By Lillibet M
April 1 2007

Although there were some mutterings around Teesside that the season was effectively ended with FA Cup Quarter-final defeat last weekend, this was firmly rebuffed by Boro gaffer Southgate. Indeed, it was the strongest squad available that turned out into the sunshine at Upton Park, with a welcome return for Woodgate. The suspended Morrison and Cattermole would be missed in midfield, and with Arca injured, responsibility fell to Taylor and Parnaby.

West Ham were looking for their second consecutive win, taking some solace in the fact that Boro had only managed one away win this season, at Charlton, and had not won at Upton Park seven times out of the last eight.

Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Xavier, Woodgate, Pogatetz, Taylor, Parnaby, Boateng, Rochemback, Downing, Yakubu, Viduka
Subs: Jones, Huth, Euell, Lee, Johnson

Boro started attacking right to left, in the spring sunshine. Both teams started brightly, but as the crowds were still settling down with their balti pies the home team put the first mark on the scoreboard.

It was Rochemback who gave it away by dilly-dallying and Noble did not need asking twice to serve the ball to Tevez who crossed to Zamora who found bottom right of goal from 12 yards out.

West Ham 1 Middlesbrough 0 (Zamora, 2)

After this, a visibly stunned Boro took some time to settle down, the first real counter attack coming four minutes later. Then it was Tevez who tried to double the score line twice in quick succession, but both times thwarted by nifty footwork from Xavier. Despite some shining moments, overall it was Boro who collectively were all on the back foot, and confidence needed to be found quickly to avoid total wipeout.

Next incident of note was a corner on 17 minutes when Noble took a deflection from Viduka after a Boro burst. Downing took this, but Green punched it to safety in the crowded goal area. This then started a period of the ball staying deep in the Boro half, but chance after chance from Tevez, Noble and Zamora was blocked by the Boro defence, Xavier shining in particular but Schwarzer also executed a perfect point blank save.

The Irons were still holding the lion’s share of possession, and Boro continued to play quite far back. By this stage in the game no-one could have faulted the Hammers fighting spirit as they succeeded in tearing the visitors’ concentration to shreds. Another corner on 23 saw Viduka attempt a shot from the rebound, which went over the bar. Play then warmed up considerably and the two teams became equal on attempted shots when Boateng’s 30 yard effort was saved by Green.

A cross from Tevez knocked on the near post, however Zamora pressed forward to try to bury this, catching Schwarzer who fell to the ground, but no foul was recorded. There was danger on every part of the pitch, and it was Viduka who tried to temper this by trying to produce some Aussie magic from a 20 yard out free kick, Most of the West Ham players were in the wall, but the ball was high and curled in the wrong direction, ending up in the crowd.

As the fourth offical was preparing the notification of added minutes, the Hammers continued their relentless quest to increase the lead. This was granted when Tevez popped up to take advantage of a deflection from Taylor from a Schwarzer punch, the ball falling right to his feet and he made no mistake from 12 yards.

West Ham 2 Middlesbrough 0 (Tevez 44)

Boro had everything and more to do in the second half to rescue this game. Arca’s guile and Morrison’s speed was desparately missed but this was not the time to give up.

THE SECOND HALF

The first five minutes of the second half saw Boro trying to regain control and hope to capitalise on any potential relaxation from West Ham. The first corner of the half was taken by Etherington for the Hammers, but was safely cleared by Woodgate. Overall not enough creative play was in evidence, and the frenzy of the first half was not repeated.

Parnaby was taken off and replaced by Johnson, who immediately became an attacking force and finally Boro demonstrated pace and depth on both flanks. This did not materialise into results however - West Ham became defensive overall and Boro could only manage a break appoximately every five minutes. These breaks did not come to anything, and it was shots that were elusive, let alone goals.

It was Boateng who nearly decapitated Noble, but it was the latter’s fault as he irresponsibly threw himself straight into the trajectory, but fortunately he did not join the list of players taken to A and E mid-game and carried on. Some frustrations were starting to build on both sides but play was generally controlled.

Pogatetz was booked after a foul on Tevez at 62, a retaliation for being nutmegged, and was then taken off in favour of Huth. Southgate engaged Pogo in conversation explaining this decision, which had baffled everyone else as there was no apparent injury to the central defender, who would receive a 2 match ban in any case.

