Monday sports update

Another inglorious weekend, I'm afraid. Victor was still suffering from a racking cough, so he had to skip his indoor soccer game on Saturday. At least, that's the official story. Oh, he was sick, no question about that, but the rest of the sentence implies that we knew he had a game on Saturday. Which we didn't. The schedule, because it encompasses a matrix of fourteen teams, playing on up to three separate nights per week, is an unreadable mess.

That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.

Over in the old country, Middlesbrough put in a pathetic performance against Watford, handing them a 2-0 result and their first win in the top-flight since they were promoted. Just to be sure that Watford won, Boro went ahead and started the scoring on their own net . . . Details, should anyone be that masochistic, are here:

Watford suffered a blow when goalkeeper Ben Foster was forced out due to a knee problem, with Richard Lee stepping in for the in-form stopper.

But Boro's attacking efforts were so lacklustre that the home side could have probably played without a keeper in the first half and still managed to extend their run without conceding.

A third clean sheet on the trot means they have now gone 293 minutes without letting in a goal in the league.

Watford's forward line hardly set the place alight, but fortunately Middlesbrough's defence were there to offer them a helping hand.

In the sixth minute Woodgate failed to properly clear Gavin Mahon's throw and when the Boro defender stuck out his leg to try and block Bouazza's shot he deflected it past Schwarzer's despairing dive.

Meanwhile, having stunk up the Metrodome last Monday against the Patriots, the Minnesota Vikings have now managed make the hapless San Francisco 49ers look like a serious football team. This was a game I'm happy not to have had to watch:

The Vikings had the 49ers overmatched on paper but once again could not assemble a competent performance on offense, committing three turnovers and going scoreless after Ryan Longwell capped their opening drive with a 21-yard field goal.

San Francisco's moribund defense was allowing 33.6 points per game this season and hadn't held a team without a touchdown since the final game of 2001. But Sunday's affair was the Vikings' fourth game this season without an offensive touchdown, a feat so second nature that — like Williamson — the Vikings seemed dazed and not entirely convinced they are good enough to win on Sundays.

"We've just got to come together on this," said receiver Travis Taylor, whose illegal block in the third quarter nullified Chester Taylor's 65-yard touchdown reception. "It's like we need to get some fight and some dog in us, to get a little emotion. We have to want to get better. I think we're lacking a little in emotion right now."