THE quest for Oasis tickets may have been on most people’s minds over the weekend – especially those Boro fans who headed to Cardiff rather join the Ticketmaster queues.
But the disappointment at missing out on the prospect of a Wonderwall singalong with the Gallagher brothers, would have been eased by Aidan Morris, even if his post-match interviews did bring to mind the equally insanely catchy ‘Everything is Awesome.’
That’s because almost everything did seem to be awesome for the American midfielder in Cardiff, judging by his interactions with the media and nothing could curb his enthusiasm despite being denied a first goal in Boro colours.
Morris had to console himself with the knowledge his deflected shot sealed victory for Boro but there was no way he would, erm, look back in anger as he reflected on the game and his club’s upward mobility.
And that meant the word ‘awesome’ regularly punctuated his post-match chats with journalists at the Cardiff City Stadium.
“It was awesome,” was the overall Morris verdict. “This is a tough place to visit but to get the points in fashion we did and win is great.”
As for the role Boro fans played in the victory, there was only going to be one adjective that sprang to mind.
“I felt the fans backing us form the first minute to the last,” he added. “It felt like our own ground. They were awesome.
Readers will now get the picture and while it’s a bit of exaggeration to say beating bottom-of-the-table Cardiff is an awesome achievement, it’s clear Boro have a vibrant ball of positivity on their books.
It certainly doesn’t look as though it’s taken much time for the former Columbus Crew player to develop a strong working relationship with Hayden Hackney in midfield.
That they have so quickly hit it off ensured that, despite a five-minute flurry of activity in their own box, Boro looked head and shoulders above Erol Bulut’s Cardiff side which is already fighting for its Championship existence.
Morris and Hackney dominated the midfield exchanges and thanks to them, the first half was pretty uneventful with only Finn Azaz and Hackney getting pulses racing with a couple of long-range efforts that were comfortably saved by Ethan Horvath.
“A lot of first halves I’ve seen in this league are all about figuring out the opposition and seeing what they’re showing up with,” Morris added.
“We dealt with adversity throughout and grew into the game really well. We started the second half a little slowly but that was a good wake-up call. It raised our intensity levels.”
As Morris acknowledged, Boro lived dangerously after the half-time refreshments. Aaron Ramsey’s shot was deflected onto a post by Luke Ayling before Seny Dieng kept out Chris Willock’s follow-up and then denied Ramsey with a flying save.
That flurry of activity seemed to stir the team in red who suddenly raised their game, swarming forward with only a fine low save by Horvath denying a twisting and turning Azaz.
But Boro were not to be frustrated for much longer. Azaz swung over the resultant corner and Clarke put Boro in command with a powerful header on 55 minutes.
“Matt’s goal calmed things down,” Morris said. “It took the pressure off us and then after that we were brave to press them. A lot of teams sit back but we didn’t and we managed the game well.”
With Isaiah Jones always looking dangerous down the right, it seemed only a matter of time before Boro would double their lead but they had to wait till the 82nd minute before clear water was put between the sides.
Morris led the celebrations after seeing his shot from just inside the penalty area beat Horvath after being teed up by Alex Gilbert, but his effort took a hefty deflection off the luckless Ramsey and went down as an own goal.
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