As 7,000 Barrow fans took over the South stand of the Riverside stadium the spirit of the FA Cup was well represented but what of Boro? Well, Southgate followed tradition to an extend by 'resting' a couple of players, although the players in question - Tuncay and O'Neil have both been linked with moves away and would be cup tied had they taken part yesterday and then moved on.
Ross Turnbull had a day off to let all the Boro fans remember just how much better than Brad Jones he actually is (sorry Brad) and Mido came on for the final surge (Barrow's, not ours) and proceeded to stroll around the pitch with his usual air of superiority.
Didier Digard is not a man to be left out and bounced back from his recent injury spell with gusto. The French midfielder was partnered by nineteen year old Josh Walker who has been a semi permanent fixture on Boro's bench but has not had the opportunity to break into the starting eleven.
Walker did his chances no harm, he ran tirelessly, he has a good range of passing, he proved he can tackle cleanly (and not so cleanly in retribution for Ali's injury!) and he had shots on target. I am struggling to remember Arca's last shot, let alone one on target.
Fair enough it was only Barrow and not a tough test of a young player's abilities but Walker has been made captain of every England youth team he has played for right up to U19 level, he gets himself into the game and even at the tender age of 19 has the confidence to lead by example.
In his post match interview, Newcastle born Walker also made it very clear where his loyalties lie, saying "Boro are the only team I want to play for".
Arca will not doubt go straight back in the team to face his old club Sunderland next weekend but I think Josh deserves a shot.
Shortly after the half hour mark we lost Jeremie Aliadiere to injury. The Frenchman had been storming forward, flicking tricky back heels to his team mates and generally causing Barrow problems with his pace and ability. The only way to stop him was to bring him down which the Barrow boys did, taking him out of the game with a crunching tackle and leaving Boro fans with our hearts in our mouths.
Ali had his hand up straight away as he rolled on the floor in obvious pain. Still, the referee in his infinite wisdom waited the length of a Bible before finally allowing a stretcher onto the pitch to take the Frenchman away.
Fears of a broken leg seem to have been unfounded after the game as Southgate pronounced the injury to be hopefully just 'deep bruising' . I am not sure how long players are normally out with deep bruising, nor what actually constitutes a 'deep' bruise but it is a hell of a lot better than a broken leg, so we'll gladly accept it.
Barrow's Mike Pearson was sadly not so lucky. A challenge by Emnes left the unemployed short-term contract player with a double leg fracture.
Emnes, who was underwhelming to say the least, was then subbed and stormed off down the tunnel. We have enough diva strops with Tuncay thank you very much and Emnes was hauled back into his seat like a chastised schoolboy.
Adam Johnson was a revelation and looked, it has to be said, a far better player than the jaded Mr Downing. However Johnson was largely unmarked for long periods, had acres of space and was supported very well by Tony McMahon.
Downing seemed to have an aversion to passing to Alves apart from setting him up for Boro's first goal on twenty-three minutes and again to seal the game on sixty-two minutes. And credit where credit's due, Alves actually looked like a footballer for the first time this season.
However both Alves and Downing managed to miss a plethora of chances and when Jason Walker pulled one back for Barrow with ten minutes to go, from yet another appallingly defended corner, Boro fans started to get a bit nervous.
Still, we made it through, almost in one piece and will hopefully put together a decent cup run.
The draw for the fourth round of the FA Cup has just been announced and Middlesbrough will face either Birmingham or Wolves depending on the result of their replay. Both teams are sitting pretty in the top three of the Championship and Wolves at seven points clear are looking a good bet to be joining the Premier League next season.
Both teams could give us a scare and if we put in a lacklustre performance Wolves will have us for breakfast! With many of the 'big' teams playing each other the Premier League herd will be thinned down at a relatively early stage, hopefully leaving teams like us to fight against the passion and industry of lower league opposition.
First published on www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/sport/fanzone - Jan 09
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