A good point on the road from an even game.
Pears 7
Solid when called upon. Didn't have too much to do, or many saves to make.
Brittain 6
A silly loose touch early on to let it go out for a throw when we were in a good attacking position. Made a great tackle in the second-half from a dangerous cross. Solid, with generally nothing too much to complain nor shout about.
Hyam 7
Steady. Handled Latte-Lath well. Won most of his headers from what I recall. Certainly grown into the season.
Wharton 8
Stepped forward out of defence very well, and played some smart passes to get us going. A bit cock-legged in the first half where his boots seemed to be on the wrong foot, but he really stood out and fought for a clean sheet. A bit of silly yellow card rugby tackle on Latte Lath in the first half, but kept his composure thereafter.
Pickering 7
Got into some good positions down the flank. Pace, as usual, is a bit lacking. Defensively solid and has really established himself as a good player for us.
Tronstad 8
We've missed him. His presence allowed Buckley to be a bit more forward-thinking. Got stuck into every challenge, and kept his passes simple as usual.
Buckley 8
Man of the Match for me. Looked energetic and up for it today. A couple of mis-controls, but tackled well and passed well, and he made for the few mistakes he made by getting back and putting in the work. A good game. Suits the white boots.
Hedges 6
Not sure he's quite match-ready, but Eustace doesn't seem to mind chucking experienced players in as soon as they're available. Decent touches on the ball, and defensively solid, but not really at the races in terms of going forward.
Sigurdsson 5
Worked hard, but it's never enough. See Szmodics for definition of working hard. Had some decent touches on the ball, but just never gets involved enough in the game. Probably sell him in summer as I don't think he is suited to this league where grit is a basic requirement.
Szmodics 6
Didn't show his usual quality on the ball. Defended well from the front because of his usual superb workrate, but otherwise seemed too knackered to be effective up front. Could have scored one or two into the positions he got into but his shots were weak.
Gallagher 7
Awful first half. Didn't look interested, didn't hold up the ball well, was caught offside in basic situations, and didn't seem to help out with defending from the front. Contrasting second half, were he did the exact opposite. A half-time team talk was probably needed.
As for the subs...
Dolan 5
Harried their attackers in our defensive third. Ineffective and wasteful going forward.
Ayari 7
Showed some foresight with forward passing. Other players not on the same wavelength, so perhaps a mixed message in the team. Smart yellow card late on during a dangerous counter-attack.
Chrisene 4
Poor cameo appearance. Didn't look prepared, and lost the ball too easily. The pitch seemed slippy, but he slipped at a silly moment or two. Wasn't on the wavelength of others when we could have taken advantage in attacking positions.
Telalovic 5
Too small amount of time on the pitch to be fair, but his only moment in the game saw us playing backwards when he could have turned and attacked.
The game could have gone either way. 'Boro edged it, and we got away with a couple of things, particularly in the first half when they missed an open goal from a back-stick cross, and when they hit the bar in the second-half, but we also had some decent chances to win the game. We're always going to have moments of luck, but I thought we were solid and good value for the point. A decent showing.