Middlesbrough visited Sheffield on Wednesday night hoping they could put their recent troubles aside with a performance against high-flying promotion hopefuls Sheffield United.
However, it wasn’t to be.
In a game that certainly won’t go down as one of the classics of the season, unlikely source Richard Stearman collected the only goal after latching onto Oliver Norwood’s cross 15 minutes into the second half.
Nothing really separated the two teams until then, with a number of shots being taken at both goals. Mark Duffy’s effort required a wonder save from Boro stopped Darren Randolph before George Saville fired in the away side’s first attempt of the game after 16 minutes.
On-loan Manchester United keeper Henderson was later needed to keep out a goal-bound effort from Jordan Hugill, before lethal Billy Sharp had his own effort saved on the stroke of half time.
Sheffield United kick off the second half far more prominent of the two sides and, following a disallowed Billy Sharp goal, finally capitalised in the 61st minute through a Stearman header.
Hothead Ayala’s didn’t help his sides recent fortunes receiving a second yellow for a challenge on Keiran Dowell.
It’s difficult to decide who performed well on the day given how lacklustre their efforts were after the opening minutes. However, our preference for an unsung hero has got to be Darren Randolph.
Such is the way with poor outfield performances – they often lead to standout games for the busy ‘keeper.
Middlesbrough’s No.1 pulled out some delightful saves on more than one occasion, including a sensational stop to deny Mark Duffy a goal in the opening minutes.
He denied the home side over and over again and was the focal point of their defence following injuries to Adam Flint and the dismissal of Ayala.
