Middlesbrough 2 Nottingham Forest 2 - Lewis Grabban hits Boro with late leveller

Despite the lyrics, it is a song which pays homage to those players in the Garibaldi red of Forest rather than berate them.

Unfortunately, for Middlesbrough’s discontented fanbase, there has been precious little love displayed towards their own players of late with the club’s season unravelling alarmingly.

Thankfully, on Monday night, the reconnection process began at a critical moment in the campaign, albeit with a cruel, late twist.

It came when Lewis Grabban netted a soft leveller following meek goalkeeping from Aynsley Pears on a night when Boro were tantalisingly just four minutes away from securing a first home win of 2020 and, more importantly, moving out of the relegation zone.

A deflating denouement most definitely, but the evening at least painted Boro in a much better light on an occasion when their players showed they are all fighting for Jonathan Woodgate.

Ahead of this fixture, social media was awash with fatalism about Boro’s parlous position in the bottom three, with the reservoir of goodwill towards beleaguered head coach and native Teessider Woodgate in danger of running dry.

A rare pre-match interview from another of Boro’s own in chairman Steve Gibson, who stressed that the club would be sticking with Woodgate ‘no matter what’, did not pacify the mood either, judging by the reaction of many supporters on messageboards and on Twittersphere.

The only thing that could ameliorate that feeling is results. For a side in 22nd place and 11 matches without a win in all competitions, it is all about actions and not words, as experienced campaigner Jonny Howson acknowledged beforehand. This did not end Boro’s winless streak, but you have to start somewhere.

Significant news in the Boro line-up was a first league start at the Riverside Stadium in just over two years for Rudy Gestede, just nine days on from his run-in with angry supporters following the final whistle of the recent defeat at Barnsley.

The much-derided striker - picked due to top-scorer Ashley Fletcher and former Forest striker Britt Assombalonga both being absent through illness - built a bridge or two and made more edifying headlines.

Gestede’s far-post downward header - which cancelled out Ryan Yates’s pinpoint opener for Forest just before the half-hour - represented his first goal on Teesside since that previous Riverside start against Hull City in February 2018.

If that was a surprise development given a goal drought for Boro which had stretched back five-and-a-half hours, there was another head-turning one soon after.

A searing break forward was emblematic of Boro’s intent in a first half which was low on quality, but high on perspiration, with a passive Forest caught napping.

The ball was rapidly recycled by Aynsley Pears to Hayden Coulson, whose drive, directness and energy unhinged the visitors at times.

The speedster, a whisker away with a strike from distance himself earlier, played in Lewis Wing, whose low shot was parried by Brice Samba before eventually trickling over the goal line.

Seeking to record a ninth away win in a season for the first time since 2007-08, Forest had forged the earlier breakthrough when Yates followed his goal in the reverse fixture at the City Ground with a crisp low shot after the hosts momentarily dropped their guard after probing play by ex-Boro loanee Sammy Ameobi and Alfa Semedo.

It was their first effort on target and from their perspective, there was not much else to be enthused about.

Gestede - who should have done better with an early chance - made them pay after Harold Moukoudi won the air miles to head Paddy McNair’s free-kick towards the far post.

There was soon a sense of atonement for Wing, who had earlier delayed when presented with a clear sight of goal after Samba was pressurised by Gestede.

Wing’s selection as a No 10 was a telling move by Woodgate and his players’ efforts conveyed the fact that they were all grafting for him.

Boro hassled and harried on the restart, but you still had the nagging impression that Forest were likely to up their intensity at some point after a low-key first period.

With the scoreline tight, there was a spate of work to do in the final quarter with captain-for-the-night Howson making a key block to get in the way of Tobias Figueiredo’s goal-bound flick.

Grabban then steered the ball wide as Forest finally cranked up the pressure and it paid off with a helping hand from the hosts.

A short corner routine saw Lolley’s deflected shot spin towards goal, with Pears meek under pressure from Grabban, who ended his run of six games without a goal at a key juncture to shatter Boro’s night.

Middlesbrough: Pears; Howson, Shotton, Moukoudi, Johnson; McNair, Clayton; Tavernier (Spence 87), Wing (Saville 81), Coulson; Gestede. Substitutes unused: Mejias, Morrison, Nmecha, Wood, O’Neill.

Nottingham Forest: Samba; Cash, Figueiredo, Worrall, Ribeiro; Yates (Bostock 78), Watson; Ameobi (Carvalho 69), Semedo (Diakhaby 56), Lolley; Grabban. Substitutes unused: Jenkinson, Dawson, Walker, Muric.

Referee: D England (South Yorkshire).