Saints 2-1 (aet) Boro - Match Thread

[Southner]

5 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

There is clearly more to this than meets the eye. Hoping saints are able to bite back at Boro.

Would be nice to shut everyone up with some solid facts. Tonda looked calm when asked, but when doesn't he. 

[woodsaint1]

Boro did absolutely nothing from the 60th minute onwards. Were out on their feet and hoping for penalties. We didnt create much but it didnt matter in the end

[saintant]

22 minutes ago, OneMrsWallace said:

Unless the ref heard it, can't see anything being done about it? 

Ayling went straight to the ref and reported what THB had said.

[trousers]

6 minutes ago, Mattio said:

What happened with the ball boy? I couldn’t see from where we were sat

 

4 minutes ago, badgerx16 said:

Boro had a throw in and the ball boy wouldn't give them the ball, pointing instead to another one further up the touchline. Ended up with the Saints subs handbagging with a couple of Boro players.

 

2 minutes ago, woodsaint1 said:

Yeah there was a ball available which Stephens tried to hand to Targett, but instead he wasted time by walking down the line to the ball boy to ask for his ball. The ball boy said nope 😂

The ball boy played it by the book IMO... There was already a ball on the touchline 'ready for play' so he'd have been wrong to release a second ball at that time 👍🏻

[saintant]

1 minute ago, woodsaint1 said:

Boro did absolutely nothing from the 60th minute onwards. Were out on their feet and hoping for penalties. We didnt create much but it didnt matter in the end

They didn't do much from the 30th minute onwards to be fair.

[Patrick Bateman]

1 minute ago, woodsaint1 said:

Boro did absolutely nothing from the 60th minute onwards. Were out on their feet and hoping for penalties. We didnt create much but it didnt matter in the end

I did wonder if they were hoping for penalties or just dead on their feet - both teams were flagging like fuck though, ridiculous efforts all round.

[moonraker]

The comments on BBC HYA are an embarrassment for Middlesbrough what a bunch of clowns they are

[skintsaint]

1 minute ago, saintant said:

Ayling went straight to the ref and reported what THB had said.

So the ref didnt hear it then.

[James G]

1 minute ago, Southner said:

Would be nice to shut everyone up with some solid facts. Tonda looked calm when asked, but when doesn't he. 

To be fair, we never looked we spied on Boro play wise. And they had their chances first half, first game

I genuinely think they have knocked themselves out

[saintant]

Just now, Patrick Bateman said:

I did wonder if they were hoping for penalties or just dead on their feet - both teams were flagging like fuck though, ridiculous efforts all round.

We were clearly the stronger side from about the 60th minute. 

[Saint NL]

Boro played well for 60 mins in the first leg.

They played well for ~30 mins in the second leg.

Playing well for less than half the time gets you nothing. 

[saintant]

1 minute ago, skintsaint said:

So the ref didnt hear it then.

Didn't seem so - I think he was dealing with something else at that moment.

[Convict Colony]

6 minutes ago, trousers said:

 

 

The ball boy played it by the book IMO... There was already a ball on the touchline 'ready for play' so he'd have been wrong to release a second ball at that time 👍🏻

yeah this players have to use the ball on the cone to stop these types of interactions with ball boys

[skintsaint]

Loved how their defender ducked out the winning goal.

[SWLondon Saint]

4 minutes ago, James G said:

To be fair, we never looked we spied on Boro play wise. And they had their chances first half, first game

I genuinely think they have knocked themselves out

Yep, I agree they knocked themselves out as much as anything. They could / should have put the tie out of sight in the first half at theirs but we did defend well.

They let the whole angry revenge thing wind them up too much. Their coach should have been doing the opposite of stoking the fire really.

[Eire Saint]

Stewart, Manning, Jander, Charles had decent games. Scienza and Azaz not clicking, so we lacked that bit of creativity to unlock their defence. Sign of a good team though, can grind out a result. Fans were immense tonight. 

[Convict Colony]

also can we not spy on hull as boro started like a steam train both games when we knew their set up.

Also I say again fairplay boro they absolutely nullified azaz over 2 games he did fuck all

[austsaint]

27 minutes ago, JohnnyShearer2.0 said:

I wondered why Tonda started Charles. 

