?It looked as if Boro were going to have to settle for a share of the spoils in a tough encounter against Sheffield United. But goals from Matthew Bates and Marvin Emnes in either half ensured the Teessiders claimed all three points in the basement battle to put 13 points between the two sides and 11 of third bottom Scunthorpe.
And Boro had to scrap every step of the way to stretch their unbeaten run to five games on a sunny day in south Yorkshire.
Middlesbrough were largely outplayed for the majority of the clash but they showed some bottle and resolve to hang on in there when they were up against it to claim a hard-fought victory.
Bates put Boro ahead in the 18th minute against the run of play before United deservedly levelled ten minutes later through Matthew Lowton. The visitors then claimed the triumph with one minute to go when a sublime Julio Arca pass set up Emnes to slot past Steve Simonsen.
Middlesbrough manager Tony Mowbray made three changes to the side which drew 3-3 with Leicester City last weekend.
Boro skipper, Mathew Bates, returned for the first time since limping off at Crystal Palace on February 5. Stephen McManus also started at Bramall Lane, while Nicky Bailey had also shaken off his knock and lined up against Sheffield United. Out went Arca, Richard Smallwood and Andrew Davies who began the match on the bench.
A speculative strike from Matthew Lowton after six minutes was easily dealt with by Paul Smith, while Andrew Taylor scuffed wide from distance in the opening exchanges. But the Boro shotstopper had to be at best on 15 minutes, when Lowton smashed a ball from an angle 12 yards in the 18-yard box, to turn around for a corner.
But it was the visitors who took the lead through returning Bates three minutes later despite the hosts enjoying most of the possession. The Boro skipper employed as a holding midfielder, ghosted into the box unmarked and clipped, a clever ball from Taylor, past Simonsen from ten yards.
Micky Adams' side exerted the pressure straight after and an outstanding save from Smith kept Mowbray's outfit in the lead, much to the disdain of Darius Henderson in the 25th minute. But there was nothing he could do three minutes later when Joe Mattock's dangerous cross found the head of Lowton from close range at the back post.
Scott McDonald was finding pickings hard to come by at this point, but he made the best of a half-chance in the 36th minute, from a Taylor cross, when forcing Simonsen into pushing around for a corner.
After the break the hosts continued to press and Smith had to be at his best once again to stop a thunderous shot from Joe Mattock with little over four minutes on the clock. Th best Boro could offer was an an effort from Bailey which went wide.
It seemed only a matter of time before the Blades found another considering all the pressure and possession they had. Boro were struggling to get out of their own half.
Mowbray brought on Julio Arca for Bailey in an attempt to change things and moments later it almost did when Tony McMahon stung the goalkeeper's hands. And from the resulting corner Simonsen then pulled off an outstanding stop to prevent Williams giving the visitors the lead.
The visitors did enjoy a little luck when Henderson headed over from close range with only 15 minutes left. It seemed harder to miss the target.
McMahon curled one just over as the hosts continued to push but that was all to avail as Emnes slotted home to send the travelling Boro fans home in raptures.
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Sheffield 4-3-3: Simonson; Nosworthy , Collins,? Lowry Mattock; Doyle, Quinn Risse,?Lowton, Henderson, Bogdanovic
Subs: Aksalu, Tonne, Kozluk, Yeates, McAllister, Bent, James
Boro: Smith, Bates, McManus, Hines, Bennett; McMahon, Williams, Bailey, Taylor; McDonald, Emnes
Subs: Coyne, Halliday, Arca, Smallwood, Davies, Tavares, Kink
Source: Northern Echo
Source: Northern Echo