Middlesbrough 1 Huddersfield 1
Gibson 79 Vaughan 58
No matter how hard
they try this season Boro can only continue to find new ways to draw football
matches, especially at the Riverside.
After five home games Boro are still winless on their own
turf, losing one while the other four have finished all square, hardly the form
of a mid-table side let alone playoff contenders.
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| Ben Gibson celebrates his first Boro goal |
In last night 1-1 draw with Huddersfield there were signs
and flashes of a team who are beginning to make progress, but in small steps
rather than huge strides.
Boro dominated for large spells of the game mounting up 8
shots on target to Huddersfield’s 1, which inevitability found the back of the
net, as Boro’s inability to concentrate for the full ninety minutes was once
again exploited.
The lowest ever league attendance at the Riverside, a mere
12,793 watched the latest chapter in Boro’s chain of frustrating results which
after ten games leaves then 19th in the table, four points from the
relegation zone, but more alarming ten points adrift from the final playoff
spot.
Following a disheartening defeat away to QPR last weekend
Tony Mowbray made two changes from the side which started at Loftus road, captain
Rhys Williams replaced the injured Jonathan Woodgate while Mustapha Carayol
came in for Jozsef Varga.
The host’s poor form was clear to see and hear in the
opening exchanges; at times the Riverside was almost silent, a subdued atmosphere
wasn’t helped by the action on the pitch.
Huddersfield came into the game unbeaten in four league
games and their confidence was clear to see, as visitors pinned Boro back for a
majority of the opening half an hour.
Despite their early pressure the visitor failed to threaten Jason
Steele’s goal. It took until the 22nd minute but Boro finally
stuttered into action; Mustapha Carayol made a darting run towards the
opposition box where he traded passes with Kei Kamara before testing Huddersfield
Alex Smithies who palmed the ball away.
Ten minutes later Boro found a new gear all together,
Carayol again broke away before firing his effort across goal forcing another save
from Smithies.
At this point Boro were in the ascendency and continued to
keep Smithies busy, Kamara did well to turn his defender before unleashing a
shot on target to warm the gloves of the keeper, minutes later Frazier Richardson’s
teasing cross was heading towards the Huddersfield goal and once again
triggered Smithies into action.
Half time made an unwelcome interruption to Boro’s progress,
after a sluggish start they had created plenty of chances.
Five minutes after the restart Grant Leadbitter’s long range
effort rolled nicely into the Smithies grasp for one of his easier saves of the
night.
Huddersfield manager Mark Robins opted to replace Sean
Scannel with Danny Ward, with just seven minutes of the second half played, as
the visitor’s patiently waited for their opportunity.
It came minutes later when former Boro loanee Adam Hammill drifted
a cross from the right into the host’s penalty area; Steele made the mistake of
leaving the ball allowing Ward to clatter a close range header against the
post. The ball bounced out to Oscar Goburn whose shot was diverted into the
Boro net by James Vaughan for the striker’s ninth goal of the season.
With just under half an hour to go a tribute went out to
lifelong Boro fan Frankie Bam Bam who recently passed away. A banner was
paraded around the ground resulting in applause from both sets of supporters.
In search for an equaliser Mowbray switched to 4-4-2
replacing Carayol and Jacob Butterfield with Lukas Jutkiewitz and Andy Halliday.
The change nearly made an instant impact when Jutkiewitz cut
in from the left hand side, his cross sat up nicely for Kamara who had found
space in the box however Boro’s deadline day signing steered his header the
wrong side of the post.
At the start of the night a draw for Boro would have been extremely
disappointing, but a defeat would have been catastrophic. However the hosts
spared their blushes with eleven minutes remaining.
An in swinging corner from the left was taken by Leadbitter
and cannoned in by a header from Ben Gibson, a well deserved goal for a player making
his first league appearance at the Riverside.
Mowbray replaced
Richardson with Justin Hoyte in search of a winner.It almost came six minutes
from time. Hoyte’s cross was met by the head of Williams who had made a charging
run into the opposition box, only to see his header rebound off the underside
of the crossbar.
Deep into injury time Leadbitter fired the final chance wide,
as Boro let another two points slip through the net while adding a further draw
to their growing collection.
Mowbray will now turn his attention to Saturday’s home game
against Yeovil as the need for three points becomes greater by the day.
Player Ratings
Jason Steele 5 –
Could have prevented the goal, otherwise had a game with little to do
George Friend 6 –
Got forward to good effect down the left but struggled defensively
Ryes Williams (C) 7 – Urged the team forward while looking solid
in defence
Ben Gibson 7.5 –
Scored vital equaliser while looking comfortable on the ball in defence
Fraiser Richardson 6.5
– Got forward to good effect and not troubled much defensively
Dean Whitehead 5.5 –
Continued to play sideways or backwards passes
Grant Leadbitter 6.5 – Took on a role further forward threatening
at times
Jacob Butterfield 6.5 – Provided energy in the midfield
Albert Adomah 5.5 – Quiet
game didn’t see enough of the ball to cause a threat
Mustapha Carayol 6 – Improved as the first half went on causing
a few problems for the opposition
Kei Kamara 6.5 –
Linked up well testing the keeper on a couple of occasions
Subs
Lukas Jutkiewitz 6.5
– Added extra body up front giving Huddersfield more problems
Andy Hallidy 5 – Had
little impact after coming on with twenty minutes to go
Justin Hoyte 6 –
Looked to get forward, cross nearly resulted in the winning goal
My Boro Man Of The Match: Ben Gibson
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