This was why!

He (Charles) was immense tonight.  Not just the goal but throughout he played the box-to-box role superbly.  And Jander was equally as good.    Thought Tonda had erred not starting with Downes or starting all three with Charles in the Azaz spot, but the fresh legs of Downes really helped tosnuff out any Boro revival for much of the second half.    Manning, a player many of us have criticised was outstanding - his passing, touch, control, dead ball delivery were all brilliant.

How did Bree end up back at Charlton early in the season? His return has played a big part in this amazing second half of the season.   Wood was solid; Stewart played his part, moved the defence around, held the ball up and timed his leap and finish perfectly for the equaliser.     Subs played their part, particularly Larin and Edozie.

For Saints to overcome that first half blitz on Saturday, going behind early tonight, the Spygate stuff and the associated media barrage is a big achievement.    One more hurdle to clear.   How likely did any of this seem after the 0-4 result at Riverside?     

 

[S-Clarke]

What a fucking night that was, my nerves are absolutley shot. I felt weirdly nervous all afternoon too, as nervous as I've felt about a game for a very long time. The early goal from them didn't bloody help either, it was a rubbish start from us again and they had us pinned up field for the first portion of that half. It definitely wasn't as relentless as it was at the Riverside, but they did settle into the game quicker.

But the same theme seemed to occur, they tire themselves out too early and it allows us to just creep back into the game. I think from about 30mins onwards, they didn't really step forward did they? I don't remember any scary moments beyond the first 30 mins.

For us, I felt we huffed and puffed quite a bit. Middlesbrough sat back in a shape after they scored, and it was hard for us to find space - we were never going to score a ''footballing'' or direct open play goal against them, just based on how well they were setup. Credit to them for that, they made it very, very tough. The goal just before HT was absolutley massive, everything changed on that. We completely took over that second half, but we just didn't create enough openings - I always felt it was going to be a crappy goal that was going to bobble in or something.

As ET ticked down, my nerves were in bits to be honest. I was pretty much preparing my mind for penalties, and then Charles comes up with another moment - it's exactly the sort of goal I thought would win it, a weird cross shot that no one dealt with and it just went in. He didn't mean that.

It felt like it was another 90 mins played after Charles goal, but we stood firm and sure - they threw bodies up, hit shots, pot shots etc, but we were throwing ourselves at everything.

Overall though, these two legs have been absolutley box office. So, so different to the WBA games a few years ago - that was such an easy/calm game in comparison! But these two games were such enthralling viewing, so much happening, so many moments and so, so, so tight right up until almost the last kick. 

MOTM for me was THB - I don't know what happened with him and Ayling, but commenting on just his performance as a defender and a captain - COLLOSUAL. Absolutely colossal. That is the THB who played for England and will play for England again if he continues that level.

Onto Wembley then, again. The most important thing now is for everyone to get a bit of rest, couple of days downtime and some TLC on the likes of Leo/Jander etc. A mention for Jander actually, he could have also been MOTM - the guy is a machine, his fitness levels are ridiculous. A proper midfielder.

 

[Hodgey]

33 minutes ago, Saint NL said:

Just saw on twitter that THB said something like "keep stuttering" to Ayling. 

Not very nice, but don't think he will get banned for that 

This is a really tough one - and actually sums up a lot - when the stakes are so high it’s almost as if any advantage should be taken. The reality is that there will be huge pressure to take advantage you can if the stakes are so high like they are in football. 

Let’s be honest - the behaviour we have shown hasn’t been anything to be proud of. Ends justifies the means of course, I guess my point is that if the stakes are so ridiculously high you may do or say things you would never normally do. 

[Jonnyboy]

18 minutes ago, trousers said:

 

 

The ball boy played it by the book IMO... There was already a ball on the touchline 'ready for play' so he'd have been wrong to release a second ball at that time 👍🏻

From what I saw, Larin was holding the ball and as Target approached he dropped it so Target had to pick it up. Matt picked it up and then dropped it himself and decided he wanted to pay back Larin by timewasting himself by asking for a different ball. 

Edited 44 minutes ago by Jonnyboy

[Golac's Cunning Stunts]

5 minutes ago, skintsaint said:

Loved how their defender ducked out the winning goal.

