Middlesbrough extended their lead at the top of the Third Division with a comfortable victory over injury-hit Fulham at Ayresome Park this afternoon.
Boro took an eighth minute lead through Bernie Slaven when the striker buried a fierce drive beyond John Vaughan from the right side of the penalty area. But the home side missed several further first half chances as they struggled to make their utter dominance count on the scoreboard.
They were far more fluent in the second half, overcoming a horribly bobbly pitch, to put the division’s worst defence – missing a number of key players – to the sword. Bruce Ricoh’s side doubled their lead ten minutes after the break by putting together the best move of the match. A counter-attack ripped Fulham’s makeshift rearguard apart before Gary Hamilton supplied the finishing touch with a fine angled drive.
Hamilton, who replaced Bryan Laws in the Middlesbrough midfield, scored his second of the afternoon fifteen minutes later with an acrobatic volley from the edge of the area. Fulham did create some late chances with Keith Oakes heading just over the top from a corner and Cliff Carr, comfortably the Cottagers’ best performer, clipping the crossbar with a rising drive of his own but there was to be no consolation goal for Ray Lewington’s men.
MIDDLESBROUGH: Pears; Mowbray, Pallister, Cooper, Parkinson, Gill, Hamilton, Kerr, Ripley, Slaven, Stephens.
GOALS: Slaven (8), Hamilton (55, 70).
FULHAM: Vaughan; Oakes, Hicks, Carr, Cottington, Elkins, Kerrins, Donnellan, Barnett, Davies, Pike. Subs (not used): Skinner.
ATTENDANCE: 9,361.
