EIGHT shots and no goals; a record not normally associated with the dependable striking prowess of Middlesbrough's Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

Eight days earlier the former Chelsea striker had clinically struck a second half hat-trick at Blackburn but there was no repeat performance from the Dutchman yesterday.

The reformation of Middlesbrough's Hasselbaink-Viduka firing line in front of their own supporters was supposed to herald the continuation of the club's rise and rise up the Premiership table.

The pair had not played together since September 25 and Portsmouth's visit to the North-East was an occasion when Steve McClaren's forwards were going to show one of the manager's other summer targets why attentions were turned elsewhere.

Had it not been for Pompey's inflated price-tag on Aiyegbeni Yakubu, the man who scored four of his side's five goals in a comfortable final day victory over Boro last season, then Hasselbaink may not have been wearing a red shirt.

Instead Yakubu stayed at Fratton Park, McClaren looked elsewhere and Hasselbaink made the switch from London to Teesside for a considerably cheaper initial outlay.

And, having scored seven goals in eight appearances, including yesterday's failure to find the net, Middlesbrough look to have nicked a bargain even if he is pocketing the reported £40,000 a week basic pay packet.

While Hasselbaink, Viduka and Yakubu all struggled to find the breakthrough, the largely unheard of Diomansy Kamara showed the more highly-rated triumvirate how it should be done.

Kamara, a capture from Italian side Modena, tormented the Middlesbrough defence when he opened his legs before firing his low drive into Mark Schwarzer's bottom left corner.

It was an incredible goal from the French-born Senegalese international and quite ironic to think that, with all the expectations focused on the other front-men on the pitch, it was one of the Premiership's lesser lights that broke the deadlock.

Kamara, despite two more jinking runs, never had another effort on goal. In fact Portsmouth struggled to conjure up anything threatening enough for Yakubu to test Schwarzer and show the Riverside faithful what they missed out on.

On this display it was a wise decision by McClaren not to splash the £6m-plus on the Nigerian. At 21 his playing days will last well after Middlesbrough's two front-men retire, but he clearly still has a lot to learn.

Asked to play as a lone striker, Yakubu's task was always going to be a difficult one. There was the one instance when Lomana LuaLua tormented Gareth Southgate before whipping in a teasing cross that just shaved the head of his attacking colleague.

But if Yakubu was starved of opportunities to add to his five-goal tally this season, a total not deemed suitable by the disgruntled Pompey fans, the same could not be said of Hasselbaink.

Where moving for the younger Portsmouth man would have been a gamble, the free signing of the Dutchman from Chelsea in the summer was almost guaranteed to pay off. With little to learn, Hasselbaink is as close to the finished article as any top-flight boss is going to be able to find for nothing.

But even he had to rely on the tenacious and increasingly reputable talents of young winger Stewart Downing to fire Middlesbrough out of a hole. Hasselbaink could have played until Match of the Day 2 had finished on BBC2 last night and he probably would not have added to his tally.

No matter how hard he tried his shots found no way through Shaka Hislop. Long range drives, shots on the turn and a mazy run - still Hasselbaink failed to work his name onto the scoresheet.

Viduka didn't fair better either. After a largely uneventful return to action alongside Hasselbaink, the Australian came to life in the last quarter of an hour. But he is still searching for his first goal since September 16 after finding the woodwork with a near post header.

Following Hasselbaink and Viduka's near-perfect start to life on Teesside there is no question of whether McClaren was right not to spend big money on Yakubu.

And, having missed out on adding to their goal totals in a Middlesbrough shirt yesterday, Coventry or Charlton will be lucky to find either man in such generous mood later this week.