Middlesbrough v Aston Villa 1989-90 ZDS Cup Northern Final 2L

Unforgettable night at Ayresome Park - arguably the biggest and best in the stadiums history as Middlesbrough beat Aston Villa to progress to a Wembley final for the first time in their history. Leading 2-1 from the first leg of this Zenith Data Systems (Mickey Mouse for short) Northern Section Final (effectively the tournament semi final), Boro only needed a draw to get through. A difficult enough task as it was against Villa who were flying high in Division One was made doubly hard after Trevor Putney was stretchered off with a broken leg & shortly afterwards Stuart Gray put Villa ahead to level the tie. Boro fans needn't have worried though as Bernie Slaven (who else) equalised with a goal in front of the Holgate End that will surely go down as one of the most skillfully executed that Ayresome Park had ever seen. Watch it in slow motion. The way Bernie shifts the ball from his right to left foot as the defender closes in, and strikes it into the net all in the same movement is incredible. Paul Kerr then sealed the tie with a shot from the edge of the box that avoided the legs of a glut of players in the box and nestled into the far corner. Cue unprecedented scenes of celebration at the final whistle. We'd had a couple of promotion parties and a few more to come at Ayresome Park but this was unique. Great interview from manager Bruce Rioch in the dressing room immediately afterwards and then probably the only Boro player who wasn't hungover (the tee-total Slaven) was wheeled out the next day to talk to BBC Look North and foolishly hoped for Chelsea in the final whilst wearing Bryan Robsons suit jacket from 4 years later. I wonder if Bernie had found Steve Gibsons secret cupboard marked up "Do not open until May 1994".