Conor Chaplin and Omari Hutchinson were on target as Town comfortably beat Middlesbrough 2-0 at the Riverside Stadium, their first win on Teesside since August 2010. Chaplin gave the Blues the lead in the 36th minute with a typical strike from the edge of the box, then sub Hutchinson confirmed the three points for the second-placed Blues on 67.
Town boss Kieran McKenna, facing his great friend Michael Carrick's side, made one enforced change for this afternoon’s game at Middlesbrough with Jack Taylor replacing the suspended Massimo Luongo in the XI.
Taylor joined former Boro man Sam Morsy in the centre of midfield for Luongo, another one-time Teessider, who was banned for one match having picked up five bookings.
Brandon Williams was absent from the squad for the same reason with Axel Tuanzebe and Cameron Humphreys coming onto the bench.
Boro made four changes from the team which lost 3-2 at Leeds last week with former Blues defender Matt Clarke coming into the side for his first league start since October last year following a back problem.
The Teessiders, who had seven players injured and two suspended, also drafted in Dael Fry, who had been a doubt with a hamstring problem, Lukas Engel and loanee Sam Greenwood, who was ineligible against his parent club at Elland Road last week.
Former Blues loanee Hayden Coulson was on the bench with Boro also including a number of youngsters, including AJ Bridge, who was named in a matchday 20 for the first time.
The game got under way and almost immediately skipper Morsy collided with one-time Blues loan target Morgan Rogers, the former Manchester City man requiring treatment before continuing.
On four, an error by the Boro defence on the edge of their own box almost presented a chance to Nathan Broadhead but the Wales international and then George Hirst were unable to make anything of the opportunity.
Moments later, play moved to the other end of the field and Cameron Burgess made an important interception ahead of Rogers just inside the Town area.
On 10, after Hirst had done well to win back the ball, Broadhead found Wes Burns on the right but the former Everton man was crowded out on the edge of the box after receiving a return pass.
As the game approached the quarter hour, Burns was again found on the right but was unable to get round the outside of Lukas Engel and the resultant corner came to nothing.
The Blues though had looked the more threatening of the two teams and increasingly in control but with neither keeper having been tested.
After a spell of Boro possession without the home side creating an opportunity, the Blues struck the game’s first serious shot in the 25th minute.
Harry Clarke feinted that he was shooting before finding Burns to his right and the Welshman played forward to Hirst in the box but the former Leicester man’s strike deflected off a defender through to Seny Dieng in the Boro goal.
Town went closer on the half-hour mark, Chaplin chesting on to Broadhead, who burst towards the area before hitting a shot as Matt Clarke dived into deflect on to the roof of the net.
There was a scare for the Blues in the 34th minute when Emmanuel Latte Lath was sent away in space on the right but Burgess slid in to do enough to put the Ivorian off his stride if not claim the ball. However, Latte Lath’s subsequent ball across the area was well behind his teammates, much to the annoyance of the increasingly frustrated home crowd.
The demeanour of the Boro fans took an even greater nose-dive in the 36th minute when the Blues took the lead.
Chaplin sent Burns away on the right, the winger’s cross struck Boro skipper Jonny Howson, on the arm according to the Town players and fans.
The home players appeared to briefly pause awaiting a decision as the ball bounced out to Chaplin, who smashed a shot which caught Matt Clarke on the way through and beat the motionless Dieng to his left.
Town had deserved the lead having largely been in control of the game and having looked more dangerous the longer the half had continued.
Chaplin’s eighth goal of the season - the 200th of the McKenna era - was a finish typical of the forward and as so often came as a result of an interchange with Burns on the right.
The Teessiders sought to quickly get back on terms and on 40 Latte Lath broke into the box before hitting a shot wide of Vaclav Hladky’s left post when he really ought to have hit the target.
In the final scheduled minute, Greenwood crossed from the right and Latte Lath headed behind at a stretch from beyond the far post.
There were a few muted boos from home supporters at the half-time whistle with the Blues having confidently played out three additional minutes.
Town were well worth their lead at the break having been in charge and looking the most dangerous side even if without creating too many clear-cut chances.
Chaplin’s goal, the first time the Blues had netted first in an away game since the 1-0 win at Bristol City in late October, was a trademark effort from the forward.
Two minutes after the restart, the Chaplin-Burns combination almost carved out another chance for the Blues, the former Barnsley man feeding the Wales international in space on the right but his low cross was beyond Hirst and Broadhead.
