The curse of the late goal strikes again at The Riverside
By Shaun • Sep 17th, 2008 • Category: Reserves & AcademyBoro have seen a number of late goals go in against them season, Huth OG against Spurs, Gerrard’s winner at Anfield and Jermaine Defoe’s late winner for Portsmouth. The reserves now know how the first team feel, leading with 5 minutes to go they drew their game with Hull 2-2.
Boro took the lead after half an hour as Nathan Porritt took advantage of a defensive error in the Hull penalty area. His shot was blocked on the line by the arm of Matt Plummer and the referee, with guidance from the linesman, awarded a penalty. Tom Craddock stepped up and smashed it down the middle.
They made it two just after the restart as good work from Porritt saw him beat the fullback for pace and whip a good ball into the box. Craddock was there, unmarked and he tapped home to double Boro’s advantage. In truth Middlesbrough had coasted for the most part of the game rarely troubled by the Hull attack until the final few minutes.
A warning shot came as a Will Atkinson strike was well saved by Jason Steele, tipped around the post for a corner. From the resulting set piece, John Welsh glanced home a header and Hull saw light at the end of the tunnel. Into injury time a curling Hull shot was tipped onto the bar by Steele but Welsh was there again to bury the rebound and take an unlikely point from the game.
Player Watch
Julio Arca, making his comeback from injury, played the first half for Boro and was neat and tidy. Caught in possesion a few times as he showed a little rustiness but all in all it was a good run out for Arca.
Players that caught the eye were Hines and Johnson at the back, Hines was very good defensively though I felt his use of the ball at times was a little sloppy. With Owens, Porritt and Franks the reserves really had 3 wingers on the pitch at the start of the game, though Porritt looked as though he was playing off Tom Craddock. For all his flicks and flair Porritt at times did not use the ball well enough and could have been a lot more dangerous by getting hold of the ball and using it more productively. It was Graeme Owens who impressed me more out of the three in this game, he was direct and took the full back on whenever he had the chance.
With all of Boro’s injury woes Josh Walker may be getting closer to the Boro first team. He was very good in this game, my man of the match. He played a couple of sloppy passes but in the main he was excellent. Worked hard, harried the opposition and won the ball back, linked play up well and was a very vocal leader on the field. Impressive.
Finally, young James Cronesberry also caught my eye. He wasn’t on long but when he got the ball he was very positive, a tricky dribbler and had a good strike on goal. One to watch for sure.
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Shaun is A Boro fan and owner of BoroMania.com. Born and brought up in the North East. Favourite players are Juninho, Slaven and David Wheater.
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What do you make of Porritt? A lot was expected of him a few years ago
I went last night and didn’t know what to make of Porritt. On the one hand he was involved in both boro goals but on the other he didn’t really threaten much when given the ball in deep positions, tried that bloody flick way too often and had a serious attitude about him. Thought Walker was v good and John Johnson at the back.
John Johnson is another drastic improvement from the academy. It seems a lot of players are suddenly taking massive steps up and having no problems, a credit to the academy.
Another couple of players you should look out for are Theo Furness [left] and Ashley Corker [right], both skillful attacking fullbacks, they’re only about 15 or 16 but i rate them very highly for the future.