Hasselbaink and Viduka ensure Boro win

Middlesbrough 3 Banik Ostrava 0

Middlesbrough’s ‘dream team’ of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Mark Viduka brilliantly lit up the Riverside to ensure an historic night for the club lived up to its billing.

Boss Steve McClaren had called on his experienced stars before kick-off to pave the way as Boro finally made their continental debut, and Hasselbaink and Viduka duly answered his prayers with second-half goals to seize the initiative in this UEFA Cup first-round first-leg tie.

McClaren’s side can now face the return at the Bazaly Stadium in two weeks’ time with confidence high of reaching the second round group stage and so avoiding the potential stigma of being branded one-off wonders, as had been feared in the build-up to this game.

McClaren, an experienced campaigner on the European stage given his time as number two to Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United and serving as assistant to Sven-Goran Eriksson with

England, had insisted patience was the key, and so it proved.

It appeared the expectancy and anticipation initially overwhelmed Boro as they failed to warm to their task against the Czech champions until midway through the first half.

After generating an atmosphere to savour, and with chairman Steve Gibson hailed inside the opening two minutes by a grateful Boro crowd, the team then failed to rise to the job in hand.

Banik were compact and organised, as McClaren had expected, and they almost caught the Teessiders cold with two opportunities inside a minute and with less than 10 gone on the clock.

Captain Gareth Southgate’s clearing header was seized upon by Ostrava counterpart Radek Latal, who proceeded to strike a sweet 25-yard right-foot half-volley, forcing goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer into an uncomfortable tip-over save.

From the following Latal corner, Maroslav Matusovic flicked on at the near post to the far where Peter Drozd had been left unmarked, but fortunately for the home side the ball just eluded the head of the left-back.

It was Drozd, though, who Boro quickly found was the weak link in the Ostrava side and after Josef Dvornik had been stretchered off with an injury to his left knee in the 15th minute after being caught in a clean challenge by Ray Parlour, the right wing was probed.

It was not until the 24th minute, however, that Middlesbrough finally awoke from their slumber as a one-two between Parlour and Stuart Parnaby, initiated with a throw from the latter, released Szilard Nemeth.

The Slovakia international superbly turned inside Drozd before unleashing an 18-yard left-foot curler which had the superb Martin Raska at full stretch in tipping away.

A second opportunity followed four minutes later, with Nemeth capitalising on a mistake by Drozd which allowed him to stride forward, only for his attempted cross to be blocked by substitute Jan Velkoborsky.

But the ball ran kindly into the path of the advancing Parnaby who unleashed a fierce, low drive which Raska stabbed away with an outstretched right boot.

Boro had seized control and just after the half hour an inswinging corner from Bolo Zenden was met with a near-post header from Chris Riggott, returning to the line-up in the absence of the injured Ugo Ehiogu, only for the ball to finish the wrong side of the left-hand post.

Following a booking for Velkoborsky, Boro conjured another chance to take the lead nine minutes from the break, with Nemeth releasing Viduka with an incisive pass into the area.

The weight on the ball almost thwarted the Australia international, but Viudka still managed to flick in a close-range shot which Raska palmed away.

Although Banik again started the brighter in the second half, it took only 12 minutes for Middlesbrough to set the tone for a virtually one-sided 45 minutes.

A long-range drive from George Boateng took slight deflections off Pavel Besta and then Nemeth, the ball threading its way through to Hasselbaink to sidefoot home a poacher’s strike from eight yards for his fourth goal of the season following his free transfer move from Chelsea in the summer.

After Raska had again saved his side moments later with a sprawling save to deny Zenden with an angled drive, the second was not far away for there was now no stopping Boro.

Parnaby and Nemeth were the suppliers for Viduka to crash home a thunderous drive under the advancing Raska, who was beaten again 10 minutes from time.

Viduka rose unopposed on the edge of the six-yard box to head home a delightfully-weighted Zenden cross for his fifth goal in four games since a £4million move from Leeds.

It could have been more for Middlesbrough but for Raska who then proceeded to deny both Nemeth and Parlour with further outstanding saves in the closing stages.

McClaren had demanded a win and a clean sheet ahead of the game – this was surely more than he had dared hope for.