Town 2-0 Middlesbrough - Match Report Saturday, 20th Dec 2014 17:10 First-half goals from Daryl Murphy and Jay Tabb saw the Blues to an impressive 2-0 victory over Middlesbrough at Portman Road to return to second in the Championship. Murphy netted a rebound from close range in the 25th minute and Tabb headed home the second deep into first-half injury time. Jonny Parr replaced Tyrone Mings at left-back in an otherwise unchanged Town side. Mings missed out with an infected toe, along with Noel Hunt who took a knock in training. Former Blues skipper Grant Leadbitter started for the visitors. Tommy Smith headed an early Paul Anderson freekick not far wide as the Blues started the stronger. Anderson went close to opening the scoring in the 12th minute when he latched onto Murphy’s header on the right, lobbed a defender as he cut in but looped his left-foot shot over. The Teessiders first threatened in the 14th minute but Daniel Ayala’s header flew well wide of Bartosz Bialkowski’s goal. On 21 Boro striker Jelle Vossen was booked for blocking an Anderson freekick with his hands at a distance of only around six yards. The subsequent freekick was laid short to McGoldrick, who lashed well over. The Blues went ahead in the 25th minute with Murphy once again the man on the scoresheet. Teddy Bishop played a clever pass down the left to Tabb, who cut the ball back to McGoldrick 10 yards out. Boro keeper Dimitrios Konstantopoulos stopped his low shot with his toe, but Murphy slammed home his 14th goal of the season from the edge of the six-yard box. Three minutes after the goal Boro defender Ken Omeruo was booked for tripping Anderson and then McGoldrick as the Blues broke. Boro were exceptionally fortunate to avoid conceding a penalty in the 38th minute when McGoldrick cut inside Omeruo, who tripped to the Town striker. It looked the most blatant of blatant spotkicks but incredibly referee James Linington gave a freekick against McGoldrick and booked him for diving, much to the frontman’s amazement. Had Omeruo been penalised the on-loan Chelsea man would almost certainly have been shown a second yellow card. Boro, who had been somewhat underwhelming throughout the opening period, weren’t too far from an equaliser when Albert Adomah glanced Adam Reach’s left-wing cross wide. Deep in injury time, moments before the referee’s whistle, the Blues increased their lead. After an exchange of passes also involving skipper Luke Chambers and McGoldrick, Bishop, who had been outstanding throughout the half, whipped over a cross from the right and smallest-man-on-the-pitch Tabb threw himself between the Boro centre-halves to power home a superb header. The two-goal lead was the least the Blues deserved after a half which they had dominated. The third goal which might have come had referee Linington awarded what was a clear penalty when McGoldrick - who along with Murphy had given the Boro backline a very difficult 45 minutes - was fouled. At the other end, Boro, who could well have been down to 10 men after that incident, had rarely threatened Bialkowski’s goal. Boro replaced Adomah with Lee Tomlin at half-time and four minutes after the restart Chambers headed an Anderson freekick straight at Konstantopoulos. In the 51st minute George Friend played a one-two and broke into the area but scuffed his shot to Bialkowski. Two minutes later Cole Skuse was replaced by Kevin Bru, the former Bristol City man having picked up a knock. The Teessiders had started the half on the front foot and created an opening in the 54th minute when Bamford found Reach in space on the left. The midfielder’s low cross found Vossen, who flicked the ball across goal but to no one and Tabb cleared. Omeruo astonishingly avoided a second yellow card for a second time in the 62nd minute when he felled Bishop as the youngster broke through at pace as he latched onto a McGoldrick pass. Much to the continued frustration of the Town players and crowd, referee Linington gave the freekick but kept his cards in his pocket. While the Blues prepared to take the freekick Boro manager Aitor Karanka sensibly removed Omeruo, replacing him with Milos Veljkovic. Kike also took over from Vossen. On 64, Christophe Berra headed a Reach effort from distance out of the six-yard box with Bialkowski out of his ground. The ball looked to be going wide in any case. Town were twice within a whisker of making it 3-0 in the 70th minute when Leadbitter cleared Murphy’s header from Tabb’s left-sided corner off the line. The loose ball fell to Smith but his shot across goal struck the foot of the post and bounced away from Berra. Darren Ambrose replaced the tiring but excellent Bishop in the 71st minute prior to ex-Norwich defender Daniel Ayala hooking a corner well over for the visitors, who had shown more fight after the break but had never seriously tested Bialkowski. Anderson shot just wide from distance on 77, then two minutes later McGoldrick chested the ball to Ambrose who also hit an effort wide from well out. After Kike had flicked Reach’s cross from the left wide, Parr turning the ball out at the far post, Conor Sammon replaced Anderson, who looked to have suffered a knock. From the corner, Friend headed well wide. As the game entered its final three minutes Friend was booked for a foul on Bru. Ambrose hit a powerful, low 30-yard freekick but Konstantoulos was equal to it. In injury time, Tomlin shot straight at Bialkowski but the Blues weren’t to be denied their eighth home win of the season and second place in the table going into Christmas. The victory was never in any real doubt once Tabb had netted his brilliant first goal of the season just before the break. Town had been well on top in the first half - when they might have been three in front had they been awarded the penalty - and comfortably repelled Boro’s second-half fightback with Bialkowski rarely significantly tested. Given the quality of the opposition and their previous record on the road, the result is as good as any achieved by the Blues this season and Mick McCarthy’s side look more and more like serious promotion challengers with every game that passes. Town: Bialkowski, Chambers (c), Parr, Smith, Berra, Skuse (Bru 46), Bishop (Ambrose 71), Tabb, Anderson, Murphy, McGoldrick. Unused: Gerken, Clarke, S Hunt, Bajner. Middlesbrough: Konstantopoulos, Nsue, Ayala, Omeruo (Veljkovic 62), Friend, Reach, Clayton, Leadbitter, Adomah, Vossen (Kike 62), Bamford. Unused: Mejias, Gibson, Kike, Tomlin, Whitehead, Wildschut. Referee: James Linington (Newport, IoW). Att: 21,187. (Boro: 1,111).
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