North-East Sport
Boro show award winning form at The Den
9:50pm Tuesday 21st February 2012
ON TUESDAY evening, the BRIT awards took place at the O2 Arena on the banks of the Thames. A couple of miles away, at The New Den, Middlesbrough staged their own version of the ceremony.
Best international performer? Dutchman Marvin Emnes, whose 13th and 14th goals of the season were a fitting reward for Boro's total superiority before the break. Best group? The Teessiders' back four, who held firm during a fraught second half in which Millwall threw everything at them despite having been comprehensively outplayed in the opening period.
And best newcomer? Teenage substitute Curtis Main, who had only been on the field for 21 minutes when he swivelled in the area and lashed home his first senior goal to secure the Teessiders' first away win since December 17 and lift them back into the play-off positions.
The victory was deserved reward for an accomplished away display in which Tony Mowbray's team outplayed a Millwall side who have not won a league game on their own ground in 2012, and then held firm when their opponents finally roused themselves.
Emnes' double - one fortuitous, the other clinical - should have made for a comfortable evening. Instead, Darius Henderson's header on the stroke of half-time made for a fraught second period, but it is to Boro's credit that they emerged from a typically fractious evening in Bermondsey with all three points.
The build up to last night's game had been dominated by two issues - the impending departure of Barry Robson, who will leave Teesside to join MLS side Vancouver Whitecaps in the summer, and the continued presence of Rhys Williams, who signed a new four-and-a-half-year contract over the weekend.
Both players started, with Robson wearing a light cast to protect his broken hand as he replaced the suspended Kevin Thomson.
The Scotsman's thrusting runs had been missed in his absence, so perhaps it was no surprise that his return coincided with a remarkable opening spell in which Boro could conceivably have scored four goals inside the opening six minutes.
Instead, they claimed none, partly because of the agility of Millwall goalkeeper David Forde, but also thanks to a truly remarkable miss from Emnes.
Forde first, with Jutkiewicz twice being denied by the Lions shot-stopper. His first effort, a swivelled half-volley after Robson's shot was blocked, was turned wide, while his second, a looping header from the edge of the area after more good approach work from Robson, was acrobatically tipped over the crossbar.
Jutkiewicz, who had scored in each of Boro's previous two matches, also whistled a low 20-yard drive narrowly wide of the target as Millwall's defenders failed to handle his ability to twist and turn with his back to goal.
The striker could easily have had a first-half hat-trick, but at least his failures were excusable. The same could not be said of Emnes when he somehow contrived to miss the target in the fifth minute.
Robson flicked on Seb Hines' corner, and Emnes was completely unmarked as he loitered no more than two yards from the goalline. It was the easiest chance the Dutchman will be presented with all season, and even he was aghast as he headed over the crossbar.
Thankfully, redemption came quickly, even if it was somewhat fortuitous. Nine minutes later, and from another corner, Emnes was in the right place at the right time to deflect Williams' hooked shot past Forde. He didn't appear to know much about it, but two goals in two games was a decent way to end a Championship drought that had stretched to 12 matches. It would soon be three.
For all its lack of precision, Boro's opener was no more than they deserved given their total superiority early on. With Jutkiewicz leading the line adeptly and Robson dissecting the Millwall defence at will, the first half was as one-sided as anything the Teessiders have been involved in all season.
Had they entered the break with only one goal to show for their efforts, they would have considered themselves unfortunate, so there was a degree of justice about the second that arrived seven minutes before the break.
Robson supplied Emnes, and the striker wriggled past Paul Robinson before unleashing a fierce 20-yard strike that found the bottom right-hand corner of the net.
That should have guaranteed some second-half breathing space, but having prevented Millwall from creating a single opportunity in the opening 42 minutes, Boro contrived to concede a sloppy strike on the verge of half-time.
The visitors failed to deal with Scott Barron's routine free-kick into the box, and after Liam Trotter headed across goal, Henderson was left with sufficient space to loop a ten-yard header past Jason Steele. It was a particularly soft concession.
It also gave Millwall something to cling on to, and perhaps predictably, the hosts upped their energy levels considerably after the break.
Their play remained ragged, but Trotter should at least have tested Steele with a 59th-minute effort he blazed over the crossbar after Matthew Bates' slip had threatened to let him in.
Boro's defending was largely impressive, with Bates and Seb Hines successfully repelling the physical threat posed by Henderson and Tottenham loanee Harry Kane, who saw a fiercely-hit shot well saved by Steele.
Millwall's best chance of an equaliser came with eight minutes left, but while Henderson met Liam Feeney's corner, his glanced header fell wide of the upright.
That was the cue for Main to make the points safe. Julio Arca supplied the former Darlington trainee in the area, and he turned adroitly before lashing his first senior goal into the roof of the net.
Goals: Emnes (14, 0-1; 38, 0-2), Henderson (43, 1-2), Main (86, 1-3)
Bookings: Henderson (26, foul), Wright (45, foul), R Williams (52, ungentlemanly conduct), Bennett (55, foul), Hines (74, foul), Trotter (84, foul), Abdou (85, foul)
Referee: James Linington (Isle of Wight) - 5
Attendance: 9,286
Entertainment: 4/5
MILLWALL (4-4-2): Forde 7; Smith 6, Lowry 4, Robinson 5, Barron 4 (Dunne 46, 5); Feeney 5 (Henry 85), TROTTER 7, Wright 4 (Abdou 46, 6), Keogh 4; Henderson 7, Kane 6. Subs (not used): Allsop (gk), N'Guessan.
MIDDLESBROUGH (4-3-3): Steele 7; Hoyte 6, Bates 7, Hines 8, Bennett 6; ROBSON 8 (McMahon 87), R Williams 6, Arca 7; Haroun 5 (Main 65, 7), Jutkiewicz 8, Emnes 7 (Smallwood 84). Subs (not used): McMahon, Martin, Ogbeche.
Man Of The Match
BARRY Robson - If there were any doubts about his commitment following last week's announcement about his summer exit, they were dispelled with this display.