Through to Round Five

BORO made it through to the fifth round of the FA Cup after beating Mansfield Town 2-0 away at Field Mill.

BORO made it far from easy for themselves as Mansfield ran a-mock, though their inability to score came as a relief to BORO who have also struggled in front of goals this season.

Mansfield got off to a flying start in windy conditions and mounted an instant charge. Matthew Hamshaw making light work of BORO's left hand side and linking in well with Michael Boulding, who was presented with an early chance as the wind caused a lobbed pass to drop sharply over Wheater and into the path of Boulding who was narrowly beaten to the ball by a quick to react Mark Schwarzer, sprinting from his line to volley clear from the edge of his box.

Mansfield went about the opening exchanges as though they were the Premiership side as BORO struggled to adapt to the blustery conditions. However BORO bagged a goal against the run of play, Adam Johnson whipped in a 17th minute corner that was half-heartedly punched away by keeper Carl Muggleton, David Wheater was quickest to react but his scrambled effort was deflected into the path of Dong Gook Lee who calmly side footed into the back of the net to record just his second goal for BORO, since joining last January.

The goal seemed to give Mansfield an extra boost as they thwarted BORO attacks and Michael Boulding cut inside of David Wheater striking with a superb left footed effort which struck the bar with the faintest of touches from keeper Mark Schwarzer, who then bettered that save from the resulting corner with a superb palmed stop from Boulding's looped header.

Robert Huth was then lucky to avoid a red card when he stabbed his foot into the stomach of troublesome striker Michael Boulding as he lobbed the ball clear of the BORO penalty area. The referee deciding upon a booking despite cries for a red card, from the home fans.

The game came to a temporary halt in the 31st minute, as a barrage of footballs were lobbed onto the pitch from outside of the stadium, much to the amusement of the crowd and the referee. The game got back under way with a long range Fabio Rochemback free-kick, which found the target but was well caught by Muggleton.

Julio Arca and Fabio Rochemback were simply perfect in BORO's midfield with some classy passing moves and both looking unbelievably calm despite being given little time on the ball. Jeremie Aliadiere was also, once again, instrumental in the BORO attack and almost opened up for a second goal just before half time, as he cleverly turned two Mansfield defenders before charging into the box and crossing over the on-rushing Muggleton to Dong Gook Lee, who had the goal at his mercy when he bizarrely decided on a diving header that went embarrassingly wide from six yards out; leaving captain Julio Arca flabbergasted.

Gareth Southgate introduced George Boateng at the start of the second half as he replaced Emanuel Pogatetz, Julio Arca slipping into the left back slot whilst Southgate preferred to stick with the 4-3-3 formation that BORO played in the first half.

But Arca looked unsuited to his new position and Boateng failed to impress as Mansfield came out for the second half with new vigour and determination. Southgate was so unimpressed with the performance that his side were giving in the second half that he introduced Stewart Downing in the 64th minute, replacing Adam Johnson.

BORO looked, temporarily, lifted by the introduction of Downing and started to fight back against the Mansfield pressure. But it didn't last long and it took the introduction of a heavy looking Mido before Mansfield started to wind down. Some good holding up and clever passing from Mido gave BORO fans a glimpse of what has been missing for some time, this season. Though it will be some time before he's back to full fitness and also looks like he could do with losing some weight.

Billy Dearden then introduced his giant forward, John McAliskey to try and further unsettle Robert Huth and David Wheater who both had a poor game. But it wasn't enough to improve Mansfield's chances and a late BORO attack lead to their second goal as George Boateng crossed from the right for Mansfield captain Jake Buxton to head home an own goal, just ahead of Stewart Downing.

Attendance: 6, 258
BORO Blog BORO Man of the Match: Julio Arca

Photos Courtesy of SkySports (www.skysports.com/football) & BBC Sport (news.bbc.co.uk/sport)