Kink is hailed as Boro's new hero

WHEN Gordon Strachan signed Tarmo Kink for £650,000 in the summer, he cannot have imagined the Estonia international would have an instant impact at the Riverside.

Seven matches into his Middlesbrough career, however, and the winger might just have kept his manager in a job.

With 12 minutes of last night's home game with Burnley remaining, Boro were trailing to Andre Bikey's headed opener and heading for their fourth defeat of an already alarming campaign.

Given that Steve Gibson was willing to sack Gareth Southgate last season when his side were only one point off the automatic promotion places, it is safe to assume he would have been considering a second dismissal in the space of 11 months with the Teessiders just two points off the bottom of the league.

Two long-range strikes from Kink later, however, and Strachan was able to celebrate a second home win in succession. On such fine margins do seasons, and careers, turn.

Kink was only introduced in place of Gary O'Neil in the 75th minute, and it took him just four minutes to make a major contribution.

Fed by Scott McDonald from the left flank, the winger hammered a fierce low strike into the bottom right-hand corner.

The relief that accompanied the strike was palpable, but it was nothing compared to the elation that accompanied his stoppage-time winner.

Wade Elliott fouled Leroy Lita with 93 minutes gone, and Kink calmly curled a left-footed 25-yarder beyond goalkeeper Brian Jensen. It is hard to imagine a more dramatic double intervention in the space of just quarter-of-an-hour.

The brace dug the rest of the Boro side out of an almighty hole, and detracted attention from yet another poor attendance.

It also eased the pressure on Strachan, who must have been fearing the worst at kick off when David Wheater's injury forced a defensive reshuffle that saw Julio Arca start at left-back. The impact might have been tempered, of course, had Andrew Taylor not left the Riverside on transfer deadline day.

Similarly, while the return of Leroy Lita up front hardly augured well, it was a scenario entirely of Strachan's making given the presence of Kris Boyd on the substitutes' bench.

The striker was supposed to be the biggest of Boro's summer signings; thus far he has simply been the biggest disappointment.

He has certainly been outshone by his strike partner, Scott McDonald, and the Australian was prominent in the early stages of last night's game as the Teessiders initially betrayed none of the anxieties that had plagued them in the second half of Saturday's defeat at QPR.

With Andy Halliday starting brightly on the left, and Lita foraging productively in the channels, the lively McDonald was presented with two decent chances inside the opening 15 minutes. Unfortunately, he was unable to convert either of them.

The first was blazed over from the edge of the six-yard box after Lita squared from the right-hand side, while a second effort was thwarted by the legs of Brian Jensen after McDonald outpaced Tyrone Mears.

It felt as though such profligacy could not be afforded, a sense that only increased when the striker completed an unwanted hat-trick midway through the first half, curling over from the edge of the area after Justin Hoyte's slaloming run had taken him half the length of the field.

Burnley had barely featured as an attacking force at that stage, but the visitors scored three goals in six minutes against Preston at the weekend and, in Chris Iwelumo, boast a striker proven at Championship level.

The Scotland international bagged a hat-trick on Saturday, and should have done better with a first-half header that flew wildly over the crossbar following a teasing left-wing delivery from former Sunderland winger Ross Wallace.

Nevertheless, Burnley had served notice of their aerial ability, and Brian Laws' side could hardly have come closer to a breakthrough three minutes before the break.

Wallace delivered another measured centre, this time from the right, and Bikey out-jumped two Boro defenders to plant a ten-yard header against the base of the right-hand post.

A goal at that stage might have shattered the hosts' fragile confidence, but as it was they began the second half in the same positive manner they kicked off the first. Sadly, their finishing also remained equally as ineffective.

Gary O'Neil had an age to size up a back-post volley from McDonald's left-wing cross, but the midfielder crashed his strike straight against Jensen's legs. When the ball returned to him with the goalkeeper grounded, he slammed his follow-up shot into exactly the same spot.

Burnley had failed to capitalise on Boro's profligacy before the break, but just as QPR had run away with things in the second half at the weekend, so the Clarets turned the screw after the break last night.

The opener took 65 minutes to arrive, but when it did eventually appear, the simplicity of the strike was perhaps the most damning indictment from a Middlesbrough perspective.

Graham Alexander slung over a corner from the left, and the imposing Bikey showed more desire than the entire Boro defence put together as he slammed home a header from the edge of the six-yard box.

Unsurprisingly, the goal preceded a chorus of boos from the home crowd, but Strachan acted decisively, replacing the hobbling O'Neil with Kink. It was to be the best decision he made all night.

Matchfacts

Goals: Bikey (65mins, 0-1), Kink (79, 1-1; 90, 2-1)
Bookings: Bikey (40, foul)
Referee: Jonathan Moss (Leeds) 6
Attendance: 15,033
Entertainment: ✰✰

MIDDLESBROUGH (4-4-2): Steele 6; Hoyte 5, Bates 7, McManus 6, Arca 6; Robson 5, Tavares 4, O’Neil 6 (Kink 75mins), Halliday 5 (Boyd 73); Lita 5, McDonald 6. Subs (not used): Coyne (gk), Hines, McMahon, Smallwood, Bailey.

BURNLEY (4-3-3): Jensen 6; Mears 5, Carlisle 6, BIKEY 8, Fox 6; Elliott 5, Alexander 6, Cork 5; Eagles 5 (Rodriguez 88), Iwelumo 6 (Thompson 68, 5), Wallace 7. Subs (not used): Grant (gk), Marney, Edgar, Cort, Paterson.

MAN OF THE MATCH
TARMO Kink – Two shots; two goals. Too many more nights like this and the Estonian will be a Teesside folk hero.