'Brutal' - Middlesbrough punished for familiar failing in play-off final defeat against Hull City

Middlesbrough were punished for a familiar failing during Saturday’s Championship play-off final defeat against Hull City - according to Don Goodman.

Kim Hellberg’s men were handed a second chance at securing promotion into the Premier League when semi-final conquerors Southampton were removed from the final in the aftermath of the ‘Spygate’ scandal earlier this week. Hopes were high ahead of what had been an unexpected trip to Wembley and they were further raised as Boro dominated possession for large parts of a final that was played out in the baking North London heat.

However, for all of that possession, genuine goalscoring opportunities were few and far-between as Hellberg’s side were kept at arms’ length by a disciplined and organised Tigers defence and they got their rewards when Ollie McBurnie fired home the only goal of the game deep in second-half injury-time. Boro mounted some late pressure but goalscoring opportunities remained out of reach as Hull secured a return to the Premier League and left Hellberg and his players to reflect on what pundit Goodman described as a ‘brutal’ loss.

Speaking as part of Sky Sports’ commentary team for the play-off final, the former Wolves and Sunderland striker said: “They do confound the fine margins, Hull City. I can tell you, that was the third shot they have on-target all season (against Middlesbrough). They’ve had two one-nil wins out of three shots on target in three games against Middlesbrough. It’s ruthless, it’s brutal for Middlesbrough but they could not find a cutting edge and that’s been the problem for quite a few months at the end of this season.

“The first thing I always do in these circumstances is commiserate the losers because it’s not a place for losers. But congratulations to Hull City. There were those, in the way of SpyGate, said they should have been promoted. No, they shouldn’t, because it would have robbed them of this moment right here. A moment they will never forget and they can add it to their growing collection of one-nil Championship play-off final victories.”

Your next Middlesbrough read: Middlesbrough boss Kim Hellberg makes Hull City admission and has message for Boro fans after play-off defeat