He was blowing out his arse and didn't have the energy to jump I thought

[Midfield_General]

7 minutes ago, skintsaint said:

Loved how their defender ducked out the winning goal.

And then burst into tears 🤣

Edited 48 minutes ago by Midfield_General

[Paul_B]

2 minutes ago, James G said:

To be fair, we never looked we spied on Boro play wise. And they had their chances first half, first game

I genuinely think they have knocked themselves out

Exactly! We were fucking shocking in general over both fixtures. First game was just embarassing, tonight we were far too passive, all sideways and backwards a la Russball. Certainly nowhere near how we have been playing the last few months. We made it difficult for ourselves. The ref didn't help, the EFL clearly had a word and told him Boro need to win. Some of his decisions were borderline corrupt! 

All that said, we dug in, some great blocks and defensive headers. Downes' tackle in 2nd half of ET was one of the tackles of the season. The elation and relief when Charles' cross went in was immense!

THB was MOTM for me. Whatever he said to Ayling is fully justified on the basis that Ayling is such a cunt. Just in case I hadn't made my feelings clear on him. 

Tonda, can we please go back to playing how we have prior to these playoff games for the final?! These performances have been so frustrating and no good for my heart!

P.s GTFI!!

[franniesTache]

1 minute ago, Hodgey said:

the behaviour we have shown hasn’t been anything to be proud of.

Disagree, we've finally for the first time in ages got a bit of bastard about us, that's why opposition fans hate us. And if - and it's still a big if because hull have had the measure of us twice this season - we go up that siege mentality of us against the world is EXACTLY what teams need to stay up,

Long may it continue, the ale house brawlers again ole ole ole

[SWLondon Saint]

1 minute ago, Golac's Cunning Stunts said:

He was blowing out his arse and didn't have the energy to jump I thought

I thought he was trying to back header it away and was too tired. He couldn't just jump and head it full on as it was in the perfect place to score an own goal.

[Saint Pete]

I don't know what went on with Ayling and THB but what I will say as an observer in the stadium, Ayling himself seemed to be giving out plenty, getting in the referee's face etc on a regular basis. I'm not excusing it but I'm guessing quite a lot of fairly fruity language was being given and taken on both sides, particularly in that first half. 

[Jonnyboy]

Great win. The first half was rocking. 

Random weird question, from the Itchen/Chapel corner looking across the pitch it always looked like heavy steam clouds swirling out under from the Kingsland/Northam corner. 

Are you guys just really sweaty or do we look the same to you guys?

[sockeye]

I actually didn’t mind tje Martinball esque passing in this one. Especially towards the end, I got the feeling it was deployed to exhaust Boro as they tried to chase and intercept

[DellBlockH]

5 minutes ago, Hodgey said:

This is a really tough one - and actually sums up a lot - when the stakes are so high it’s almost as if any advantage should be taken. The reality is that there will be huge pressure to take advantage you can if the stakes are so high like they are in football. 

Let’s be honest - the behaviour we have shown hasn’t been anything to be proud of. Ends justifies the means of course, I guess my point is that if the stakes are so ridiculously high you may do or say things you would never normally do. 

Is there actually any proof of this? I don't accept someone said something on Twitter as proof. If he did say it, it's despicable and he should face the same punishment as somebody making a racist remark to another player. But let's get the proof first, eh?

[Midfield_General]

Just now, franniesTache said:

Disagree, we've finally for the first time in ages got a bit of bastard about us, that's why opposition fans hate us. And if - and it's still a big if because hull have had the measure of us twice this season - we go up that siege mentality of us against the world is EXACTLY what teams need to stay up,

Long may it continue, the ale house brawlers again ole ole ole

Exactly. I love new Evil Saints, it's about time. 

Anyway, lots to enjoy here:

https://fmttmboro.com/index.php?threads/the-unofficial-official-southampton-v-middlesbrough-play-off-sf-2nd-leg-match-day-thread.80982/page-52

They're a bunch of fucking twats and I'm delighted we smashed them in the most heartbreaking way possible. 

