The Riverside Stadium: Middlesbrough 1-2 Watford

Monday, 14 January 2013

Middlesbrough 1-2 Watford

Aerial shot of The Riverside Stadium (Bing Maps)

Programme - £3.00

Ratings
Overall Ground Quality : 8/10
Ease of getting there : 5/10
Atmosphere : 4/10
Programme : 7/10
View of Action : 8/10
Quality of the game : 7/10
The "football" feeling : 7/10
Chances of coming here for a random game : 2/10
Legroom : 9/10
Surrounding area : 7/10

Overall : 64/100

Adrian attempting to avoid the mud on the way to the ground

The Riverside Stadium from a distance

Approaching The Riverside Stadium

From left to right - The Transporter Bridge, Temenos Sculpture,
the old Able UK Crane and The Riverside Stadium

West Stand

Ayresome Park Gates

The Riverside...by the River side!

North Stand

East Stand

South Stand

Welcome to Teesside, Gianfranco!

West Stand

You wouldn't be in the North East without
a spot of rain and sleet!

Ayresome Park Gates

West Stand

South Stand

East Stand

North Stand

East Stand

West Stand

North Stand

East Stand

South Stand

Redcar Steelworks in the distance

More than half empty, Attendance 17,499

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Middlesbrough 1-1 Wrexham

An opportunity presented itself for a day out and when I’m not watching my own team struggle on at home games I’m trying to retrace my steps to grounds I (Adrian) have not been on for a while and not local to me. So here I am on the banks of the River Tees visiting the Riverside Stadium, the home of Middlesbrough. A venue I had not visited since 2012/13 season. It’s ironic that I should be here because on Tuesday night I was at a ground identical, Pride Park, watching Derby County vs Norwich City. Never warm in Middlesbrough even though we did get some sun at kick off and an expectant home crowd of over 30,000 hoping to see The Boro continue their good start to the season. The opponents Wrexham have enjoyed a lot of publicity over the last few years with the celebrity American owners, TV documentary about them and heavy investment which has seen them rise from the National League to the 2nd tier in successive years. This the clubs first visit to the Riverside Stadium and a return to a familiar part of the world for their manager Phil Parkinson who lived in nearby Stockton from the age of 10. The stadium is an excellent facility offering uninterrupted views and The Boro ticket office gave me the best view in the house half way up the west stand on the half way line. The game was as all in the Championship hard fought, Wrexham settled the quicker, Brynn in the Middlesbrough goal had already been called into action pushing away a long range effort from Ryan Longman before he was beaten by another long range effort this time from Josh Windass which hit the back of the net via a deflection, this after just 7 minutes. 0-1. The home side failed to inspire the big crowd in the first half, Wrexham were finding things pretty comfortable, but I guess most Boro fans raised an eyebrow at the beginning of the second half when Rob Edwards made a quadruple substitution. It worked to a degree, the home side were certainly better in the second period, getting further forward and finding space which had been denied them in the first half. Nevertheless despite this improvement Wrexham were still leading but it turned into a tail of headers, one missed and one scored. Wrexham should have wrapped the game up as Kieffer Moore hit the crossbar with a header from an excellent ball from the left by O’Brien while minutes later Middlesbrough finally levelled Hayden Hackney, a local lad, heading home at the far post a cross from Brittain. 1-1. With 10 minutes to go the atmosphere intensified and Boro could have nicked it. Hackney had a free kick just over and Ayling, the former Leeds player, had a left foot volley which Okonkwo pushed over the bar. FT 1-1. Honours even, for Boro a point gained. I must admit I expected a bit more from them considering they were second in the league table. For Wrexham, you suspect they will be a bit disappointed they could not hang on but their story continues they have made rapid strides due to investment and a good manager. You wonder could they eventually reach the Premier League… I had a quick exit out of the Teeside area, I parked in North Ormsby which is across the A66 from the stadium cutting through what appeared to be a nature reserve which saw me walk under the A66. I was quickly in my car heading west on the A66 for a couple of mile before needing to get across to my left for the A19 south, that was a challenge thanks to modern day discourteous drivers and a low sun. Other than that an uneventful 3 hour journey home using the A1 and M1.