We enjoyed the usual feast consisting of a battered, deep-fried live blog escalope served w/ a hearty portion of chipped BBC Radio Tees…satisfying post-meal fag optional…

Jones; Hoyte, Wheater, McManus, Taylor; Robson, O’Neil, Williams, Franks; McDonald, Killen

• ‘Cracking day for a match’ according to the broadcast team
• Palace an old side – 5 players over age 30
• Alan Lee opens the action on 5 minutes by smashing the post! The well-proportioned Irish striker – long a target in eyes of this blog – romps forward and cuts inside of Wheats to unleash a screamer that left Brad Jones flailing…
• Boro fashion a lead out of nothing: Gary O’Neil is unlocked down the right channel by a terrific ball from Justin Hoyte – he squares the ball to Scott McDonald who taps it in – Boro 1-0 Palace
• ‘The intelligence of Gary O’Neil’ crafted that goal says GG…a real poacher’s finish…proper strikers goal
• Time to raise the intensity after the goal – apply more pressure
• Everyone has a hearty laugh at Jay O’Shea’s banana-like boots…ah, hazing the new fish
• Great linkage between the midfield and attack, notably GON and Mac
• Mark Drury checks in pitchside w/ the latest instructions from the gaffer: take on the fullbacks – Ertl is a centre back and Matt Lawrence just arrived – get wide and test them
• AV confirmed the latest in a string of denied stonewall pens – Mac got to long ball over the top – Paddy McCarthy defends it sloppily, though not enough to stimulate referee Graham Salisbury…did he not see Paddy tugging him down?
• Andrew Taylor limps off after re-aggravating one of his seemingly many maladies…Kyle Naughton replaces him on 42 minutes
• Gordo remonstrating w/ the fourth official over the missed penalty call – the deep frustration surrenders to unlikely laughter
• The comic relief is short-lived as Palace get an equalizer deep into stoppage time – Alan Lee operated freely on the left to pick out Alassane N’Diaye – the young Frenchman finished w/ a fancy header from 12 yards out – Boro 1-1 Palace
• ‘Poor goal…good header’ is the supposition from above
• HT Boro 1-1 Palace
• Poor time and manner in which to concede – forces us to do something creative in the second half
• interval repast: tea/fags/Sports section of local rag
• Gary Gill begs of Justin Hoyte: ‘have a bit more belief son…use your pace…’
• Robbo tells everyone – probably in a menacing way – just calm down a little bit after a frantic spell
• Attendance – 18,028 (459 from Croydon)
• Palace defender Claude Davis suffers from karmic retribution after suspected hand ball  and a terrible lumbering foul on Leroy Lita…Robbo poleaxing him moments later offers a measure of justice…Ali thinks it’ll ‘clear his head…when he finds it…’. Boom!
• Jonathan Franks is a key ingredient in this Boro surge – he’s finding space down the left and working hard to provide good crosses – the peach he stood up at the back post for Mac – the header is looped over Julian Speroni and onto his net…later he switches up w/ substitute Jay O’Shea and buzzes down the right
• Despite all the turmoil – remember, Palace would be battling w/ us for playoff positioning if not for their points deduction – the visitors lay claim to the 3rd best away record in the league…with a point already secured will they blag a win?
• 3 minutes added
• GG MOM – Jonathan Franks
• FT Boro 1-1 Crystal Palace
• 10 unbeaten at home, but ultimately not good enough – feels like a draw should: 2 points wasted instead of 1 gained
• The body language of the players trudging off the pitch confirms as much – it wasn’t an overly-physical affair and the conditions were more than acceptable – this dejection comes from within the team
• Paul Hart brought a resolute, compact, and organised side to our place…eerily similar to the Pompey match last spring when we desperately needed something then too…what ever could be the correlation?
• Gordo has the last words: we lacked in bravery – mentally – not a strong enough performance – this he feels is the most dominant performance of since his arrival, inferring it to be better than Newcastle a few weeks back – quality and imagination were the key missing factors

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3. Boro Fever Overcomes Preston And Midfield Cover For A Month

This is from our tea-stained, yellowed-from-chain-fag-smoke handwritten notes:

• Digard not even on the bench – Emnes being marginalized too – the jewels of the 2008 summer transfer window are fading from view
• With so much of the offense channeled through Adam Johnson, how could we even envisage replacing him?
• Danny Butterfield was churned often by Johnno – why didn’t we exploit him more after he picked up a booking?
• Took some time for Isaiah Osbourne to get stuck in – much better in the 2^nd half, winning balls and exerting more attacking pressure
• That old whinger Warnock may be right when boasting of Julian Speroni as best keeper in the division
• Gary Gill says get the ball to the strikers earlier and minimize the gap between midfield and the final third
• 4 on 1 – Leroy Lita had Johnno, Hoyte and Bent caterwauling for the ball, and he goes for glory and pisses all over the best chance of the match
• More corner-related goal gifting: Palace pulsated into a counter attack, Hoyte couldn’t get a head to cross, ball falls for Ambrose…bang…down 1-0
• Square-peggism – Arca on for Hoyte, Rhys Williams to right back, Gary O’Neil moves central, Arca back to the right flank
• Jonathan Franks – on for Lita – spanks a great chance that was saved by Speroni
• Frenetic finish in the 4 minutes of stoppage time, but Boro in the end cannot crack the Crystal Palace conundrum

Forest next on the 21^st…

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Whatever he may choose, it has to be good enough to produce a result as we endure another international break. There is nothing like extended idle time after a poor result to allow the savages to sharpen their sticks

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Nickname(s): Eagles, Palace

Ground: Selhurst Park

From Boro: down London way around 260 miles – 5 hours by motor and 3 by rail

Kit: awful – looks like a rejected Barca design gone horribly awry w/ the vertical stripes meandering off under the arms

Rivalry: Brighton and Hove Albion…not geographically suspect at all

You Don’t Know What You’re Doing!: Neil Warnock, the target of Sean Bean’s ire after Sheffield United failed to escape relegation on the final day of the 2006-07 campaign – here is the spine of his viral tirade inflicted on the gaffer’s wife and boy 20 minutes after the match: ‘It’s your fucking husband that got us relegated. He’s a fucking wanker’

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