MOTM: Harwood-Bellis

MOTM runner-up: The ball boy

 

[Miltonaggro]

Tad pissed, few stops on way home. Great battling performance from our team, who ground a strong Boro side down there. Bree and Manning the difference tonight for me - so important for us now. Good our fans avoided more attention by staying in the stands and the ‘Northam Wall’ lived up to the moniker. Reckon the Boro brain damage should get off their coaches about 4am - karma! 

[trousers]

 

 

[trousers]

 

 

[James G]

11 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

What a fucking night that was, my nerves are absolutley shot. I felt weirdly nervous all afternoon too, as nervous as I've felt about a game for a very long time. The early goal from them didn't bloody help either, it was a rubbish start from us again and they had us pinned up field for the first portion of that half. It definitely wasn't as relentless as it was at the Riverside, but they did settle into the game quicker.

But the same theme seemed to occur, they tire themselves out too early and it allows us to just creep back into the game. I think from about 30mins onwards, they didn't really step forward did they? I don't remember any scary moments beyond the first 30 mins.

For us, I felt we huffed and puffed quite a bit. Middlesbrough sat back in a shape after they scored, and it was hard for us to find space - we were never going to score a ''footballing'' or direct open play goal against them, just based on how well they were setup. Credit to them for that, they made it very, very tough. The goal just before HT was absolutley massive, everything changed on that. We completely took over that second half, but we just didn't create enough openings - I always felt it was going to be a crappy goal that was going to bobble in or something.

As ET ticked down, my nerves were in bits to be honest. I was pretty much preparing my mind for penalties, and then Charles comes up with another moment - it's exactly the sort of goal I thought would win it, a weird cross shot that no one dealt with and it just went in. He didn't mean that.

It felt like it was another 90 mins played after Charles goal, but we stood firm and sure - they threw bodies up, hit shots, pot shots etc, but we were throwing ourselves at everything.

Overall though, these two legs have been absolutley box office. So, so different to the WBA games a few years ago - that was such an easy/calm game in comparison! But these two games were such enthralling viewing, so much happening, so many moments and so, so, so tight right up until almost the last kick. 

MOTM for me was THB - I don't know what happened with him and Ayling, but commenting on just his performance as a defender and a captain - COLLOSUAL. Absolutely colossal. That is the THB who played for England and will play for England again if he continues that level.

Onto Wembley then, again. The most important thing now is for everyone to get a bit of rest, couple of days downtime and some TLC on the likes of Leo/Jander etc. A mention for Jander actually, he could have also been MOTM - the guy is a machine, his fitness levels are ridiculous. A proper midfielder.

 

Even when they scored, I felt confident throughout for whatever reason. At the beginning, I thought, they're not pressing, they are conserving energy for a late push 

After 30 minutes, it was clear they were tired 

To be honest,.we should have beaten them more comfortably

[The Wyvern]

Love to be hated and show a mean streak for once. The club has always been far too nice. 

[woodsaint1]

THB and Ayling were talking and hugging later in the game so it couldnt have been too discriminatory what was said 🤷

[leeham_69]

15 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

Exactly. I love new Evil Saints, it's about time. 

Anyway, lots to enjoy here:

https://fmttmboro.com/index.php?threads/the-unofficial-official-southampton-v-middlesbrough-play-off-sf-2nd-leg-match-day-thread.80982/page-52

They're a bunch of fucking twats and I'm delighted we smashed them in the most heartbreaking way possible. 

MOTM: Harwood-Bellis

MOTM runner-up: The ball boy

 

I think we should have a competition to find the most outrageously over the top hurt comment from that thread, it is so hard to choose 

[hypochondriac]

5 minutes ago, The Wyvern said:

Love to be hated and show a mean streak for once. The club has always been far too nice. 

Agree it's great to be bad. Let's win the final with a Scienza dive so they really hate us.

[Toadhall Saint]

20 minutes ago, Saint Pete said:

I don't know what went on with Ayling and THB but what I will say as an observer in the stadium, Ayling himself seemed to be giving out plenty, getting in the referee's face etc on a regular basis. I'm not excusing it but I'm guessing quite a lot of fairly fruity language was being given and taken on both sides, particularly in that first half. 

His reaction to being carded should have earned him another  - simple as. Ref bottled it tho.

