Relief for Mowbray as Boro hold on

Middlesbrough boss Tony Mowbray was relieved to hear the final whistle as his side held on for a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace.

The home side looked in complete control for large spells and comfortably led after a scrambled opener from Seb Hines and then a Merouane Zemmama free-kick soon after the restart. But Palace grabbed a lifeline as Jermaine Easter was hauled down and then rammed home the resulting penalty on 55 minutes, and after that nervous Boro were left to dig in through a frantic final spell. "It was a bit uncomfortable in the final 15 and we made hard work of it," admitted Mowbray. "But any three points is a good three points. "For an hour I felt were in complete control and we peppered their goal in the first half and we were disappointed to only go in one up at half-time. We had chances in the second half too."