MOST people in the North- East are already fed up with the snow before the calendar has even turned to December, but a group of footballers who wear red shirts could well be the exception.
While Hartlepool United's FA Cup tie fell foul of the weather, Darlington lost out to York City in the freezing conditions and a full Northern League programme was frozen off, Middlesbrough came alive in the Championship.
They might not have won, they may still be sitting four points adrift of fourth from bottom in the fight to avoid dropping in to League One, but Boro showed they possess the bottle to emerge from difficult circumstances with something positive.
Tony Mowbray, only six matches in to his reign as manager, still has plenty of problems to address, but when the elements seemed to be conspiring against his team, they came through.
On two occasions Mowbray watched his players come from behind to save themselves from defeat when it would have been easy for them to accept it was not going to be their day.
Whether it was Leroy Lita's header just before half an hour or Scott McDonald's close-range header 29 seconds after half-time, however, Middlesbrough displayed the fighting qualities in heavy blizzards to claim a point.
The Riverside Stadium has not been known to give many matches the go-ahead when a cold-snap hits, but Mowbray must be hoping his squad can look back on the day the snow fell as the real turning point of the season.
Even McDonald, after grabbing only his second league goal since the opening weekend, was ready to hit the snow with his family after the match, when most of those who had experienced the subzero temperatures would have curled in front of the fire.
I more or less wrote the game off on Saturday morning,
said McDonald, an Australian who did play through snowstorms during his time with Celtic. This ten-day stuff of freezing weather, the forecasters always talk rubbish.
I'm sure I'll be making a few snowmen in the next few days.
I've never played in conditions like that before. I've played up in Inverness and the Highlands and even in Glasgow we've had a few cold ones when the snow comes down heavily, but nothing like that, it was incredible, crazy.
In fairness to referee Phil Crossley, there was little sign of the snow becoming heavier half an hour before kick-off and the groundstaff had done well to ensure the pitch markings were visible, while the undersoil heating had melted most of the snow.
But as 3pm approached, with the playlist on the PA system belting out wintry classics, the intensity of the snowfall increased and that continued for 70 of the 90 minutes.
Among both sets of players, only Middlesbrough goalkeeper Jason Steele seemed to find the conditions a problem and his slow start cost his team in the first half.
Poor visibility and a slippery surface proved the reason why Robert Koren's hopeful 30-yard drive bounced just in front of Steele and found his bottom left corner in the 21st minute.
And then after Lita had turned a fine header from Tony McMahon's right-wing delivery beyond Hull goalkeeper Vito Mannone eight minutes later, Steele then looked even more annoyed with himself for conceding a second.
This time Koren's free-kick was turned goalwards by defender Anthony Gerrard's header and Steele's dive to his right ended with him palming the ball over his line three minutes before half-time.
Before that Nicky Barmby somehow failed to turn Liam Rosenior's centre over from three yards out, but a 3-1 deficit would have been harsh against a Middlesbrough team that had looked much improved in possession.
So when Lita got to the byline before centering for Mc- Donald to head in to an empty net from inside six yards, Middlesbrough's equaliser immediately after the restart was a fair reflection of the game.
At that point, with the snowfall heavier than at any other time in the match, there was a sense Middlesbrough could go on to claim all three points.
McDonald said: The ref never mentioned the conditions to us, we just got on with it and most of us were fine.
There were a couple from Hull who complained they couldn't see anything, maybe because they were a bit worried they would lose the game.
Such an afternoon's football should have helped to galvanise a squad in desperate need of rejuvenation, while the display of Marvin Emnes should encourage Mowbray too.
Emnes, who admittedly was guilty of a couple of defensive horrors, was by far Middlesbrough's most creative man going forward and looked good in possession. Now Mowbray needs him to repeat that regularly to provide the service for strikers Lita, McDonald and Kris Boyd.
Middlesbrough have still only won two of their first six under Mowbray, but preventing Hull from winning a third in a row should at least have strengthened hope.
We're not scoring many goals as a team, but it shows if we get the ball in the box we'll score goals, said McDonald.
Leroy and Kris Boyd would agree with that.
We're there in the bottom three for whatever reason and we need to look at ourselves individually and as a whole to try to get ourselves out of this position.
People will make more of the situation than we will but there's still plenty of games left, we're certainly not panicking.
There's obviously concern about the position we're in but we can assure the supporters we care as well.
To climb out of the bottom three, a victory at fifth-placed Coventry City would help next Saturday and that is not going to be easy but if it's still snowing, that could help.
Match facts Goals:
0-1: Koren (21, tried his luck from 30 yards and it gained its reward in the snow);
1-1: Lita (29, timed his run perfectly to nod in McMahon's centre from the right);
1-2: Gerrard (42, his header from Koren's free-kick was helped in by Steele);
2-2: McDonald (46, simple header after further good work from Lita down the line)
Bookings: None
Referee: Phil Crossley (Bromley) - needs applauding for playing the game and keeping his cards in his pocket. 7
Attendance: 15,075
Entertainment:
MIDDLESBROUGH (4-4-2):
4 Steele: Hard for him in the conditions but he will be annoyed to have let in Koren and Gerrard's goals
7 McMahon: Offers plenty down the right, including a fine delivery for Lita's goal
7 Wheater: Must have been difficult in the snow but he still performed well
7 Bates: Made a number of solid blocks and challenges even if he had to make sure they were well timed
7 Bennett: On the evidence of his displays so far, it is strange how Strachan preferred non left-backs to play his role
5 Robson: Has had better afternoons and regularly looked a frustrated figure
5 Tavares: Apart from the simple pass to his left or right, it is difficult to see what else he does
6 Bailey: Linked midfield and attack well and played his part in Boro's first goal
7 Emnes: His first start of the season provided evidence that he has the ability if channelled in the right way
7 McDonald: Another goal for the Australian, he just needs them to continue
8 LITA: Scored one and set the other up, not a bad return for a striker who started the season third choice and up for sale
Subs:
Kink (for Tavares 66): Unable to have an impact. 5 Boyd (for McDonald 85) (not used): Ripley (gk), Hoyte, Arca, Smallwood, Park.
HULL CITY (4-5-1): Mannone 6; Rosenior 7, Zayatte 6, Gerrard 7, Dawson 4; Barmby 5 (Solano 80), Ashbee 5 (McShane 32, 5), Harper 6, KOREN 8, Stewart 5 (Simpson 73); Garcia 6. Subs: Duke (gk), Kilbane, Bostock, Devitt.
MAN OF THE MATCH
LEROY Lita a player who should be pleased the snow failed to prevent the match going ahead.
Source: Northern Echo
Source: Northern Echo