Who ever said 'Boro lack flair?
I love the F.A cup, what football fan could ever tire of shocks, big vs small and good old fashioned romance of this wonderful sport? So a quick glance down the fixture list for the third round of this years competition threw up a mouth watering tie on my own doorstep nonetheless! Not to mention that this was to be the first meeting between Albion and Middlesbrough ever and with a potential shock on the cards I was down to the Pirelli stadium to gather my ticket like a shot.
Middlesbrough draw first blood
This was actually my first trip to see a match at the Pirelli stadium, oddly enough we'd decided to check out Burton away to Chesterfield before going to a home match but sadly my limited knowledge of Burton-upon-Trent came back to haunt me when with no less than 30 minutes until the big kick off I found myself on the dual carriageway in the direction of Uttoxeter,oops. After a bout of road rage and guessing games as where the heck I was somehow a gamble down a sidestreet lead me to the perfect parking spot and the soothing sight of floodlights in the distance and with minutes to spare I took my place on the terrace.
After a first half of few chances but some cracking saves from Brewers keeper Adam Legzdins the breakthrough finally came, but unfortunately for the home faithful it was at the wrong end. A careless foul from Russ Penn resulted in a free kick around 25 yards out which Gary O'Neil duly despatched into the top corner of Legzdins net. A truly marvellous strike which sent the 'boro fans into raptures resulting in a touch of nostalgia for yours truly as around 4-5 flares were ignited amongst the travelling support creating an atmosphere i'd only been used to on the continent.
Up until the free kick it had appeared that Brewers boss Paul Peschisolido (Always a challenge for the spell-checker) had set his stall out with a money spinning replay in mind with Burton playing minimal attacking football, that however changed in a flash as a looping cross was met by an acrobatic overhead kick from star striker Shaun Harrad beating a helpless Danny Coyne in the Middlesbrough goal and putting the belief back into the league 2 side.
It was a severe case of squeaky bum time for the away side as four minutes were indicated to be added on and three minutes into those a clumsy foul on Harrard resulted in a free kick for Burton around 35 yards to the left of goal. With the area littered with yellow shirts the ball was delivered by on-loan Wolves left back Scott Malone and a cruel ricochet off centre back Matt Bates presented the ball at the feet of Harrad who made no mistake from 6 yards sending the home fans delerious and into a fourth round tie for the first time in the clubs history away to Championship side Burnley.Terracing, a cup shock, three goals, flares and all round F.A cup brilliance all for £16, not a bad way to spend a saturday.
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