After a scrappy few minutes, a couple of shots were attempted at each end, both going wide of the mark, Boro’s effort coming from the otherwise quiet Yakubu. The service to the strikers was of a second class grade this afternon unfortunately as the Boro midfield were thwarted again and again by the Premiership stragglers. Indeed West Ham had started to move from being purely defensive to decisively chasing their third.

Tevez was then taken off, and with the earlier replacement of Zamora by Branco meant that both scorers were off the pitch. Boa Morte attempted to make his mark straight away, forcing Schwarzer to demonstrate once more what a world class keeper he is, perfectly getting his legs in the way of the ball.

The red zone was entered with determination by both teams. The home crowd started to empty, secure in their belief that the points were in the bag. Euell came on for Rochemback but attempts on goal by Downing and Viduka had no effect on the scoreline. There was effort being made but no sense of urgency or passion as the Boro collective appeared almost resigned to their ninth away defeat with steady performing, but no more.

As the final whistle blew on a disappointing half compared to the earlier performance, credit had to be given to West Ham, who would not be in their current position if they had shown this sort of fight consistently throuhgout the season

AT LEAST £34.00 PROFIT ON EVERTON v ASTON VILLA

Monday night Premier League football is back with Everton taking on Aston Villa in an 8.00pm kick-off and we can guarantee you a minimum profit of £34.00 on the match, whatever the result.

We must point out that if you want to take this bet, you should do it now because if the odds change, then the figures here will be invalidated. If they have changed, let us know and we will rework the bet for you.

You won't be able to do this if you already have accounts with either of the bookies we are using for this bet but if that is the case, mail us, let us know which accounts you have and we'll send you an alternative bet.

We're going to lay out a total of £90.50 on the Everton v Aston Villa match and we will collect £128.00 if the game is drawn and £124.00 if the game is not drawn.

Here's how it's done. Just follow these simple instructions.

1. Open an account with Unibet.

Open an account with Betfair . When prompted, enter the promotional code FBT125.

This shouldn't take you any longer than a few minutes.

2. Make the following deposits into your new accounts. Deposit £20.00 into your new Unibet account. Deposit £70.50 into your new Betfair account.

3. Now make the following bets.

Place £20.00 on the draw at 3.20 (11/5) with Unibet

Unibet Will then credit your new account with a £20.00 bonus. Place this on the draw at 11/5 as well. You now have £40.00 staked on the draw.

LAY the draw at Betfair with £30.00 at odds of 3.35. Your liability (what you lose if your bet doesn't come in) on this bet is £70.50, which is why you need to deposit that amount in your account.

You have temporarily laid out a total of £90.50. I stress, temporarily... Now sit back, crack a beer open, crank up Sky TV and enjoy the match.

4. Here's what happens at the end of the game.

If it's a draw, you will collect £128.00 from Unibet.

If it's not a draw, you will collect £99.00 from Betfair . You will then receive a cashback of £25.00 from Betfair , so the balance in your Betfair acount will now be £124.00.

5. This means that the worst case scenario on the Everton v Aston Villa match is the game is not drawn and you make £34.00 profit. But if it is a draw, you make £37.50 profit.

6. It is absolutely vital that you click on the links on this page to open the accounts with the two bookies and enter the correct Betfair promotional code of FBT125 or you may not qualify for the cashback.

Also, before you place your bets, you should check that the odds haven't changed. If they have, let us know and we will rework the bet for you.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions at all about this bet and we will come straight back to you.

Please note that the free bets and bonuses are valid for new customers only so if you already have an account with one or more of the bookies we are using, you won't be able to do this. If that is the case, contact us and we'll mail you an alternative bet using different bookies.

This method of betting was used very successfully during the World Cup and you can read all about how it was done right here.

We guarantee this bet

It's understandable that some people will not believe that it is possible to do this. "What's the catch?" I hear you asking. My answer to that question is that we have been publishing arbitrage bets for three seasons now and literally hundreds of people have profited from following the advice on these pages.

Only once has our refund guarantee been triggered and that was when we did all the figures wrong and sent refunds out to those who had followed our advice and made a small loss.

Our refund guarantee works like this. If this bet doesn't work like we say it will and you end up out of pocket, we will refund your losses. Simple as that.

That means that you simply cannot lose on this, whatever happens and even if we messed up the numbers.

The only stipulation here is that you must click on the links on this page to be eligible for the refund guarantee, not that you'll be needing to claim anyway. Just enjoy the profit and stay posted for many more of these throughout the season.