TWENTY seasons on from Middlesbrough’s most glorious and famous day remains the possibility of an improbable and incredible repeat.

The odds are still clearly stacked against Boro, who after seeing off five underdogs on their way to the last four of this season’s Carabao Cup, will now take on that role themselves.

But the supporters who packed the away end at Vale Park are perhaps starting to believe.

“Que Sera Sera” they sang, as early as the midway stage of the first half. By that point Boro were well on their way to booking their place in the semi-finals of the League Cup for the first time since winning the competition in 2004. This had the makings of being an uncomfortable night but Boro – without a number of first team regulars due to injury and with Michael Carrick making five alterations from the side that won at Swansea on Saturday – made easy work of it.

Jonny Howson doesn’t score many but the captain certainly knows how to pick his moments. The only goal he’d scored this season prior to Tuesday night’s tie was a penalty in the decisive home victory over Southampton, Boro’s belated first success of the season. His second of the campaign was a deflected strike after just 11 minutes at Vale Park that settled Boro and set them on their way. The impressive Morgan Rogers scored the second 12 minutes later and Matt Crooks wrapped it up early in the second half.

The draw has undoubtedly been kind but Carrick’s side have made a mockery of the ‘Typical Boro’ tag on their journey to the last four. They managed the game, the occasion and the crowd so impressively well at Vale Park. The quality of the attacking players told but Boro’s success was built on the immense displays from central defenders Dael Fry and Matt Clarke, who was on a yellow card for 87 of the 90 minutes.

The win potentially came at a cost, however, with Emmanuel Latte Lath, Matt Crooks and Morgan Rogers all forced off with injuries, but hopefully they’re not major problems and wont take the shine off a fine night for Carrick’s side. The injuries provided opportunities for youngsters, with Calum Kavanagh making his debut from the bench and Law McCabe also introduced.

Port Vale are languishing in the bottom half of the League One table but they came into this on the back of two morale boosting victories and Vale Park buzzed with anticipation ahead of the Valiants’ biggest game in decades, with home boss Andy Crosby promising his side would “attack” the tie.

It was clear from the get-go the home side intended to make life as difficult as possible for Boro, who had two players booked inside the first 10 minutes, but Howson’s opener was exactly what Carrick’s side needed to take the edge off things and sap Vale of some of their early enthusiasm.

In fairness to the home side, they responded well, but by the midway stage of the first half Boro had doubled their lead and the away fans were going through their song-book. Silvera and Rogers – both so effective from the bench at Swansea on Saturday – combined to make it two, the Aussie winger snatching possession on the edge of the box before showing fine awareness to tee up Rogers, who calmly guided the ball into the bottom corner.

Boro could – should – have added to their advantage before the break but Vale, too, had their chances, the best of which fell to Gavin Massey, who inexplicably fired over from yards out with the net unguarded.

The third goal felt crucial. Had Vale halved the deficit, the home supporters would have started to believe again. But Boro put the tie to bed when Crooks slotted in the third just eight minutes after the restart. From that point on it was a doddle for Boro, whose players passed and moved while the fans sang and dared to dream about what might come next.