The Wait Is Over

Middlesbrough     2          Ipswich     0    

                              Graham 29, 45

Boro's goals come like buses you wait over 12 hours for one then two come at once!  

It’s ironic that a side who have failed to score in seven consecutive games are then able to find the net twice in a mere quarter of an hour.

Graham celebrate's his double

Danny Graham’s two goals before half time were the striker’s first in a Boro shirt since his loan move from Sunderland back in January, his first came in the shape of a tap in from close range, his second a glancing header right before the interval in a 2-0 victory over Ipswich Town at the Riverside.

Overall the visitors may have been a little disappointing but take nothing away from Boro who were efficient and professional in closing out their first win for over a month.

Aitor Karanka’s philosophy of keeping things tight at the back was a key part of this overdue victory. Boro haven’t conceded a goal at the Riverside since December and that never looked like changing, for this was another dominant defensive display from the hosts who were rarely troubled by an out of sort Ipswich side.

“Finally the goals arrived and I'm very happy. Firstly, our supporters deserved to see us scoring goals and winning and secondly it's great for my team to reward their hard work,” said Karanka after the match.

"But I was never worried. I always believed 100 per cent in myself and in the team and I know that when we work hard and play like that we can beat anybody."

The Boro boss made six changes from the side that lost away at Sheffield Wednesday last weekend. In goal Dimi Konstantopoulos was preferred to Jason Steele and replaced the injured Tomas Mejias. The defence showed one change as Ben Gibson came in for Jonathan Woodgate who had picked up a calf strain.

Further forward Grant Leadbitter returned as captain in place of Dean Whitehead who was sent off at Hillsborough and was serving his suspension, the other changes saw Mustapha Carayol, Lee Tomlin and Ledsema all line up behind Graham upfront, Jacob Butterfield and Kei Kamara dropped to the bench which didn’t feature Albert Adomah.

Ipswich manager Mick McCarthy named an unchanged side from their 1-0 victory over Birmingham the previous Saturday.

Before this game Boro had taken just four points from a possible twenty-one and their poor form was reflected by a rather subdued atmosphere in the early exchanges.

Nevertheless the first chance of the afternoon fell the way of the hosts. With three minutes gone Graham received the ball on the edge of the Ipswich penalty where he laid the ball back to Ledesma who could only drag his shot wide of the near post.

Boro continued to look a threat especially down the left hand side where Carayol and George Friend were causing the visitors all kinds of problems. On eighteen minutes Friend’s run from left back into the opposition box looked promising, however his shot on the end of it was well off target.

Minutes later it was Carayol’s turn when he made a diagonal run from left to right inside the Ipswich half, after working himself some space the winger finally pulled the trigger only to see his effort roll past the far post.

Ipswich had begun to apply some pressure to the Boro back line to which they had resisted. However on twenty-seven minutes the visitors should have taken the lead Daryl Murphy’s shot took a deflection off Gibson and fell nicely into the path of Town forward Paul Taylor, who blazed the ball over the bar with a clear sight of goal.

Then at last it came, Boro’s first goal since the 18^th of January. With just under half an hour played Carayol cut in from the left before attempting a low shot from range, Ipswich keeper Dean Gerkin should have done better but could only spill the ball into the path of Graham who was on hand to tuck the ball home.

Boro suddenly had a spring in their step and had chances to double their lead; the most notable was another act from Carayol who once again got the better of Ipswich right back Luke Chambers, except this time Gerkin was quick to react and block the shot.

It wasn’t long before Boro clinched their second, on the stroke of half time. Boro’s captain Leadbitter, formerly of Ipswich, took an in swinging corner from the left which was met Graham who flicked his header across goal into the far corner of the net.

The half time whistle immediately followed, welcomed with a resounding applause from the home fans.

At half time McCarthy brought on Luke Hyam in place of Frank Nouble, but after the break Boro continued where they left off. This time Carayol found himself on the right side where he sent a low cross in search of Nathanial Chalobah at the far post, but the ball was cut out at the last minute by a backtracking defender.

There were few goal scoring opportunities for either side after that, Boro were effective in closing the game out but in truth the visitors offered little threat going forward.

With twenty minutes to go Karanka denied Graham the chance to complete his hat-trick; however the striker received standing ovation as he was replaced by Kei Kamara. McCarthy also made his final changes introducing Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Jonathan Williams.

Further changes saw Tomlin make way for Butterfield and Carayol, who had been impressive all afternoon, depart for Curtis Main.

Boro came close to adding a third but Main could only find the side netting from a tight angle. Then in four minutes of stoppage time Taylor wasted a chance for the visitors curling his shot over the cross bar.

Player Ratings

Dimi Konstantopoulos   6.5- Not a lot to do on his league debut, only faced one shot on target

George Friend   7.5- Linked up well with Carayol and caused lots of problems down the left  

Ben Gibson   7.5- Solid display never looked troubled by the opposition

Kenneth Omeruo   7.5- No nonsense defending, cleared the danger when it came

Jozsef Varga   7- Does his job with minimum fuss week in week out at right back  

Grant Leadbitter   7- Put in some good deliveries from set piece and was firm in midfield

Nathaniel Chalobah   7- Wasn’t afraid to make a challenge in midfield, put himself about well

Emmanuel Ledesma   6- Made a few cynical challenges, at times struggled to get in the game

Mustapha Carayol   8- Caused problems down the left all afternoon

Lee Tomlin   6.5- drifted in and out of the game, was a threat at times

Danny Graham   7.5- Took both his goals well which made the difference

Subs

Kei Kamara   6- Came on for the last 20 minutes upfront

Jacob Butterfield – Came on for last 10 minutes not enough time to give a fair rating

Curtis Main – Came on for last 10 minutes not enough time to give a fair rating

My Boro Man Of The Match: Mustapha Carayol