“Bungling Boro threw away a golden opportunity to virtually secure a Premier League future at the City Ground.
“A pitiful performance in no way reflected the high importance of this promotion showdown at Forest which had Boro won they would have been clear at the top and sailing towards the top flight.
“Could any team have wanted a bigger incentive? Yet instead we got a disjointed debacle.”
That deja vu deconstruction was the pessimistic intro to a strident match report by Teesside’s Mr Football Eric Paylor after Boro had been blasted emphatically off the top spot by title rivals Forest in March 1, 1998.
The game came at a pivotal point of the promotion push and prompted a brief wobble that was to set the frayed nerves mood music for a fraught final furlong.
Shop steward striker Pierre van Hooijdonk had put in a serious shift and torn Boro apart, scoring twice from dead balls with serial nemesis Kevin Campbell chipping in his mandatory goal and ex-Holgate hero Colin Cooper heading into an open net amid defensive chaos and a series of deflections.
It was a torrid second debut for on-loan keeper Andy Dibble, who actually played well in the first half and made a string of good saves to keep the rampant home side at bay.
But he could do nothing about a shambolic second half deluge as the defence unravelled.
And it had been a strong Boro side. Dibble had been drafted in to cover for crocked keeper Mark Schwarzer but otherwise Bryan Robson’s side were at full strength: Fleming, Kinder, Festa, Pearson, Mustoe, Hignett, Maddison, Merson, Thomas, Branca... Beck, Armstrong, Ormerod on the bench.
That was an expensively assembled outfit totally geared to bounce back.
It was, the pundits and a string of defeated managers told us in post-match mitigation, “the best team in the division”.
But they were dismantled by Forest whose win in the big six- pointer hauled them level at the top with Boro.
Still, the pair were six points clear. What could possibly go wrong?
Something stirred deep in the Teesside psyche. The jitters set in. And it was about to get worse.
Four days later a still smarting and now second-placed side went to a struggling QPR who were just four points above the relegation spots and who had won just one of their last 14 games - and were absolutely battered 5-0.
Meek Boro retreated to the edge of their own box early on and gradually withered under a long ball assault.
The collapse started with an unfortunate Steve Vickers own goal but then Boro collapsed and shipped the other four in 17 slapstick minutes either side of the break.
Andy Townsend was sent off for a second yellow late on and skipper Nigel Pearson failed to show after the break with a renewed knee injury and Boro finished the game chasing shadows.
“Boro’s week of total humiliation was complete at Loftus Road as Boro surrendered,” wrote Eric.
“The words dire, dismal, dreadful, woeful and shambolic all spring to mind after an embarrassing thrashing.
“Schoolboy errors, lack of passion, capitulation under pressure - this game all the worst nightmares of every Boro fan.
“What hurts most is that two golden opportunities to take a commanding lead at the top have been spurned by a team I did not recognise. Will the real Boro please stand up?”
It was the start of a very nervous 10-game run-in to a closely- fought second tier promotion battle that sparked an outbreak of tangible tension on Teesside that had the Samaritans cancelling all leave.
Boro went to Forest after an uncertain, stuttering spell. They had dropped points in ‘winnable’ games - a defeat at Charlton, draws against Ipswich and Birmingham - and just edged to ugly 1-0 wins over Bradford and Crewe.
The nervous spell had been illuminated by a 3-1 derby win at Sunderland and progress to Wembley in the Coca-Cola Cup final after a sparkling semi-final triumph over Liverpool.
But the pessimists - sorry, realists - believed the Twin Towers would be a distraction from the bread and butter business of getting promoted.
The two thumpings had badly dented morale and as Boro imploded at QPR, surging Sunderland won 3-0 at Forest to close in ominously to within three points of the top two and fourth-placed Charlton battered West Brom 5-0 and were closing fast.
Boro were wobbling. They had sprung a leak. They had stopped scoring. Inspirational leader Nigel Pearson was crocked. And all the rest were hitting form just as Boro dipped.
Fans were bickering among themselves.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
The atmosphere was tetchy as the adrenaline kicked in with the traditional fans’ fracture line between ‘foam finger’ ra-ras and ‘bed-wetting’ Chicken Runners being complicated by a growing gulf between the emerging forces of the PRG (Pro Robson Group) and ARG (Anti Robson Group).
Bitter sniping was going on across that chasm on the Sports Pink letters pages, the then vibrant Century Radio phone-in and on the new Fly Me To The Moon message board - although the heat was taken out of some of the latter by the long tedious wait for bitchy blasts to appear from the ether in the frustrating dial-up dawn of the internet.
It was going to be a long and emotionally draining last 10 games with plenty of ups and downs.
