NORTH-EAST football fans passed their big test with flying colours last night.

The sell-out crowd at The Riverside in Middlesbrough heeded a police and FA warning and behaved magnificently.

There were no repeats of the ugly scenes which marred the national side's last visit to the North-East just two months ago.

More than 100 people were arrested when there were running battles before the match at Sunderland's Stadium of Light, booing of the opponents' national anthem and racist chants.

Last night's Euro 2004 qualifier against Slovakia was, therefore, as important off the pitch as it was on.

Any hint of racism, fighting or supporters on the pitch could have put England's future in the competition at serious risk.

But the North-East returned the pride to the nation as England earned three points with a 2-1 win.

The passionate fans also played their part by remaining silent for Slovakia's national anthem - and even applauding it.

Their response when the visitors scored the first goal of the match was simply to roar: "Come on England."

The 35,000 supporters were left in no doubt as to their duty to behave following the violence in Sunderland when Turkey visited the region in April.

Giant screens outside the ground beamed David Beckham's famous plea for calm to the approaching fans.

Inside the ground every seat held an anti-racism leaflet, and the message "It is an arrestable offence to encroach on the pitch" was posted in front of every advertising hoarding.

Tens of thousands of England fans had converged on Middlesbrough and spent hours in the town ahead of the game.

Northumbria Police worked closely with colleagues from Cleveland Police to ensure there would be no trouble.

A Cleveland Police spokes-man said before kick-off: "All the banter has been good-natured and hopefully it will stay that way."

Throughout the day about 500 police patrolled the town's main streets, backed by specially-trained police spotters looking for known hooligans.

In the run-up to the clash, both police and FA top brass warned that any trouble could lead to severe punishment by Uefa.

Shortly before the game, the convivial atmosphere outside the ground was broken as police rushed to quell disturbances amongst arriving supporters.

Cleveland Police reported a total of 15 arrests for public order and drunk and disorderly offences.

Five of these had been in the town centre and one was of a man who was attempting to enter the ground in a drunk and disorderly state.

Pensioner Tony Kellerman, from Marton, Middlesbrough, said after the game: "I am so pleased there was no trouble. Nobody ran onto the pitch, and everything was so well observed."

Martin Bullen, who travelled to the game from Birmingham, added: "Great ground, great fans, great people - who needs Wembley?"