Just as a cricketer in full-flow suddenly loses his timing as he approaches the nervous nineties and a golfer suffers with the yips as he closes in on a title, footballers often sit deeper and deeper as they defend a narrow lead.
Bill Beswick called it the 'red zone'.
A game that should have been comfortably wrapped up suddenly evolves into a test of nerves as the opposition launch hopeful punts forward.
Take Boro's clash with Bolton on Tuesday night. Muzzy Carayol could well have been introduced for his long-awaited comeback as Boro coasted to a convincing victory.
Instead, with the game not put to bed, Ben Amos trotted forward as the Trotters sensed a late leveller.
Aitor Karanka admitted that inability to kill off the game was a concern.
"I can understand it when we play against teams and we haven't had chances to score and you have only one and score and then have problems (late on)," said the boss.
"But usually we have two, three four clear chances and the other team's keeper is the man of the match and you arrive in the final minutes with problems. It is a problem we have to fix."
How we'd love to stroll into the latter stages of games in command of a controlling lead and in the absence of butterflies fluttering around the in stomach.
But Boro can take comfort from the fact they're not alone. In fact, the game against Bolton was just the second time Boro have won a game by just a single goal on home turf this season, the other being the 2-1 victory over Cardiff City last month.
Table-topping Derby County look to have been equally as convincing at home. The Rams have won three games at the iPro Stadium by a single goal margin, one of which was the 3-2 victory over Huddersfield Town when they conceded the second goal in the 90th minute.
It's that home form which has played a significant role in the league position of both sides. McClaren's men top the table on home form, having picked up 37 points from a possible 51, while Boro are just three points behind.
But that's not to say it's been all plain sailing on home turf.
On paper, Boro's 2-0 victory over Huddersfield Town looked convincing enough but it needed a 90th minute stunner from Lee Tomlin to allow some breathing space.
And although Charlton hardly looked like salvaging an equaliser on their trip to Teesside, it required another Tomlin strike late on to extend the winning margin to two goals against the Addicks.
And then there was Blackburn and Rudy Gestede. The afternoon Aitor Karanka prefers not to speak about. That undeserved last-gasp leveller.
But Derby fans have had to endure similar scares.
The Rams twice sealed 2-0 wins at home by scoring the second with almost the last kick of the game - at home to both Bournemouth and Blackburn.
And they suffered the heartbreak of a derby defeat to Nottingham Forest in the dying seconds when just 10 minutes earlier they were a goal to the good.
On the road the Championship's top two sides have both endured some nerve-wracking finales.
Remember the moans at Huddersfield when 'Typical Boro' resurfaced ever so briefly and allowed Jon Stead to apply his annual sucker punch, only for Grant Leadbitter to go up the other end and secure the points with a cool head from the spot.
And Blackpool away. Heart-rates are still on the come-down from the late drama at Bloomfield Road.
In total, Boro have won six games away from home by a single goal.
At Bolton, Karanka's side came from behind to show their battling qualities for the first time this season and at Cardiff they stood strong to a late flurry of long-balls and held on comfortably as Kike's early goal proved to be a matchwinner.
But what should have been an enjoyable end to the game at Brighton ended up an anxious affair as Gordon Greer's 88th minute goal ensured a nail-biting finale. And at Brentford Boro flirted with the opposition throughout but somehow held on to a one-goal lead.
Boro's chief promotion rivals have suffered their own distressing periods of stoppage time defending a single goal lead.
The leaders held on to win 3-2 at Blackburn and had to grind out a 1-0 victory at basement boys Blackpool.
And they had to endure uneasy late stages at Ipswich and Watford, although their single goal victories at Portman Road and Vicarage Road will be near the top of their promotion winning CV come the end of the season should they book a spot in next season's Premier League.
The final whistle at the Riverside on Tuesday night was greeted more by a feeling of relief than joy.
Nervous backs-to-the-wall finales are not what the doctor ordered but a win is a win. Whether Boro and Derby win by a single goal or hit teams for four or five, they both know promotion to the promised land is in their own hands now as long as they keep winning games.
No comments:
Post a Comment