UP! There was a fantastic euphoric explosion as Boro blasted back to the top on goal difference with a morale-boosting 6-0 midweek thrashing of Swindon on March 11.
Microphone man Neil Maddison pulled the strings and scored twice with Alun Armstrong also getting two while instant hero Marco Branca - the Uwe Fuchs of the campaign - continued to grab the headlines with a brace of his own including a last gasp overhead kick that secured top spot.
DOWN: But that was followed by a shaky slip-up at Portsmouth as Boro dominated but had to settle for a goalless draw.
In a scenario that will feel familiar, Boro bossed possession, passed and probed and created a string of chances that they failed to take - and but for a Marlon Beresford save in first half injury-time they would have lost.
But elsewhere Forest beat Bury 3-0 to open a two-point gap above while Sunderland edged a point closer with a draw at Birmingham.
STEADY AS YOU GO: The following Saturday was a bad day as Forest won at Birmingham to go five points clear and Sunderland briefly nudged one point ahead by beating Pompey - but Boro clawed it back on Sunday with a resounding 3-0 home win over Norwich with Maddison, Armstrong and Beck on target.
DOWN: After an international break Boro suffered a double blow as they lost 2-0 to Chelsea in the Coca-Cola Cup final at Wembley on a weekend when Sunderland beat Bury to leapfrog two points ahead and, although Forest slipped up at Charlton, they stayed top on goal difference.
DOWN: Worst was to come and the Teesside terrace tremors set off sensitive seismic monitors all over the world as wobbling Boro lost 2-1 at West Brom on April 4.
Paul Gascoigne made his league debut but Albion were two up before Branca pulled one back late on and new signing Hamilton Ricard missed a stoppage time sitter.
Meanwhile Forest, midweek winners over Sheffield United, went EIGHT points clear of Boro with a scrappy 2-1 win at Ipswich while Sunderland had stretched the gap to four with a Friday night win at Tranmere and Charlton had closed to just three points behind. Tense.
DOWN: The wheel-nuts were loosened further and people made play-off plans amid a bitter atmosphere of recrimination and resignation as Boro somehow contrived to lose 1-0 at Sheffield United the next time out.
Boro just edged a nervous game and created enough chances to win at a canter but scapegoat elect Ricard missed two gilt-edged chances while Magic Man Paul Merson blazed a penalty high over the bar.
Elsewhere that night Charlton won 1-0 at home to Wolves to nudge ahead on goal difference and, having looked nailed on for promotion since November, Boro were down to fourth and in their worst dip of form of the entire campaign.
UP: With the stakes raised, Boro upped their game with a 4-0 Riverside rout of lowly Bury with Branca cracking a hat-trick after Ricard broke his duck in the first half.
But Boro failed to make up ground as Forest and Charlton both won and Sunderland drew leaving Boro two points shy of the automatic spots.
UP: Branca scored early on then Boro comfortably controlled the game in a 1-0 win at Reading.
Elsewhere Charlton and Forest won but Sunderland let slip a lead to draw 3-3 at West Brom so Boro moved up and join a three-way split for second spot.
UP: Boro turned up the heat with a third successive win, edging out Manchester City 1-0 in a Friday night Riverside scrap that wasn’t one for the purists.
Saturday, though, turned up the heat as Charlton and Sunderland both won to maintain the status quo and leave Boro fourth.
UP: Boro kept up the pressure with a 1-0 Friday night win at Port Vale as Merson scored early on, then Boro dug deep in and Schwarzer made a string of crucial saves.
Sunderland and Charlton won on Saturday as the tension became almost unbearable.
UP: Boro finally made the breakthrough in a round of midweek games on April 29 as they ground out a 1-1 draw at Wolves - Ricard quickly levelled after an early opener - while Sunderland lost at Ipswich and Charlton slipped up at Swindon.
Boro were back into second place and a single point ahead of both their erstwhile rivals going into the final fixtures.
UP, UP AND WEHEY! Boro had to win to secure promotion. Anything less would leave them hostage to fortune.
But they stayed strong, attacked from the off and whupped Oxford 4-1 to go up in style at home.
After a tense first half - and the news that Sunderland were winning at Swindon - Armstrong cracked in two in two minutes soon after the restart then Craig Hignett added two more in five minutes before Oxford pulled one back late on.
Get in. Boro promoted. Sunderland won to finish a point shy while Charlton could only draw at Birmingham - although they had the last laugh by winning the play-off finals against the Mackems.
Boro had kept their nerve as they wobbled badly 10 games out.
They recovered from two punishing setbacks that opened the door to their rivals, soldiered on through a wobble of just four points in four games and then found themselves fourth in a three way split of second spot.
But they bounced back with a run of four wins on the spin as their rivals cracked under the pressure then finished with a final flourish at home.
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