In the 51st minute, one-time Town target Matt Crooks was shown the game’s first yellow card for clattering through the back of his former teammate Morsy on the edge of the Blues’ box. Given his performance, Boro fans will have been scratching their heads as to why their club sold the Blues’ captain in the summer of 2021.
A minute later, Burns crossed low from the right but Broadhead’s touch let him down when well placed 14 yards out, breaking into the box.
Boro were continuing to struggle to make headway in the final third with the Blues getting back in greater numbers than they were getting forward and able to crowd them out. However, on 57 Crooks was found in space just inside the area but the former Rotherham man’s shot struck Burgess.
As the match moved to the hour mark, Hladky was forced into his first save of the game, tipping Dan Barlaser’s corner from the left over from under the bar. From the resultant flag-kick, the ball flicked off Harry Clarke’s head at the far post and struck Rav van den Berg before bouncing off the Dutchman’s chest and behind.
Town made their first change in the 63rd minute, Hutchinson taking over from Broadhead.
A minute later, Luke Woolfenden was booked for a foul on Latte Lath as the Ivorian broke on the left but with the Town defender adamant he had won the ball.
From Barlaser’s free-kick, Latte Lath rose highest among a crowd of players to head goalwards, Hladky diving away to his left to impressively push wide.
It was a vital stop from the Teessiders’ first big chance of the game and soon afterwards the Blues all but sealed their victory with their second of the afternoon.
In the 67th minute, Woolfenden played the ball into Hirst’s feet on halfway, Chaplin stole it from his teammate and played a first-time pass through to Hutchinson breaking in acres of space on the left. The on-loan Chelsea man briefly stopped wondering if he was offside before confidently beating Dieng.
The 20-year-old and his teammates celebrated his third goal of the season in front of the delighted and noisy 2,000 Town fans in that corner.
Five minutes after the Blues’ second goal, Boro having swapped Greenwood for Sam Silvera, Hladky made his best save of the afternoon, reacting quickly to get down to his left to brilliantly palm wide after Engels’s cross had deflected towards goal off Woolfenden.
Town switched Burns and Chaplin for Kayden Jackson and Marcus Harness in the 76th minute, then twice went close to adding to their lead.
First Leif Davis burst into the box at pace but saw his low shot blocked by Matt Clarke, then Taylor hit an effort from just outside the area to the left which flew just over Dieng’s cross-bar. Boro subsequently replaced Engel with Alex Bangura.
On 82, as rain started to fall heavily, Jackson got round the outside of his man on the right and cut back to Hirst, whose shot was deflected over by Howson, although referee Dean Whitestone awarded a goal-kick.
Four minutes later, Harness hooked a difficult bouncing ball over after good work from Hirst and Hutchinson on the left of the area. Moments later, Town swapped Taylor and the again excellent Hirst for Dominic Ball and Freddie Ladapo.
Ball was booked for a shirt pull in the final scheduled minute, then in the final minute of five added on skipper Morsy joined him for kicking the ball away, the Egyptian international’s ninth of the season with one more leading to a two-match ban. Town have one more match, at Watford on Tuesday, before the East Anglian derby at home to Norwich City.
Aside from that, the Blues saw out injury time with little concern to claim their sixth away win of the season and first since Bristol City on October 25th.
Town were on top throughout and thoroughly deserved their win against a Boro side which caused them few problems. And when they did, keeper Hladky was at the top of his game to keep them out, the Czech making two excellent saves and keeping his seventh Championship clean sheet of the season.
Chaplin’s goal set them on their way and the result never looked in any danger once Hutchinson had scored the second.
Town have now taken 48 points from their first 20 Championship games, the most ever recorded by a newly-promoted side in Football League history.
The Blues remain a point behind leaders Leicester and seven points ahead of Leeds in third with the Foxes and the Whites also winning this weekend.
Middlesbrough: Dieng, Barlaser, Van den Berg, Crooks, Fry, Greenwood (Silvera 70), Clarke, Rogers, Engel (Bangura 79), Latte Lath, Howson (c). Unused: Glover, Gilbert, Coburn, Coulson, McCabe, Cartwright, Bridge.
Town: Hladky, Clarke, Woolfenden, Burgess, Davis, Morsy (c), Taylor (Ball 86), Burns (Jackson 76), Chaplin (Harness 76), Broadhead (Hutchinson 62), Hirst (Ladapo 86). Unused: Walton, Tuanzebe, Ball, Humphreys, Scarlett, Ladapo. Referee: Dean Whitestone (Northamptonshire).