I went to Middlesbrough back in March and as the trip home seemed to take several days I wasn't keen to repeat it in the same calendar year, especially with the game being on Sky.
A 5.20pm kick off on Bonfire Night when you have kids is problematic for obvious reasons so I only saw the first 20 minutes properly live and watched the rest, having managed to avoid the score, post fireworks.
We never looked likely to score at 0-0 so once we went behind I kind of gave up and watched the second half x 2 on Sky+. It's a shame that setting doesn't automatically come with the Benny Hill music.
It is absolutely crazy that this game of ours refuses to bring in any measures like those in the NFL, Rugby League or Cricket and allow for a video ref. We all knew within 30 seconds of Boro scoring that it was definitely offside. Surely its for the good of the game, as FIFA claim to be, for the ref to get the decision right. So why not let him consult someone who can tell him for certain what that decision should be.
I'm not saying at all it would've made any difference. Had the result ever been in doubt Boro looked like they had at least another two gears to accelerate into whereas even with Craig Beattie coming on we looked like that was as good as we were ever going to get.
The tedium of an international break now beckons without even a competitive match for England. A rather important tough looking game sits the other side of it against a Portsmouth side obviously very much enjoying not having Steve Cotterill as their boss.
