Boro find their feet under Strachan

WHEN they’re bad, they’re bad, but when they’re good, they’re capable of being brilliant.

While Queen’s Park Rangers might be the most well off football club in the country, Middlesbrough can sporadically appear one of the richest in promise.

After a month-and-a-half of chronic underachievement under new boss Gordon Strachan, the Teessiders finally rediscovered their winning touch in the most emphatic of fashions at the weekend.

Their 5-1 victory at Loftus Road represented their biggest away win since a fourgoal triumph at Blackburn in October 2004, ended a run of five games without a win, handed Strachan his first success as Middlesbrough manager, and lifted the club back into the Championship playoff places at the expense of their opponents.

So far, so good. It also provided a chastening reminder of what might have been, and provided a tantalising glimpse of what still might come to pass if Boro can iron out the dreadful inconsistencies that make a result like this as infuriating as it is inspirational.

Quite simply, a side capable of producing a second-half performance like Saturday’s should not be losing at home to Leicester, Watford and Plymouth.

The challenge now is to use the victory as a springboard for more sustained success rather than allow it to become an enjoyable aberration.

“I read the newspapers and listen to the radio, so I knew what people had been saying about the run we were on and the run of games we had coming up,” said Gary O’Neil, who reclaimed the captain’s armband on his return to the side following injury.

“It was important to get a win to put that to bed, and it’s an important result because the gap to the play-off places was getting a little bit big.

“It shows what we’re capable of, but even though it’s obviously nice to score a few goals, we still only get three points.

“We know we haven’t been consistent enough at times this season, and it won’t really mean anything if we don’t follow it up against Blackpool on Tuesday night.”

That will be the acid test of Boro’s new-found winning ability but, even at this stage, it would be wrong to think of Saturday’s success as a oneoff.

This was the early-season away wins at Swansea, Scunthorpe and Sheffield Wednesday writ large, with Boro displaying a ruthlessness on the counter-attack that is unmatched by almost any other side in the division.

With the possible exception of West Brom, no other Championship team is capable of ripping a side apart as emphatically or entertainingly as Middlesbrough.

From the moment Dave Kitson secured a 31st-minute lead with an instinctive flick from Gary O’Neil’s free-kick, Boro simply ran riot in the opposition half of the field.

They had too much pace, inventiveness and composure for a QPR side that had started the day in fifth position, and by the time Mark Yeates completed the rout with his first goal in a Boro shirt three minutes from time, they had comprehensively outclassed one of their promotion rivals.

But what had changed from the previous away games at Crystal Palace and Peterborough that had ended in such crushing disappointment?

“Nothing,” claimed Strachan.

“We just took our chances that’s all. We’d been good enough to score goals in the run of games we’d been on, it’s just that our play has finally paid off for us. Goals make things look easy, and we got stronger with every one that went in.”

To an extent, that is true. At Peterborough, Boro had recorded eight shots on target and failed to win the game.

Here, they managed nine and cruised to victory.

QPR also played into Boro’s hands by pushing forward with increasing desperation during the second half, and leaving a series of gaps that were crying out to be exploited on the break.

But it would be churlish to put such a rampant victory down to nothing more than the run of the ball or the deficiencies of the opposition.

The fact is that, on their day, Boro really are this good.

Kitson and Leroy Lita form an excellent striking partnership, with the former’s awareness and movement complimenting the latter’s power and pace.

O’Neil brings composure and vision to the heart of midfield, while Isaiah Osbourne, on loan from Aston Villa, is gradually growing into his role as a box-to-box Championship midfielder.

Throw in the experience of Julio Arca, and the bustling energy of Yeates, who had his best game for Middlesbrough as a left-wing replacement for Adam Johnson, who did not travel to London because of a family illness, and you have all the necessary constituents for a unit that will be hugely effective on the road.

For now, breaking down obdurate opposition at home is a different matter, but if Lita and Kitson continue to find the back of the net as effectively as they have in the last three matches, no one will relish entertaining the Teessiders in their own backyard.

“In the second half in particular, we looked like we could score every time we went forward,” said O’Neil.

They just about did, with Lita scoring from the spot following Gary Borrowdale’s handball to build on Kitson’s opener five minutes after the break.

QPR clawed one back when Patrick Agyemang converted fellow substitute Rowan Vine’s cross, but Lita re-established a two-goal lead when he cut inside Fitz Hall and drilled a low shot into the corner.

O’Neil made it four when he volleyed home the rebound after Lita’s shot had struck the right-hand post, and Yeates rounded off the romp as he drifted inside before curling a delicate shot into the corner.

Five goals in less than an hour. The Strachan surge is finally underway.

Match facts

Goals: 0-1: Kitson (31, flicked out leg to divert O’Neil’s free-kick past Cerny)

0-2: Lita (50, hammered home penalty after Borrowdale handled Wheater’s header)

1-2: Agyemang (52, converted Vine’s square ball with first touch after leaving bench)

1-3: Lita (60, cut inside Hall and drilled powerful drive into bottom corner)

1-4: O’Neil (75, volleyed rebound into net after Lita’s drive struck righthand post)

1-5: Yeates (87, cut in from lefthand side and curled precise 18-yard drive into bottom corner)

Bookings: Hall (30, foul). Lita (50, over-celebration), O’Neil (58, foul)

Referee: Phil Gibbs (Birmingham) - Wasn’t always the most authoritative but generally did okay 5

Attendance: 13,949

Entertainment: ✰✰✰✰✰

QPR (4-4-2): Cerny 4; Leigertwood 4, Hall 4, Gorkss 3, Borrowdale 3; Buzsaky 5 (Vine 52mins 6), Watson 4, Faurlin 4, TAARABT 6; Routledge 5 (Pellicori 80mins), Simpson 4 (Agyemang 52mins 6).

Subs (not used): Taylor (gk), Ramage, Williams, Stewart.

MIDDLESBROUGH (4-4-2):

7 Jones: Couldn’t be faulted for the goal and did all the routine stuff very well

7 R Williams: Troubled by Taarabt in opening 15 minutes, but outclassed his opponent from that point on

7 Wheater: Back to his most assured as he marked the dangerous Simpson out of the game

7 St Ledger: Made a number of important interceptions and maintained full concentration throughout

7 Pogatetz: As passionate and committed as ever despite the continued need for a mask

7 Arca: Rolled back the years with a number of perfectly judged touches and through balls

8 O’Neil: Probed and passed superbly in central midfield, and scored with an instinctive reaction volley

8 Osbourne: Showed why Boro were so keen to sign him with an all-action midfield performance

8 YEATES: Direct, inventive and clinical as he scored his first goal in a Boro shirt

8 Lita: Came within an inch of claiming a hat-trick as he blew the QPR defence away in the second half

7 Kitson: Three in three games for a striker who links play well and always looks capable of scoring

Subs:

Digard (for O’Neil, 79mins) (not used): Coyne (gk), Hoyte, Riggott, McMahon, Digard, Emnes, L Williams.

MAN OF THE MATCH

MARK Yeates – the winger produced his best display in a Boro shirt and proved a more-than-able deputy for Adam Johnson.