Middlesbrough 1 Watford 1

AWAY from the hype, hullaballoo and the hyperbole of the Premier League, it was refreshing to see an honest game of football high on quality.

The chances are, both Middlesbrough and Watford will still be loitering around the top six of the Championship come the end of the season, and on Saturday’s showing, it is fair to say that both would deserve promotion.

Sometimes it is hard to understand just what clubs see in the Premier League – outside of the obscene amount of money doled out to the clubs which has thus far only served to pay the players who ply their trade there even more money and increasing the gap between the haves and have nots.

The football sometimes seems secondary to other events. Shirt-swapping, diving and fan protests all seem to gain more attention than the actual games.

This could be Boro's last season in the Championship for some time. But the chances are pretty stacked against them having 24 points in the Premier League at the same stage next season.

So for now, we should enjoy these games while we can, before the circus of the Premier League rolls into town, where personality is favoured over good, honest games of football.

Saturday’s game was a perfect example of a fair point. Boro had a decent amount of chances in the first half, but Watford looked dangerous in the final half-hour.

In the end it was a goal apiece. Kike’s 49th minute strike cancelled out by Troy Deeney’s finish on 61 minutes.

For Aitor Karanka, the point represented a good day at the office, in front of a decent crowd of more than 17,000 at the Riverside.

“I’m very happy. It was one of our better games since I arrived at the club and we played very well against one of the best teams in this division,” said Karanka.

“If football was fair, we would have won 4-0 because in the first-half we were very good and had so many chances. If we had taken them, the game would have been completely different.

“When you don’t score your motivation can go down, but we kept working in the same way in the second half and got our goal.

“But when you don’t finish off the game against one of the best teams in this league, you can have problems.

“But I still think the players were brilliant and the performance is the most important thing.

“The fans were brilliant, it was our job to get the result on the pitch and the crowd can be very proud today of our team.”

Boro were denied by a combination of excellent goalkeeping and poor finishing.

Jonathan Bond replaced Heurelho Gomes after the former Tottenham goalkeeper picked up an injury in the warm-up, but the England Under-21 stopper was an ample replacement.

His point-blank save from Patrick Bamford was remarkable, spreading himself perfectly to deny the on-loan Chelsea striker who was employed in a wide role.

The 21-year-old keeper pushed George Friend’s drilled cross to safety on the half-hour mark, before Kike headed over from Frriend’s cross moments later.

Matej Vydra provided Watford’s first chance, his 20-yard shot tipped around the post by Dimi Konstantopoulos on 32 minutes, before Kike missed another chance when he nodded Ryan Fredericks’ cross over the crossbar.

Odion Ighalo’s drilled cross brought another save out of Konstantopoulos as an end-to-end first half came to a close.

After the interval, it was Boro who came out with the bit between their teeth. Fredericks and Friend, Boro’s full-backs, spent long spells as auxiliary wingers, pushing forward at every opportunity, and Fredericks shone in the second half.

The defender, on loan from Tottenham, fired just wide on 48 minutes after working his way into a good position, before playing a part in the build-up to Boro’s goal.

It was Bamford’s cross though that Kike fired home from after taking a deflection to fall kindly into the Boro man’s path.

Boro continued to attack after the goal, Bamford dancing through the Watford defence to be denied by Bond at the last, but Watford brought Deeney into the fray in a bid to counteract the hosts’ dominance.

Deeney’s influence proved critical. The centre-forward, who scored 25 goals last season, instantly gave Watford more presence up top, and it was Deeney who restored parity when he turned Ikechi Anya’s cross past Konstantopoulos.

Neither side bust a gut to get the winner, and Karanka felt it was more important to gain a point rather than go all out and potentially come out with nothing.

“If you don’t win this type of game, it’s very important that you don’t lose,” explained the manager.

“This game was an example of how difficult it is in this league. But it was very good game to watch. Both teams had chances and the game was very open.”