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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2015/may/25/middlesborough-norwich-championship-play-off-final-live
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| Middlesborough v Norwich: Championship play-off final – live! | Middlesborough v Norwich: Championship play-off final – live! |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 3.14pm BST15:14 | |
| 11 min: Oof! Now Middlesbrough hit the woodwork, with Jelle Vossen, my bet for first goalscorer, crashing a shot from distance off the crossbar. | |
| 3.13pm BST15:13 | |
| 10 min: Norwich City miss the first and second chances of note in quick succession. Cameron Jerome should have done better after getting between defenders, only to miss a cross from the right completely. Following up, Bradley Johnson rattles the Boro crossbar with a rasping shot from distance. | |
| 3.11pm BST15:11 | |
| 8 min: Nathan Redmond sends another cross into the Boro penalty area, but Dean Whitehead does well to prevent Jerome getting on the end of it. | |
| 3.10pm BST15:10 | |
| 7 min: Nothing in the way of goal chances so far, but the game’s got off to a lively, if raggedy start. Tettey, Hoolahan and Jerome are putting the Boro back four under pressure whenever they find themselves with the ball. | |
| 3.09pm BST15:09 | |
| 4 min: Both sides have lined up with similar formations, with two holding midfielders between their respective back fours and their three attacking midfielders. Both managers have gone for lone strikers. In Patrick Bamford, Middlesbrough have gone for a lone loan striker. | |
| 3.07pm BST15:07 | |
| 3 min: Nathan Redmond floats a cross into the Boro penalty for Bradley Johnson to head, but it’s a might too high. Boro clear their lines. | |
| 3.05pm BST15:05 | |
| 2 min: Lee Tomlin gets on the ball over on the far touchline, near the halfway line. It’s played back to his back four, who ping it around under a press from Cameron Jerome. | |
| 3.03pm BST15:03 | |
| 1 min: Norwich kick off and immediately hoof the ball forward. Middlesbrough return it to midfield, where PAtrick Bamford gets his first touch and is unceremoniously dispossessed by Alex Tetty. Game on! | |
| 3.01pm BST15:01 | |
| 3.00pm BST15:00 | |
| National anthem: A lady named Hannah sings the national anthem and the players exchanged handshakes. On the face of it, Middlesbrough’s look slightly more relaxed. Fair dues to them, I’d be terrified. | |
| 2.57pm BST14:57 | |
| Here we go then.... #Boro pic.twitter.com/M18xl3LjYp | |
| 2.56pm BST14:56 | |
| Not long now: The teams line up in the Wembley tunnel with Middlesbrough’s players wearing red shirts with a white sash, white shorts and red socks. The players of Norwich will also wear their customary home kit of yellow and green shirts, green shorts and green and yellow socks with green trim. They march out on to the pitch and line-up for the pre-match niceties. Good luck to one and all; here’s hoping for a great game of football. | |
| 2.50pm BST14:50 | |
| Norwich City manager Alex Neill speaks: “Obviously we hope our players’ Premier League experience counts,” he says. “I’m going into the match with complete confidence in them and they have complete confidence in themselves. It’s fantastic.” | |
| 2.48pm BST14:48 | |
| Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka speaks: “I think everybody is excited,” he says. “It’s my first time in Wembley and I’m very pleased when I feel my crowd supporting us here and I feel my players are ready.” | |
| 2.47pm BST14:47 | |
| Just 15 minutes until kick-off: The players of both teams have just traipsed off after their warm-ups and are back in the dressing rooms for their last-minute instructions. Wembley is jammed to the rafters, with both clubs having sold out their allocations. | |
| 2.42pm BST14:42 | |
| Sky Sports pundit Peter Beagrie visits Boro’s training ground: He’s there to meet the team’s midfield duo Adam Clayton and Grant Leadbitter, who have played such a pivotal role in their side’s promotion push. Clayton is happy to admit he’s had to change his game this season, in order to do all his team-mate’s running for him. The good-humoured pair seem quietly confident ahead of the game tonight. | |
| “Their job today is to stop Hoolahan getting into those little pockets and to protect their back four,” says Harry Redknapp, who is standing pitchside at Wembley alongside Beagrie and Mark Warburton. “As a pair they’re so very effective,” says the former Brentford manager. | |
