Boro finally ended their 2nd season in the Championship, missing out on Promotion by a point, on the very last day of the season. Gutted.
With Newcastle and Bolton already promoted, the race for the 3rd place spot was an exhilarating experience during the final stages, but in the end it just wasn't to be.
Boro, with 3 games remaining, had moved into 3rd spot, with Forest and Reading just a point behind. We had lost our star-player, Ledesma, through injury during the final 7 games. That was a major blow, but the team dug deep and it looked like the Teessiders were about to pull off an amazing late charge to take all the spoils. Then it all went so very wrong with a trip to Elland Road.
With both of our keepers on a Purple, Leeds beat Boro 3-1, which then left us banking on other results.
The penultimate game of the season was home to Blackburn, of which the Boro came from behind to win 2-1. Unfortunately, both Reading and Forest had also won their respective games, which meant going into our last game at home to Champions Newcastle, we needed the win and for Reading and Forest to lose.
Boro scored first in a highly charged match at the Riverside, with the fans proving to be that 12th man on the park. At half-time, Boro were still leading, and the results from the other two games were in Boro's favour. Reading were losing 2-1 at Hull and Forest were gettin spanked 3-0 away to Wigan.
Newcastle then equalised early in the 2nd half to level the match, and sink the Boro fans hearts. With 10 minutes to play, Boro were handed a life-line when Woodgate powered home a header from a Williams corner to send the crowd into a state of euphoria. After switching to an ultra defensive formation, Boro held out for an amazing win.
After the rest of the days scores came seeping through, Forest had lost, but Reading had come back and won 3-2 to pip Boro to promotion by a single point. So near, yet so far...........
But wow, what a season !!
During the final run-in, Boro had tactically switched up the play during their matches to earn every single point. It was an amazing ride, that in the end just wasn't to be...........
YouTube - Boro 4-3 Blackpool
Our Match of the Day features a cracking 4-3 come from behind win against Blackpool, some great goals here, the Emnes chest and volley being the pick. This was our 5th last game of the season, and testament to Boro's amazing fight during the promotion run .........