It’s important we look at things, make people aware of responsibilities and then after that, move on.” Move on to the Championship, that is.Goal: Reid (15) 0-1.Sunderland (4-4-2): Davis; Hoyte, Caldwell (Breen, 64), D Collins, McCartney; Whitehead, Leadbitter, Delap (Lawrence, 73), Arca; Brown, Stead (Kyle, 66). Substitutes not used: Alnwick (gk), D Murphy.Blackburn (4-4-2): Friedel; Neill, Nelsen, Khizanishvili, Gray; Emerton (Bentley, 64), Tugay (Mokoena, 64), Reid, Pedersen; Bellamy (Kuqi, 70), Dickov. Substitutes not used: Enckelman (gk), Todd.Referee: P Walton (Northamptonshire).Booked: Sunderland Arca, Hoyte, Leadbitter, Whitehead; Blackburn Gray.Man of the match: Reid.Attendance: 29,593.. Middlesbrough versus Bolton Wanderers was never was going to be a spectacle, was it? Not unless seven goals, two penalties, running feuds and countless near misses are your scene.

Middlesbrough are meant to sparkle only in the Cups or when the big teams come calling. But here they were, recovering from an awful start to lead 3-1, being pegged back to 3-3 and, in a game featuring two goals in the opening eight minutes, finally secure a first victory in five matches through Stuart Parnaby’s stoppage-time winner.
It was vibrant, heated, exhilarating stuff that had their manager Steve McClaren struggling to make any sense of it. “It was a manager’s nightmare but the fans and TV will love it,” he said. “We tear our hair out for conceding too many goals but the squad showed fantastic resolve and when you have [Jimmy-Floyd] Hasselbaink, [Mark] Viduka and Yakubu, you are going to score goals.”Bolton’s unlikely challenge for Champions’ League football is being threatened by a “poor travellers” label.

They have lost four consecutive away games and exited the FA and Uefa Cups while their opponents advanced in both.Like Middlesbrough, the favourable imprint they left on this breathless contest was all of an attacking nature. Some of their defending was shocking and Allardyce moaned, “We gifted them all four goals In possession.. fantastic. We created some great opportunities and 3-3 would have felt like a win. It’s difficult to take.”Middlesbrough have played more games this season than any Premiership club apart from Liverpool and match No 49 started badly for them.Ugo Ehiogu, Andrew Davies and Franck Queudrue all failed to deal with a long goal-kick, leaving the prolific Stelios Giannakopoulos to drive past Mark Schwarzer.Bolton’s defence was equally accommodating five minutes later. Joey O’Brien stupidly handled as he jumped for Fabio Rochemback’s free-kick and Hasselbaink’s penalty squeezed apologetically across the line.The invigorating tone was set.