Matt Dolan returns to punish Middlesbrough with last-minute Newport County equaliser

Revenge was a dish best served cold as the 40 members of Matt Dolan’s extended family returned home more than happy from a windswept Riverside Stadium.

Tony Pulis faces a somewhat unwanted return to his hometown next month after Dolan poked in a close-range equaliser in the third minute of stoppage time to secure a fully deserved replay for the League Two side, who for long spells more than matched opponents 53 places above them in the football food chain. 

Dolan, who had been on the pitch for only five minutes, was on Middlesbrough’s books for 14 years from the age of six, but left in 2014 without having broken into the first team. He harbours no grudges against his former employers, having forged a career away from the North East, but it was nevertheless a suitable reminder of the talents Boro chose to dispose of when parting company with this son of Hartlepool. 

“I’d have put him on sooner but he had an issue with his socks,” Michael Flynn, the Newport manager revealed after his side added to the £1 million already banked from this run by securing another crack at their Championship opponents. 

The 25-year-old fell foul of rules regarding the taping of socks which took time to remedy under the eye of a watchful fourth official, but made the most of his belated appearance to calmly roll home the leveller after the hosts failed to clear a Josh Sheehan cross. 

Flynn added: “He said there were about 40 of his family at the game today, so that goal will have gone down well with them. To be fair, I’ve had to be a bit of a party pooper in the dressing room. I’ve told them to forget any celebrations, because we’ve got another game on Tuesday at home to Port Vale. In fact, given our hectic schedule, any celebrations will have to wait until the summer.” 

With John Obi Mikel making a surprise debut following his arrival from the Chinese league in the wake of a 10-week hiatus since the 31-year-old Nigerian’s most recent game, Middlesbrough were again a hard watch for home supporters starved of entertainment this season. 

The chances they created were few and far between, although they struck the bar through Lewis Wing before the break. The hosts took a 51st-minute lead through Daniel Ayala’s close-range header, which goalkeeper Nick Townsend ought to have done more to prevent, but they failed to do enough to merit progression without need of a second game. Indeed, had Newport midfielder Antoine Semenyo showed more composure in front of goal when wasting two presentable late chances, a return in South Wales might not have been needed at all.

“I’m going to need a bucketload of tickets for the replay,” joked Pulis, whose side have won just two of their past eight home games. The Middlesbrough manager added: “We dominated in terms of possession and had control of the game but we’ve got to create more chances than we did, and that’s been our story really. We didn’t stop their crosses it was almost as if we were happy for them to stick it in the box. Unless you get that second goal, there’s always that one situation that can change the game.”

Match details

Middlesbrough (4-1-4-1): Randolph; Shotton (McNair 72) Ayala, Flint, Friend; Mikel (Clayton 62); Downing, Wing, Saville, Fletcher (Tavernier 80); Assombalonga.
Booked: Fletcher.
Goal: Ayala (51).
Subs not used: Konstantopoulos (gk), Batth, Van la Parra, Hugill.
Newport County (4-1-4-1): Townsend; Poole, O'Brien, Demetriou (Dolan, 87), Butler; Willmott, Bennett, Bakinson (Labadie, 78), Semenyo; Amond (Sheehan, 79); Matt.
Goal: Dolan (90+4).
Subs not used: Pipe, Marsh-Brown, Forbes, Neufville.
Referee: John Brooks.
Attendance: 15,794.