FRUSTRATION was written across the face of every dejected Middlesbrough player as they were forced to endure at first hand Norwich City’s promotion celebrations from the Wembley surface where their own Premier League dream died for a further year at least.

It was simply not Boro’s day.

Not from the moment the team coach was delayed in traffic en route to the stadium beforehand. Not when Daniel Ayala got in a mess and allowed Cameron Jerome to open the scoring early on. Not when Boro’s attacks constantly came up short against a determined and extremely effective Norwich team well drilled by young boss Alex Neil.

And, ultimately and more crucially, it was not Middlesbrough’s day when referee Mike Dean blew the final whistle at the end of 94 minutes of Championship play-off final football which never looked like ending with more than 40,000 red shirts from the North-East celebrating.

Boro captain Grant Leadbitter was a forlorn figure as he left the pitch. He was the last man of the losers to depart, refusing to head for the dressing room until he had seen counterpart Russell Martin return from the Royal Box with the trophy and start the party with the sea of yellow from East Anglia.

Leadbitter had the look of a player hurting like never before as a professional footballer and it will be hoped he can channel that determination to lead a successful promotion charge next season. It will certainly not be easy, he knows that.

The reality is that Boro are heading for a seventh season in the Championship, while Aitor Karanka’s big pal Jose Mourinho will lead Chelsea back to Carrow Road rather than the Riverside.

There can be few complaints. Norwich were more switched on from the first whistle and gained their rewards when Jerome made the most of Ayala’s hesitancy to put Boro behind inside 12 minutes.

And three minutes later Nathan Redmond, perceived to be the danger man on the flank beforehand, worked his way into the box to add a quick-fire second.

Middlesbrough, who never really tested Canaries goalkeeper John Ruddy, could find no way back and Karanka must somehow come up with a way of reassembling a side capable of an automatic promotion spot in 12 months time – and without a slice of the £130m windfall Norwich are now guaranteed.

Players will be leaving, new signings made, but it will be hoped this was not the best chance Karanka had of getting the team back to the top-flight. Middlesbrough have made progress under him, but Neil’s Norwich were more efficient and effective beneath the Wembley arch.

Recent history suggested it was going to be a difficult afternoon for Boro. Six of the last seven teams to have finished fourth in the Championship had lost the play-off final.

So Norwich, beaten twice during the regular season by Karanka’s men without scoring a goal, should have had the edge, shouldn’t they? After all, they finished a point above Boro at the end of an unpredictable 46-game slog.

A delay on arrival of the Middlesbrough team coach was not the ideal preparation, but Karanka had already tried to put plans in place to inspire his squad. He had four decorators go into the dressing room at 6am on the morning of the game to put up ‘Believe’ messages and pictures of the players.

Providing an extra lift should have been the sight of leading scorer Patrick Bamford reclaiming his place in attack, but his recent ankle injury meant he was never anywhere near the sort of player who earned the Football League’s player of the year award.

It quickly became apparent that Norwich had no problems in motivating themselves for the afternoon and they caused problems for Boro’s defence from the outset. An early probing run from Redmond down the right set the tone, even though it never really came to anything.

And once Jelle Vossen had crashed a volley against the top of the bar seconds after Bradley Johnson had done the same at the other end, Norwich took command. That was the closest Middlesbrough came to scoring at any stage.

Norwich’s first attack after that flurry of woodwork activity ended in the opening goal. Johnson’s hopeful ball down the line was dealt with competently initially when Ayala headed into the feet of Dean Whitehead.

The return pass should have just been humped upfield. Instead Ayala got in a mess and tried to turn. Jerome nipped in, took control as the Spanish defender stopped to appeal for a foul, and time appeared to stand still for the striker to cruise towards goal and sidefoot beyond Dimi Konstantopoulos, beaten at his near post.

Norwich sensed an opportunity to seize on Boro’s frustrations and added a second less than three minutes later. Redmond drilled a lovely, powerful finish low and beyond the Greek goalkeeper after his first touch to control Steven Whittaker’s pass took him beyond Ben Gibson.

After that Middlesbrough settled without really looking like they could break down the Canaries defence.

Where the likes of Wes Hoolahan and Redmond caused problems every time they were on the ball, Middlesbrough could not find any composure and Bamford, Lee Tomlin and Vossen struggled to pose a real threat.

Clear chances were few and far between at both ends until the second half and Middlesbrough had a clear change of approach after the restart; there was still a real source of frustration in that very little was held up by the forwards.

Adomah was the most dangerous attacking Boro player. His runs down the right worried full-back Martin Olsson. When the Ghanaian beat his man and whipped in a lovely centre, though, neither of Bamford nor Vossen had envisaged a delivery so Norwich survived.

Bamford did have a shot on the turn saved by John Ruddy on the hour, but it never looked like finding the net and dragging Middlesbrough back from the dead. It was a day to forget for the Chelsea loanee, clearly lacking sharpness after injury, and it was summed up by the cries for Kike to be introduced.

Karanka tried a few things, George Friend probed down the line occasionally, but the tactics deployed by Neil were carried out to a tee; highlighted by the likes of Tomlin only really getting a touch when he dropped into a less dangerous area of the pitch.

In the final quarter of an hour Boro found more space in the Norwich box but wasted good positions. The nearest they came to scoring was when Ayala, who had already headed one corner over, saw a goalbound header cleared off the line by Lewis Grabban.

After that Middlesbrough’s attempts to get back into it weakened. Norwich actually ended the game stronger, with the Teessiders accepting time had finally run out on this year’s attempts to return to the Premier League.

The Northern Echo: