THIS was a FA Cup tie where the focus had been on two clubs separated by 56 places in the Football League standings and 270 miles apart. It also pitted opposing managers Tony Pulis and Michael Flynn together, having grown up in homes around 1000 yards apart in South Wales.

And yet in the end it was a Newport County substitute with much stronger roots to Teesside than Pillgwenlly who piled further frustration on a Middlesbrough team showing no sign of improving fortunes at the Riverside Stadium.

Hartlepool-born Matty Dolan was a highly-rated young talent who didn’t get the breakthrough or the chance he had hoped for having graduated through Middlesbrough’s academy system.

When he left Rockliffe Park in 2014 after a couple of loan spells, Dolan had not made a single appearance in the league or cups, despite having the backing and support of the club’s former academy director Dave Parnaby.

So after Dolan popped up in the penalty box to force home a stoppage-time equaliser to earn a replay at Rodney Parade, there will have been a degree of satisfaction felt by Parnaby, who watched Saturday’s fourth round tie from the stands, even if Boro’s disappointments grew.

“Dave was the best at his job. He’s left his legacy here over the years and if you ask anyone who has a career in football, they wouldn’t be able to do it without him,” said Dolan.

“He still sends the odd text every now and again and it’s a bit of a ‘wow’ moment when he does. It’s a special club, a special academy and I’m sure they’ll keep producing players.

“I’ve not looked at my phone, I’m not even going to open it, I might not get a nice text off Dave this time but I’m sure he’ll be respectful will Dave.”

Dolan, 25, has ended up at Newport after spells with Bradford, Hartlepool and Yeovil. He was annoyed not to have started just 15 miles from his hometown and backed by around 40 friends and family in the away end.

He almost didn’t go on either. Dolan said: “The gaffer was fuming. The fourth official wouldn’t let me on because I had to tape my socks and the gaffer was like, ‘he’s been on it all game, you should have been on.’

“I was like, ‘yeah whatever.’ I was a bit disappointed not to start so you can imagine me on the sideline and then after that I got on and did my job. That’s what he told me to do – go forward and get a goal.

“Quite a lot of my mates are Newcastle fans I think I’ve made their weekend. A lot of them came down in their numbers so it was nice to score a goal and celebrate with them.’’

Dolan’s dad had an accident at home recently and he’s using a wheelchair to get around. The scorer added: “I did see my dad’s walking stick bobbing about from his wheelchair at one point. He thoroughly enjoyed that moment and it was nice seeing a big smile on his face at the end; it was lovely.”

Dolan’s gain was Middlesbrough’s pain.

Tony Pulis, the Boro boss, now has to take his team down to his hometown after all, in the knowledge that Newport, of League Two, have already beaten Leicester City there this season.

“It’s in between two big games (against West Brom and Leeds),” said Pulis. “I’ll get on to Michael Flynn now and get a bucket load of tickets because I’ll need them. We’re still in the Cup!

“I said just now, in 2011 when we got to the final with Stoke, we played Cardiff at home and drew one each. Then we went to Cardiff and won – and got to the final. Cup games are a strange old thing.”

If Middlesbrough are going to turn up like they did on Saturday then they might as well let Newport through now, although they have tended to play better on their travels this season.

Despite having the greater share of possession for long periods, Pulis and the supporters were frustrated by a lack of chances created and in the end the Exiles had tested Darren Randolph more. The Riverside crowd have had to get used to that.

Middlesbrough had not even recorded a shot on target until the second half. Britt Assombalonga was the first and from the resulting corner defender Daniel Ayala headed in Lewis Wing’s delivery five minutes after the restart.

At that’s stage Middlesbrough looked comfortable without opening Newport up like they should have been able to and the man to stand out the most was new signing John Obi Mikel, playing his first hour of football since November and leaving China behind.

“When you have control you’re hoping you create chances. When those chances come you hope to take them to put teams away,” said Pulis.

“That’s been our story really at home – being in good positions, looking at the stats and all the possession we had in final third in second half. Put that against the amount of chances we created and the opportunities we didn’t take.

“Darren has made a couple of saves from what they’re good at. They get balls in the box, get bodies around it and look for bits and pieces. The big disappointment for me is we didn’t stop crosses.”

A lot of uncertainty surrounding players’ futures ahead of this Thursday’s closure of the transfer window might be contributing to Boro’s profligacy at home, but mainly it does just seem that there is anxiety in their play at the Riverside.

But Middlesbrough, who have struggled to win games on Teesside since September, are not helping themselves because they don’t express themselves like they should be able to, nor did they show the urgency required to deliver a result against Newport.

“I don’t know if it’s urgency. Every game we play, unless you get the second goal, there’s always one situation that could change the game,” said Pulis. “The players have done well. There’s been a flu bug flying around for ten days now, the lads who have played have had a right crack at it. Again, we fall down on the final third.”

Wing has become one of Boro’s main threats because of his willingness to have a shot at goal from distance, and that was how they came closest to scoring a second. He had already hit the bar in the first half and then forced Nick Townsend into a save at the other end.

Aside from those, and Mikel’s composed display plus flashes of Stewart Downing’s quality in possession, it was Newport who posed the greater threat.

Before Dolan struck in the final minute of added time, when Middlesbrough didn’t stop Josh Sheehan from sending over a cross, Randolph had already had to deny Jamile Matt and Antoine Semenyo, with Robbie Willmott’s crosses causing a bit of concern too.

Boro’s boss said: “I’m disappointed. There were some good points to come out of the game. John playing 60 minutes, playing the way he did. It’s the first time he’s had his boots on for a couple of months, Ryan Shotton played 70 minutes as well after injury.

“John’s a quality player, great lad – wonderful person. He’ll be good for us but we’ve got to get him fit.”

Now the question is who else Pulis, who is set to let talented youngster Harry Chapman head for Blackburn, can bring in before Thursday’s deadline.

He said: “We’ll see what happens, we’ll see what drops for us.”