Bamford fires Boro closer to the top-flight

GOOD Friday lived up to its billing for Middlesbrough fans when Patrick Bamford struck again to crank up the pressure in the race to the Premier League.

Bamford took his tally to 15 Championship goals since making a move from Chelsea on loan and in doing so equalled the best total scored by a Boro player in a league campaign in the last 18 years.

The young England prospect was on hand in the 20th minute to direct a shot in to the bottom left corner of Ali Al-Habsi’s net with the help of a deflection to push Wigan Athletic closer to League One.

But for Middlesbrough, who now head for title rivals Watford on Monday, there are only thoughts of joining the elite next season after yet another victory at the Riverside; this time in front of a crowd of more than 23,000.

Wigan, who had won their last four matches to give their chances of survival a boost, battled away in the second half and could easily have claimed a point had they shown more in the final third, even though Lee Tomlin should have wrapped things up in stoppage-time.

But Middlesbrough had done just enough to secure a vital three points in what is turning out to be an incredible Championship promotion race. This victory lifted them top again before Bournemouth and Watford played later in the day.

With three home matches remaining against Rotherham, Wolves and Brighton, it could well be Middlesbrough’s performances at the Riverside which get them over the line.

This was a ninth victory from ten on home turf and, with the exception of a couple of first half scares, the Teessiders rarely looked in serious danger except when Dimi Konstantopoulos failed to hold a deep cross in to his box in the 20th minute.

While the Greek goalkeeper looked around for someone to explain the slip to, Adam Clayton quickly turned defence in to attack with a pass down the line for Albert Adomah.

The Ghana winger opened his legs, turned inside full-back Gaetan Bong and then whipped in a dangerous delivery which was not dealt with properly by the opposition.

The ball was eventually laid off to the edge of the box, where Bamford took a touch and his curling effort deflected inside the bottom corner of Al-Habsi’s net.

It was the first real effort Middlesbrough had had on goal and seconds later Bamford went close to a second when his curling effort was turned behind for a corner from the Wigan goalkeeper.

And while Al-Habsi was hardly called upon before the break after that, Middlesbrough always looked most likely to alter the scoreline while Wigan struggled to show anything more than a team occupying a relegation spot.

George Friend regularly got in behind right-back Harry Maguire and created a couple of openings. Jelle Vossen, preferred to Tomlin and Kike, turned a low centre behind from a tight angle from one of Friend’s centres, while Clayton drilled a low shot just wide.

Karanka had felt there was a need for greater experience in his side for the run-in, so included Jonathan Woodgate at the heart of the defence and he was flawless from start to finish when called in to action.

Woodgate, selected ahead of new loan signing Fernando Amorebieta who only returned from international duty on Thursday, made the right decisions and played the right passes to frustrate Wigan’s lone striker system, which saw former Sunderland man James McClean operate that role.

McClean’s willingness to run at defenders was apparent when he had the ball, but there was not enough of that to really concern Middlesbrough and the only surprise was that there was not more shots at the opposite end.

That could easily have proven to be to the home side’s downfall. After the restart there were a couple of fantastic opportunities to add to the lead, but it just never happened in the final third.

Adomah was the main source of supply, with his strong running down the right causing Bong problems. Wigan kept doing enough, though, to keep Middlesbrough’s attacks at bay, while there was hardly a high level of creativity to deal with either.

And with the exception of a near post Al-Habsi save from substitute Tomlin’s flick with 21 minutes remaining, the best of the chances beforehand were for Wigan.

Had it not been for Konstantopoulos’ quick reactions then it would have been level on the hour. The former Hartlepool goalkeeper made a good save at his near post to stop Marc Antoine-Fortune’s effort after he had turned and shot following a lovely pass from Harry Maguire.

Then former Arsenal winger Jermaine Pennant, remember him, fell over when he miskicked a routine, gaping chance in the penalty area after Kim Bo-Kyung had rolled a pass in to his path 12 yards from goal.

In fact Wigan regularly probed the Middlesbrough box and had it not been for some wasteful play then they would have been level.

Al-Habsi did have to make a further low stop to deny Bamford and Adomah looked dangerous when they picked him out, but Karanka was rightly relieved to hear the final whistle – even if Kike did have a goal ruled out for a Clayton foul on Al-Habsi.

At times it might not have been pretty, but Middlesbrough have taken another step towards a top-flight return.