A few evenings ago Sergio Leone’s epic western The Good, The Bad and the Ugly got another airing on television and having shamefully never seen it before I sat through it gripped by the drama, tension, and suspense created by the supreme performances of the cast. Unlike that film today’s match at Middlesbrough will not be hailed as a classic. Indeed it may have lacked real drama, or at times real quality, but it contained real grit, personal and collective battles all over the park, brought tense and heart-stopping moments to the watching thousands, and had a few twists along the way. In short it at times it was good, bad and ugly. Sadly it was also ultimately fruitless for Stoke.
Life has a habit of occasionally throwing up some strange coincidences, and the more spiritually minded of folk might actually see them as fate or a meaningful sign. Today as Leeds Stokie Paddy and I travelled along the A168 towards Teesside I had such a moment. Pulling into a Little Chef services for the obligatory toilet stop, BBC Radio 2 were playing XTC’s 1979 hit Making plans for Nigel. I grinned as I sauntered past a coach load of boisterous large Stokies stationed outside taking a smoke break, adorned with red and white stripes, tatoos and expressions you wouldn’t mess with. Having relieved my aching bladder I pulled open the toilets door to be face to face with BBC Radio Stoke’s stalwart matchday commentator Nigel Johnson! Somewhat taken aback I could not contain myself, flashing the City legend a huge beaming smile and bursting out with “It’s the main man himself, Nigel Johnson!” Nigel instantly returned the smile, patted me on the shoulder and replied “Alright mate?” If he hadn’t looked in such a hurry to acquaint himself with the porcelain, and I’d have had more composure, I might have engaged him in conversation about Stoke’s prospects. But I was too gobsmacked and hurried back to the car to tell Paddy. I hadn’t made any plans for Nigel but there he was. Surely a good sign?
Middlesbrough navigation turned out to be a breeze. The Zetland long stay car park near the railway station offering all day parking for £1 was easy to find, if a little strange to encounter a huge mountain of sand on the approach, not the sort of thing I was expecting from the town centre if I’m entirely honest. But Middlesbrough is in transition. Parts are to be frank a dump, unattractive with the clear signs of declining industry. Yet parts are vibrant and forward looking, promoting itself with a marketing campaign - Love Middlesbrough, cool place, warm people. The town centre was about 5 minutes stroll away and to pass the time until kick off we escaped the shopping hoardes and visited MIMA (Insitute of Modern Art) for a bit of culture. Having witnessed Eric Bainbridge’s apparent obession with fur and old MFI wardrobes in his exhibition Forward thinking 1978-2008, Paddy and I tucked into suitably artistic sandwiches in the Insitute’s cafe. Humous and sundried tomato in Middlesbrough? Astonishing.
I can’t recall ever wandering across a railway level crossing on my way to a football match before, but our route to the Riverside Stadium past an industrial estate ticked that eventuality off the list. Having collected our tickets we met with a Boro supporting former colleague of mine for pre-match pleasantries and predictions next to the old Ayresome Park gates which form the entrance to the Riverside’s reception area. It was then time to blend in with the home support in the East Stand and turn our attention to the main event.
The first 35 minutes were good for Stoke City. Tony Pulis stuck with the side that beat Aston Villa 3-2, and maybe unsurprisingly after that win the visitors started off brightly and confidently, something that is becoming a pleasing habit. 
There was no sense of awe and Stoke’s no nonsense approach and hard work clearly shook Middlesbrough forcing them into rushed and wasteful play, the repeated loss of possession producing groans from the home supporters. The Potters made use of freekicks, corners, and Delap’s long throws in the early exchanges to put the home side under pressure without being truly threatening. Griffin’s long punt into the box caused confusion when the Middlesbrough keeper flapped at it, but the ball would not fall kindly and was cleared before Delap closed in. At the other end Middlesbrough exposed Stoke’s defensive frailties on 11 minutes when Alves got between Griffin and Cort to head a cross from O’Neil narrowly wide. Stoke almost contrived to give away a calamitous goal on 20 minutes when a Sorensen clearance barely left the penalty area and fell to a surprised Abdoulaye Faye who lost possession putting Leon Cort in a real mess. Cort slipped allowing the ball to run to Alves who also tumbled with a clear chance on goal, but his team mate Shawky did manage to fire in a shot, luckily straight at Sorensen who gratefully gathered. Stoke still pressed and Fuller sent a couple of efforts wide, a Lawrence freekick was scrambled wide by Turnbull in the home goal and Delap had a shot blocked after Olofinjana had mopped up a loose ball.
However an ugly moment altered the course of the game on 35 minutes. Amdy Faye’s attempted tackle on Shawky just outside the Stoke box was intended to be simply hard and I’m sure was free of malice, but two feet came of the ground and connected with the player’s ankle. It left referee Mike Dean little choice and the red card was rapidly pulled from his back pocket and displayed to the distraught Faye. The Stoke midfielder hung around for few moments to offer his hand of apology to Shawky before trudging dejectedly off for an early bath. It became a double whammy seconds later as Alves curled home a beautiful goal from the resulting freekick, Sorensen helplessly rooted to the spot and left looking on in almost admiration. The ground errupted, the tension melted away, and Stoke could only rue a minute of madness undoing their previous good work. There was still time for nerves though when Fuller went on an incredible run, zigzagging his way into the box from the right wing, nutmegging Pogatetz in the process, before stumbling over and hoping for more than Mike Dean’s eventual disinterest in the challenge.
