ANDRAZ SPORAR was able to celebrate his second goal in a Middlesbrough shirt, Matt Crooks settled things with a header of his own in the closing stages and Neil Warnock was able to celebrate a second home victory in the space of five days. When the final whistle blew at the Riverside last night though, no one was more relieved than Duncan Watmore.

With an open goal at his mercy as he stood on the edge of the six-yard box shortly before the hour mark, Watmore somehow scooped a shot high over the crossbar before collapsing to beat the turf. It was just about in Ronny Rosentahl territory in terms of unbelievability, but thankfully, with Boro’s defence holding firm for a second home game in a row, it didn’t cause any significant damage. How Watmore must be relieved there is no longer a market for blooper DVDs.

In fairness, Watmore wasn’t the only player passing up presentable chances – a succession of Boro players failed to find the target from promising positions, while Barnsley’s Clarke Odour struck the post when he should have scored at the start of the first half – so Sporar and Crooks’ headed finishes were sufficient to lift the Teessiders back to within three points of the play-off places.

The doom and gloom that was evident in the wake of the defeat at Hull that preceded the international break has dissipated thanks to wins over Peterborough and Barnsley, admittedly two of the poorer sides in the division. Make it three in a row at Cardiff on Saturday, and Boro really will be motoring.

They were ahead by the midway point of the first half last night, although the evening might well have proved far more problematic had Barnsley taken either of the golden opportunities that came their way inside the opening five minutes.

Cauley Woodrow spurned the first, dragging a low shot wide of the far post, and his fellow forward, Odour, was even more wasteful less than 60 seconds later. Sol Bamba got himself into trouble as he slipped while turning towards his own goal, leaving Odour with a clear run into Boro’s 18-yard box. The Kenyan international slipped a low shot past Joe Lumley’s right hand, but the ball rebounded off the base of the left-hand post.

It was a warning to the Teessiders to raise their game, and they duly responded with a spell of pressure that ultimately resulted in a breakthrough.

Sporar was involved in most of Boro’s best first-half moments, firing in a low shot that Bradley Collins saved before teeing up Marcus Tavernier for a 20-yard strike that flew wide. With the Barnsley back four rocking, the hosts opened the scoring in the 20th minute.

Paddy McNair kept a corner alive and delivered a teasing cross into the box. Sporar had peeled off his marker eight yards out, and was left with the relatively simple task of heading home. It was the Slovenian’s second goal since his summer move from Sporting Lisbon, and while it might not have been as explosive as his maiden strike at Nottingham Forest, it was the kind of poacher’s finish Warnock will have admired.

He should have added another three minutes later, but while the recalled Isaiah Jones threaded a deft through ball beyond the Barnsley defence, Sporar and Watmore left the ball to one another, enabling Collins to smother the danger. When Watmore took matters into his own hands with a snapshot shortly before the break, Collins saved.

Boro picked Watmore off the footballing scrapheap last season and helped him rebuild his career, and the same has been true this term of Bamba. Few would have envisaged the 36-year-old having a future at Championship level after he was released by Cardiff, but Warnock gave him a chance to prove himself, and to Bamba’s credit, he has seized it.

He was the rock at the heart of a remodelled Boro back four again last night, sliding in with a perfectly-timed challenge at the start of the second half to prevent Aaron Leya Iseka from shooting.

With Barnsley coming out of the half-time break with a spring in their step, the second half followed a similar pattern to the first, with the Tykes spurning an excellent opportunity. Callum Brittain looked certain to score when Lumley spilled Woodrow’s low shot, but from no more than six yards, Barnsley’s number seven slammed his follow-up strike into the goalkeeper’s midriff.

That was a bad miss, but it was nothing compared to what followed six minutes later. Watmore has had some magical moments since signing for Boro – but this is one he will definitely want to forget. All alone on the edge of the six-yard box, the former England Under-21 international had a gaping goal at his mercy as he received Martin Payero’s square ball. He was leaning back as he fired towards goal though, and somehow managed to scoop the ball over the crossbar. Judging by the stunned silence that followed, even the Boro fans behind the goal could not believe what they had witnessed.

Thankfully, Boro continued to press, and doubled their lead with three minutes left. McNair recycled the ball into the box, and Crooks rose highest to head home.