FOR 45 minutes Middlesbrough were well on their way to completing the job in East London.

West Ham United had been struggling to break the visitors defence down and the occasional chance was being created at the opposite end of the field.

But two goals in the opening six minutes of the second half prevented Boro from making it five matches unbeaten, four in the league, and the confidence built from a decent run will have been zapped away by this.

After Lee Bowyer had coasted in behind the Jonathan Woodgate-led defence to turn Carlton Cole's pass beyond Mark Schwarzer, West Ham simply never looked back.

Middlesbrough, who were by no means outstanding in the first half, looked a shadow of the team that had competed well against the home team in the opening period.

All of the good things - namely an effective defence aiding the occasional foray forward - disappeared and now manager Gareth Southgate will be seriously considering changes for next week's visit of Sunderland.

If Bowyer's strike was sloppy, Luke Young's own goal and Dean Ashton's back post finish were even worse from a defensive point of view - a complete turnaround from the first half.

To add to Middlesbrough's woes, Jeremie Aliadiere appeared to hobble off early on with hamstring trouble and Tunçay Sanli failed to take his chance by missing two sitters.

But it was more about the mistakes at the other end that will annoy Southgate.

Matthew Etherington was afforded too much space all too often down Young's side, while Ashton's mere presence caused problems for David Wheater, Jonathan Woodgate and Andrew Taylor.

What now for Middlesbrough? Shoring up the defence within the next seven days would be the perfect place to start, while helping Tunçay to find his scoring touch is now a must.

WEST HAM (4-4-2): Green; Neill, Upson, Collins, McCartney; Bowyer, Mullins, Noble, Etherington (Boa Morte 77); Ashton (Ljungberg 81), Bellamy (Cole 26). Subs: Wright, Gabbidon.

MIDDLESBROUGH (4-4-2): Schwarzer; Young, Woodgate, Wheater, Taylor (Davies 84); Boateng, Arca, Rochemback (O'Neil 68), Downing; Aliadiere (Tunçay 30), Mido. Subs: Jones, Lee