HT Middlesbrough 1 Stoke City 0, and I was sure the old fella to my left was also a Stoke fan who’d sneaked into the home stand
One could fear the worst for ten men Stoke in the second half, as Middlesbrough would have the extra space to use their pace and skill to get behind the defence to produce a hatful of goals. As it turned out that’s what should have happened but by a combination of luck, gritty defending, poor finishing, and good saves it didn’t occur. Downing had an early shot deflected, then sent a powerful effort just wide of the post. On 57 minutes Tuncay latched on to a pull back but looped it over when he seemed certain to score. Sorensen had to beat away a Downing shot and make another save in the resulting melee on 63 minutes. Moments later Stoke conceded a dubious penalty when Olofinjana was judged to have pushed over Alves who went over very easily. Downing stepped up to put the contest beyond Stoke with a second goal, but incredibly thumped a poor effort against the bar with Sorensen slumped on the ground. It was a huge let off for Stoke and they were amazingly still in the game.
Sorensen’s goal was living a charmed life under almost constant pressure by now, and Aliadiere left the defence in his wake down the right to cut the ball back for Tuncay who would have surely scored, but his effort was deflected just wide by the lunge of Cort. After all their misses it was possible to believe that it wasn’t going to be Middlesbrough’s day and Stoke might pop up with an unlikely or lucky goal to snaffle something they scarely deserved. I’d barely finished offering this opinion to Paddy (who had been thinking the same thing it transpired), when Stoke did exactly that and scored completely against the run of play on 71 minutes. Substitute Wilkinson drove forward into the Middlesbrough half, passed it to Lawrence on the right wing, and he scampered forward until in line with the penalty spot before whipping over a cross to the back post. From where we sat Kitson appeared to arrive with stumbled kung fu kick to messily force the ball into the net from inside the six yard box. However having seen it from another angle the ginger striker’s presence was enough to pester debutant defender Hoyte enough to bump it into his own net. Whoever got the final touch it sent the two thousand strong Stoke contingent behind the goal absolutely beserk, flinging themselves about the stand in wild celebration. I managed a stiffled punch by my leg and looked on wishing I could be in one of the best “mentals” I’d seen since ooooh last week’s winner against Aston Villa 
Stunned Middlesbrough pressed again as Tuncay got in a couple of shots, and Alves forced a wonderful diving save from Sorensen before he made way for Mido on 76 minutes as manager Gareth Southgate looked for the win that really should have been a foregone conclusion. Stoke were putting in great defensive effort at this stage to hold back the onslaught and hang on for a precious and unlikely point. I was just thinking that four points from a possible nine wasn’t a bad start to the season when disaster struck and the home side did get a deserved winner on 85 minutes, although bad luck and a bad mistake played a key role. Wilkinson did well to dispossess Downing on the edge of the box but as he advanced he showed the inexperience of youth, swiftly losing it again allowing Middlesbrough another stab. The cross from the left fell to Digard who hit a poor shot but Wilkinson was coming back after tracking Downing to the corner, resulting in Tuncay being played onside when the skewed ball fell kindly to his feet. Tuncay controlled it well and calmly planted the ball into the net from about 12 yards out. It was hard on Stoke but no more than the home side deserved after dominating the second half and creating a plethora of chances. Stoke did manage a corner a couple of minutes later which got the away fans excited one last time, but it came to nothing and there was nothing left in the way of escape acts as the home side ran down the clock fairly comfortably. Stoke City’s good stuff like the first half domination and second half determination were undone by an ugly challenge which ultimately ended in a bad result, a defeat.
FT Middlesbrough 2 Stoke City 1, and the fella to my left was indeed a Stoke fan, over from York visiting the ground with two Boro colleagues. I let on we were Stoke too, shook his hand and wished him a safe journey home.
To be fair this wasn’t as bad a result as it might have been. The second half with only ten men allowed the home side to create a large number of decent chances and they might have won by a landslide. The Stoke support were magnificent throughout again, loud and proud, outsinging the home fans for much of the game, with several fine renditions of Delilah. They were rewarded with a scruffy goal which might have merited a point for sheer stubborn resistance and the refusal to give up hope. We can take a lot of heart from this display even if Stoke took no points. Stoke’s play can be ugly at times, but if they can iron out the bad mistakes, augment what they have with a few more quality signings, this might end up being a good season after all.
Nigel Johnson might not have proved to be a lucky omen but it’s amusing that the man featured on the front of the matchday programme actually scored an own goal in Stoke’s favour! A debut he’ll want to forget, as I will want to forget the post match chips which were simply wretched. Almost white, soggy, and largely under-cooked they proved no consolation after the defeat and were not worth the walk back into town after the game. Next time I’ll stick to the humous and sundried tomatoes.
