourth both give you a home second leg tie, so it’s not really an issue. Not for me anyway.

In the end it panned out pretty much as might have been predicted. Burnley took the lead with a goal that looked offside to my subjective eye before Chuba equalized with a penalty and his billionth goal this season. What a turnaround in his career it’s been.

As mentioned though, Burnley are a more than decent side and it was no surprise when they responded with the winner. Even so, it was good to be back at the Riverside.

Tags:, ,
Posted in Football | Leave a Comment »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »