AS Middlesbrough and Newcastle played out the closing stages of a rip-roaring 2-2 draw, a chorus of We'll Meet Again
rang out from the away end at the Riverside. They will, but it will not be next season.
While Newcastle are destined for the Premier League thanks to a nine-point advantage over third-placed Nottingham Forest, Middlesbrough's play-off hopes are hanging by the slenderest of threads given the fourpoint gap that separates them from sixth-placed Cardiff City, who have played a game less than the Teessiders.
As a result, next season's North-East derbies will almost certainly be of the Tyne-Wear rather than Tees-Tyne variety.
Saturday's opponents are heading in divergent directions, and while they could not be separated in terms of scoreline, their contrasting fates perfectly encapsulated why they find themselves in their respective positions with less than two months of the season to go.
Middlesbrough created by far the better opportunities, but were unable to put their opponents away. Newcastle were outplayed for large spells, found themselves scrapping just to retain a foothold in a one-sided second half, yet emerged with a result that strengthens their position.
Only one of the sides knows how to get the job done. Consequently, barring a remarkable turnaround in the final ten matches, only one of the sides will be returning to the topflight at the first time of asking.
It's games like this and the Swansea match that explain why we are top of the league, not matches like the ones against Cardiff and Barnsley,
said a relieved Newcastle boss Chris Hughton.
We're never out of a game because we have a real desire to win matches and pick up points. We also have good quality in the team, and as long as you have that, you'll always have a chance.
You know with someone like Andy Carroll that he can score different types of goals, and as long as we stay in a game, we know we have enough players who can score out of pretty much nothing. That can turn the result.
It certainly turned Saturday's, with Carroll's 82ndminute equaliser mimicking the stoppage-time strike that also earned Newcastle a point they arguably did not deserve at Swansea last month.
Forced to field a patched-up defence thanks to the broken hand that will sideline Mike Williamson for a month and the dead leg that forced Fabricio Coloccini from the field at the start of the second half, the Magpies appeared beaten when Barry Robson and Scott Mc- Donald overturned Peter Lovenkrands' early strike.
They had been hesitant in possession throughout, struggling to impose their authority on the midfield battle, and creating just a handful of chances.
Yet they possessed by far the most skilful player in Jonas Gutierrez, whose precise pass enabled Lovenkrands to open the scoring in the 16th minute, and boasted two strikers capable of converting whatever half-chances came their way.
Lovenkrands' swivelled finish was clinical, earning the Dane his 11th goal in ten matches and his first away from St James' Park this season, while Carroll's conversion of Ryan Taylor's driven cross exuded the kind of confidence that Boro's strikers currently lack.
In a game as competitive as a North-East derby, that was enough to make a difference.
It would have been easy to crumble when we went 2-1 down, but we didn't, said Hughton. We're never out of a game. I can think of games we've lost where we've still been in it towards the end. We have a real desire not to give up and you just hope among all of that that you have a bit of good fortune in front of goal.
Middlesbrough haven't had much of that recently, and while Gordon Strachan's side can reflect on one of their best performances of the season, their failure to convert territorial superiority into a victory confirms the continued existence of a weakness that has plagued them all season.
Call it naivety, inexperience or inadequate resolve, Boro have proved consistently unable to grind out results.
Their performances have improved since Strachan's January signings have settled in, and the spine of their side has undoubtedly been strengthened by the arrival of the likes of McDonald, Robson and Stephen McManus.
But they continue to lack the never-say-die attitude of a Newcastle, and in a league as competitive and relentless as the Championship, an ability to pick up unmerited points is priceless. At the moment, Boro can't even claim the ones they deserve.
We've played a number of games against better-placed teams recently and got nothing like what we should have, said Strachan. We played Nottingham Forest and should have got something from the game, if not won it. We dominated every stat in this game, apart from actually winning it, and it was the same at Cardiff last week.
But we're getting punished for everything and the work the players are putting in is not being recognised in the league table, that's for sure.
It's nothing to do with luck though, it's about ability and experience. When we get chances, we have to have the ability to finish, and when we have to defend, we have to have the experience to do that properly.