| 2.27pm BST14:27 | 2.27pm BST14:27 |
| On the subject of tense finals ... Why not while away the wait until kick-off with our brick-by-brick recreation of a certain Champions League final that took place 10 years ago. | On the subject of tense finals ... Why not while away the wait until kick-off with our brick-by-brick recreation of a certain Champions League final that took place 10 years ago. |
| 2.25pm BST14:25 | 2.25pm BST14:25 |
| 2.23pm BST14:23 | 2.23pm BST14:23 |
| 2.19pm BST14:19 | 2.19pm BST14:19 |
| Middlesbrough v Norwich City line-ups ... | Middlesbrough v Norwich City line-ups ... |
| Middlesbrough: Konstantopoulos, Whitehead, Ayala, Gibson, Friend, Clayton, Leadbitter, Adomah, Vossen, Tomlin, Bamford. Subs: Garcia, Ripley, Reach, Nsue, Amorebieta, Forshaw, Woodgate. | Middlesbrough: Konstantopoulos, Whitehead, Ayala, Gibson, Friend, Clayton, Leadbitter, Adomah, Vossen, Tomlin, Bamford. Subs: Garcia, Ripley, Reach, Nsue, Amorebieta, Forshaw, Woodgate. |
| Norwich: Ruddy, Whittaker, Martin, Bassong, Olsson, Redmond, Howson, Tettey, Johnson, Hoolahan, Jerome. | Norwich: Ruddy, Whittaker, Martin, Bassong, Olsson, Redmond, Howson, Tettey, Johnson, Hoolahan, Jerome. |
| Subs: Grabban, Hooper, Elliott Bennett, Ryan Bennett, Rudd, O’Neil, Dorrans. | Subs: Grabban, Hooper, Elliott Bennett, Ryan Bennett, Rudd, O’Neil, Dorrans. |
| Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral) | Referee: Mike Dean (Wirral) |
| 2.14pm BST14:14 | 2.14pm BST14:14 |
| TEAM NEWS: Dimi, Whitehead, Ayala, Gibson, Friend, Adomah, Leadbitter, Clayton, Tomlin, Vossen, Bamford. | TEAM NEWS: Dimi, Whitehead, Ayala, Gibson, Friend, Adomah, Leadbitter, Clayton, Tomlin, Vossen, Bamford. |
| #NCFC team vs @Boro: Ruddy; Whittaker, Martin (c), Bassong, Olsson; Redmond, Howson, Tettey, Johnson; Hoolahan; Jerome. #OurFinalStep | #NCFC team vs @Boro: Ruddy; Whittaker, Martin (c), Bassong, Olsson; Redmond, Howson, Tettey, Johnson; Hoolahan; Jerome. #OurFinalStep |
| 2.13pm BST14:13 | 2.13pm BST14:13 |
| Team news filtering through from Wembley ... | Team news filtering through from Wembley ... |
| Patrick Bamford starts up front for Middlesbrough, who also field Dean Whitehead at right-back. We’ll have the line-ups for you very shortly. | Patrick Bamford starts up front for Middlesbrough, who also field Dean Whitehead at right-back. We’ll have the line-ups for you very shortly. |
| 2.00pm BST14:00 | 2.00pm BST14:00 |
| 2.00pm BST14:00 | 2.00pm BST14:00 |
| 2.00pm BST14:00 | 2.00pm BST14:00 |
| Hello everybody ... | Hello everybody ... |
| Welcome to our minute-by-minute coverage of the Championship play-off final, the single most valuable one-off contest in world sport. Worth £120m to the winners, today’s match is being contested by Middlesbrough and Norwich, with the winners advancing to the promised land that is the Premier League, while the losers can look forward to another season of toil and graft in the Championship. | Welcome to our minute-by-minute coverage of the Championship play-off final, the single most valuable one-off contest in world sport. Worth £120m to the winners, today’s match is being contested by Middlesbrough and Norwich, with the winners advancing to the promised land that is the Premier League, while the losers can look forward to another season of toil and graft in the Championship. |
| Just one point separated Norwich and Middlesbrough in the table as they finished third and fourth respectively, but Boro could be forgiven for thinking they have the edge of their East Anglian rivals, having emerged victorious from both their league encounters this season. One suspects that’ll mean little or nothing this afternoon, however, on an unspeakably tense occasion for both sets of fans who may well be aware that the bookies can barely split the two sides when it comes to picking their idea of a likely winner. Kick-off is at 3pm (BST), but we’ll have team news and build-up an hour before that. | Just one point separated Norwich and Middlesbrough in the table as they finished third and fourth respectively, but Boro could be forgiven for thinking they have the edge of their East Anglian rivals, having emerged victorious from both their league encounters this season. One suspects that’ll mean little or nothing this afternoon, however, on an unspeakably tense occasion for both sets of fans who may well be aware that the bookies can barely split the two sides when it comes to picking their idea of a likely winner. Kick-off is at 3pm (BST), but we’ll have team news and build-up an hour before that. |