NCFC 25/26 • Middlesbrough (A)

I wouldn't normally have gone to an away game this far away, but my sister and nephew live in Yorkshire so the trip to Middlesbrough wasn't much further, so I made a weekend trip of it.

I hadn't planned where to park with enough notice so the only place I was sure I could get was in an Asda where you could pay to stay all day. It was a 4 and half mile walk to the ground though which would have taken an hour and a half each way, but there was a train station nearby one stop away from Middlesbrough, and a 5 minute train journey was much more appealing than an hour and a half trek. I grabbed a burger on the way, and the train arrived at the station literally as I walked onto the platform. After another 20 minute walk from the train station, through the college campus and across the river alongside the weird bird net tunnel sculpture thing they have, I made it to the ground with plenty of time.

Our run of fixtures this month had been daunting, but we'd managed to get 9 points out of 9, so I would have taken a point here but to be honest, even if we lost it wouldn't be the end of the world.

And so it turned out to be, but not without putting up a fight. There wasn't a huge number of chances from either side, but Boro opened the scoring with a fantastic shot from distance after a mistake from our keeper. We had a couple of chances where we just needed to get a shot off, but didn't quite manage it.

This is the first away day I got to hear a little more from the away fans as I walked back in the crowd towards the train station, and they were very complimentary of Norwich's performance, and I saw a similar sentiment online too. Several Boro fans said we played well, put up a fight, and were one of the best teams they've had there all season. Considering they've just gone joint top of the league with Coventry, and how dire our performances were only a few months ago, it shows just how far we've come, as it would have been a bloodbath with how our form was at the start of the season. There's no shame in losing to a team as good as Boro are, and our season won't be defined by games like this, but the fact we were able to put in such a strong performance is hugely positive, so I think this is the first loss all season that I'm not actually disappointed with. If we had got even a point from it it would have been a huge achievement, but fair play to Boro for just being the better team. They'll probably overtake Coventry to win the league, and they'll deserve it.

February is going to be huge, with Blackburn, Oxford away, Birmingham, Sheffield Wednesday, and Leicester away (which I'll also be at). Three of those are the bottom three in the league, Leicester are on a bad run of form and have been poor all season, and Birmingham is winnable at home. I can easily see a 12 or 13 point return from these five, and with the way we've been playing there's every chance we get it done.