Gilgan: grinning

"Southgate took a lot of stick over the summer when he decided not to bring in an experienced replacement for Mark Schwarzer... So it was especially pleasing to see Turnbull make a string of fine saves.

Boro FanZoner, Dan Gilgan.
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Boro FanZoner Dan Gilgan has a smile on his face after the Teessiders picked up their first away win of the season with a late, late goal at the JJB.

It's been a hell of a long wait but Middlesbrough have finally got their first away win of 2008!

It was a hard-fought victory at Wigan that saw us turn a crucial corner. With confidence starting to ebb away, another away defeat would have left us with a sinking feeling as our next game is against league leaders Chelsea.

Our flowing, attacking football of the early weeks of the season was nowhere in sight as we settled into a battling, defensive performance.

Makeshift defence

The back line had a makeshift look about it, with Chris Riggot coming in for the injured Robert Huth, and Jonathan Grounds replacing the suspended Pogatetz at left-back.

Wigan seemed to sense weakness and attacked from the start, but with midfielders, and at times forwards, coming back to help the cause we put up a great defensive show.

David Wheater was probably the pick of the outfield players, but the real hero was our young goalkeeper, Ross Turnbull.

Southgate took a lot of stick over the summer when he decided not to bring in an experienced replacement for Mark Schwarzer. Many fans thought the goalkeeping situation could be our undoing with neither Turnbull nor Brad Jones having many Premier League appearances to their name. So, it was especially pleasing to see Turnbull make a string of fine saves, notably brave stops at the feet of Heskey and Camara, to keep the score at 0-0 as the game entered the final stages.

Wild celebration

With the game moving into injury time, I was feeling relieved that we had weathered the storm and would be taking a hard-earned point back to Teesside. Then came the moment we had been waiting for since the turn of the year. In a late counter-attack, Stewart Downing nodded the ball into the path of Jeremie Aliadiere, who fired home a late, late winner!

The Boro fans erupted into wild celebration as for once, we scored rather than conceded a last-gasp goal!

We have a good record against Chelsea at the Riverside, so let's hope Saturday's result puts us in the right mood for our first Sky TV game of the season!

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