For much of the final North- East derby of the season, Boro did exactly that. Their first goal was a fabulous solo effort, with Robson curling home from the edge of the area after a neat one-two with McDonald, while their second came from a wellworked free-kick, with McDonald hooking in his first Boro goal from close range after Chris Killen recycled Robson's set-piece.
They defended stoutly for large spells, with McManus neutralising Carroll's aerial threat and Andrew Taylor curtailing Fabrice Pancrate's ability to attack down the right flank.
But at two crucial moments, they were found wanting. First, Julio Arca passed up an opportunity to score his first goal of the season, shooting at Steve Harper's legs after Gary O'Neil's through ball had released him.
Then, as Ryan Taylor delivered a driven cross from the right, McManus hurled himself to the floor in an ill-advised attempt at a diving header, affording Carroll the freedom of the penalty box as he guided home Newcastle's equaliser.
On such subtle margins, the outcome of a game is decided.
And over the course of a season, such pivotal moments eventually determine a side's fate.
Newcastle have got more crucial decisions right than Middlesbrough, and a result, it is they rather than their North- East rivals who will be preparing for life in the Premier League this summer.
Match facts Goals:
0-1: Lovenkrands (16, applied the low finish to Gutierrez's clever pass)
1-1: Robson (36, curled a terrific finish into Harper's bottom right after neat interchange with McDonald)
2-1: McDonald (74, hooked Killen's back post header over the line from a yard out)
2-2: Carroll (82, took a touch from Taylor's delivery before firing beyond Coyne)
Bookings: Hall (23, foul); Simpson (28, foul); Kadar (69, foul); McDonald (79, foul)
Referee: Lee Mason (Bolton) neither side can fault the official for their failure to claim three points 6
Attendance: 27,347
Entertainment:
MIDDLESBROUGH (4-4-2):
6 Coyne: Made one close range stop to thwart Kadar but got nowhere near either goal;
6 Naughton: Pushed to the limits by Gutierrez and emerged with his reputation intact
6 McManus: Had been superb until he missed Taylor's cross in build up to Carroll's equaliser
7 Wheater: Had kept a tight rein on Carroll until the striker worked his way free late on
6 A Taylor: Offers plenty going forward from the full-back position;
8 ROBSON: Scored a stunning goal and his display had so much energy
6 O'Neil: Not as influential as he has been this season, but still lively
7 Williams: Faded after the restart but enjoyed a sparkling solid display in the middle
8 Arca: Enjoyed a superb return to form, creating plenty for his team-mates and full of energy;
6 Killen: His back post header led to McDonald's first goal for the club
8 McDonald: His energetic performance lacked a goal and then it arrived
Subs:
Miller (for Killen 87)
(not used): Jones (gk), Hoyte, Riggott, Lita, Bennett, Franks
NEWCASTLE UNITED (4-4-2):
7 Harper: Made an exceptional stop to deny Arca when the Argentine could have clinched it for Boro
5 Simpson: Struggled to contend with Arca and Taylor's running down the left
7 Hall: Made a couple of brilliant blocks in the first half and pretty solid throughout
6 Coloccini: Fortunate not to concede a second minute penalty and was a loss through injury
5 Kadar: Looked more comfortable when he slotted into his preferred central role;
4 Pancrate: Too many times his deliveries were wayward, much to his team-mates' frustration
5 Guthrie: Failed to find the sort of form which has made him a first choice
5 Nolan: Struggled to contend with Williams and O'Neil's running in the middle
8 GUTIERREZ: His flashes of magic were what prevented Newcastle from losing;
7 Lovenkrands: Took his goal well and could have had a second on the stroke of half-time
6 Carroll: Had a quiet afternoon but was still on hand to deliver the crucial 82nd minute leveller
Subs:
R Taylor (for Coloccini 50): His centre provided the opening for Carroll's equaliser 5
Butt (for Lovenkrands 70)
Best (for Pancrate 78)
(not used): Krul (gk), Enrique, Routledge, Ranger
MAN OF THE MATCH
BARRY Robson ran close by Arca and McDonald, but the midfielder is fast becoming Boro's most important player.
Source: Northern Echo
Source: Northern Echo