[Paulwantsapint81]

THB - I’m Fcuking Roy Keanes daughter you are just fcuking sh!t

[CanadaSaint]

15 minutes ago, sockeye said:

I actually didn’t mind tje Martinball esque passing in this one. Especially towards the end, I got the feeling it was deployed to exhaust Boro as they tried to chase and intercept

I agree with this - and I’m big on getting the ball forward quickly and using both touchlines in our attacking play.

We don’t do it to the point of self destruction, like Russball. But done well, with the threat of clipped passes out wide, it’s exhausting and soul destroying to counter. It really took the sting out of the heavy press that very nearly killed us up there.

[Dan Johnson]

1 hour ago, skintsaint said:

My favourite so far...

https://fmttmboro.com/index.php?threads/horrible-cheating-b-stards.81060/

Fuck me, what an embarrassment, they’ve not missed out on promotion because of an analyst with an iPhone and 5 minutes of footage, they’ve missed out because they went on a SEVEN game winless run during the run in, they bottled it and now they’re clutching at any straw they can.

they battered us in the first half of the first game, battered us! What advantage did we get from cheating? Did our video make their players miss multiple chances? 
 

 

[Zorba]

39 minutes ago, trousers said:

 

 

The ball boy played it by the book IMO... There was already a ball on the touchline 'ready for play' so he'd have been wrong to release a second ball at that time 👍🏻

And the commentator that said something like “bad sportsmanship must run through the club”. What a cock! 

[Edmonton Saint]

What time is the final on the 23rd? I’m stupidly travelling to England from Canada that day and am worried I’m going to be 35,000 feet in the air relying on Saintsweb for updates. 
 

wishing now I’d booked a couple of days earlier travel, but when I booked the ginger twat was in charge and no chance of Wembley.

[Saint Pete]

15 minutes ago, Paul_B said:

Exactly! We were fucking shocking in general over both fixtures. First game was just embarassing, tonight we were far too passive, all sideways and backwards a la Russball. Certainly nowhere near how we have been playing the last few months. We made it difficult for ourselves. The ref didn't help, the EFL clearly had a word and told him Boro need to win. Some of his decisions were borderline corrupt! 

 

I disagree with your comment about us being too passive tonight. I agree that we started the game tentatively and I must admit I was mentally questioning whether Tonda made the right call going with Charles rather than Downes. (But I thought Charles did grow into the game in the end). We didn't seem to have midfield control in the first quarter of the game and it looked dicey for a while. But we gradually wrestled control and seemed to have a huge amount of set pieces at their end.

It was no surprise for me when we equalised and second half and in extra time, it always felt we were the dominant side and the more likely to force a winner. The keep ball stuff I think actually helped in that respect and helped us build pressure on Boro. 

Bottom line is I think most genuinely neutral observers would have said we definitely edged it overall tonight and deserved the win. Boro are a good top end side so it was never going to be a walkover. 

[HarvSFC]

Ahahaha. The final of what, Eurovision?

[Holmes_and_Watson]

34 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

also can we not spy on hull as boro started like a steam train both games when we knew their set up.

Also I say again fairplay boro they absolutely nullified azaz over 2 games he did fuck all

Perhaps not in the way you'd think/ expect. But Azaz was all over the park tonight. I don't think there was another player he didn't help out.

[CB Fry]

Absolute agony for most of the night but we deserved to win the tie across the two matches. Boro had a half and then half a half, we really were on top when it mattered. But Boro were very good and evenly matched as it should be as there was only a goal between us across the whole season.

Having been to both matches I would say that finishing fourth and having the Riverside match on Saturday lunchtime and tonight at home - that was absolutely critical for us winning. There was an intensity to the Boro fans which would have told for them and against us if the matches were the other way round.

 

[leeham_69]

5 minutes ago, CanadaSaint said:

I agree with this - and I’m big on getting the ball forward quickly and using both touchlines in our attacking play.

We don’t do it to the point of self destruction, like Russball. But done well, with the threat of clipped passes out wide, it’s exhausting and soul destroying to counter. It really took the sting out of the heavy press that very nearly killed us up there.

agreed, and unlike peak Russball, Peretz is willing to blast it into the next postcode if things get too hairy.