IN January 2005 Middlesbrough boss Steve McClaren made a surprise bid to bring Craig Bellamy to Teesside.

The irascible striker's relationship with then Newcastle United manager Graeme Souness had reached its nadir and it was clear his future lay away from Tyneside.

The bid was rebuffed and the Welshman ended up at Blackburn via a loan spell at Celtic.

The qualities that attracted McClaren to the jet-heeled striker were clear to see at Ewood Park on Saturday as he scored twice and his pace created Rovers' other goal.

With his side down to ten men following Robbie Savage's 54th minute sending-off, the striker did all he could to turn the tide back in the home side's favour. He cajoled his team-mates, annoyed his opponents and harassed the officials.

Without his presence Boro would almost certainly have won the game, and the qualities which attracted McClaren to him were plain for all to see.

He simply had too much zip for Boro's defence which was made to look leggy and one-paced - a fact which angered McClaren.

"That's been our bedrock during our recovery, being hard to beat," said the Boro boss.

"But we were always on the edge of our seats when they attacked

"We were on a knife-edge and even against ten men, when they gave us an opportunity, we were not good enough to take it.

"We've conceded seven in a week and you can't win football matches when you do that."

Boro's skipper for the day Chris Riggott felt the full force of Bellamy's pace as early as the 11th minute.

The Wales international received the ball from Brett Emerton with his back to goal near the byline with the Boro goal in no apparent danger.

He was able to turn Riggott with ease and his low left-footed shot crept into the bottom left hand corner of the net.

"It was disappointing to be turned for their first goal," said Riggott. "I should never have allowed him (Bellamy) to get so much space in the box.

"He's a difficult opponent because of his pace but I'm annoyed we allowed him to dominate us so much."

In Riggott's defence he was carrying a calf strain which ended his afternoon at half-time and threatens to keep him out of Thursday's FA Cup quarter-final at Charlton.

That encounter at the Valley appears to be dominating McClaren's thoughts as he again rang the changes after the midweek epic in Rome.

Seven in total, and if the manager appears to be prioritising Boro's two cup competitions, Riggott isn't.

"My priority has always been the league," said the centre-back. "The league is the best yardstick of exactly how good a side is and this season we simply haven't been good enough.

"The cups are a bonus and that's how I see them. The best measure between ourselves and a team like Blackburn is in our league form.

"I was thinking how we've gone through the whole range of emotions since Wednesday. We were on such a high after Roma and to go to such a low in the dressing after today's game just sums up football."

After an opening quarter hour where possession was a bonus for Boro, they showed the battling qualities that typified their performance against AS Roma.

They levelled in the 16th minute when a throw from Lucas Neill caught the wind, confusing Zurab Khizanishvili, allowing possession to be gifted to James Morrison.

The winger, playing his first game since a hip injury forced him off against Chelsea last month, laid it quickly through to Mark Viduka.

The striker strode casually into the box, delayed his strike for a second before powering an effort past Brad Friedel.

A minute later Friedel showed all his quality to claw away Viduka's header from a right wing corner but just as Boro looked a real threat they went behind again just before the half-hour.

Bellamy chased down an apparent lost cause into the right hand corner, drew the foul from Franck Queudrue and Morten Gamst Pedersen did the rest.

The angle from the right of the box was acute but his powerful drive-cum-cross went through Mark Schwarzer.

McClaren had seen enough at half-time to withdraw the ineffective Ray Parlour and Adam Johnson and the injured Riggott, replacing them with Yakubu, Andrew Taylor and Emanuel Pogatetz.

Yakubu had a good shout for a penalty shortly after the restart when he was bundled over by Khizanishvili, but the real fun and games with Robbie Savage started soon after.

A clumsy challenge on George Boateng produced his first yellow card in the 52nd minute and then two minutes later Boateng blasted the ball off his hand for referee Chris Foy to hand him his second.

Boro appeared to be taking full advantage of their numerical advantage with Morrison dancing down the right wing just after the hour, pulling the ball back and Fabio Rochemback driving home the equaliser.

There now appeared only one winner but Pogatetz's rash decision to leave Bellamy unmarked down the right in the 69th minute ensured it wasn't Boro.

Pedersen's pass found Bellamy in acres of space and after two touches took him into the box he flashed home a drive across Schwarzer.

Blackburn Rovers 3 - 2 Middlesbrough