CHERRIES’ wait for a first away win of this Premier League season will go into November after Eddie Howe’s team went down to a 2-0 defeat at Middlesbrough.

Joshua King had struck the bar and seen a convincing penalty shout waved away, when Gaston Ramirez blazed a trail through the visitors’ breaches to score on 39 minutes.

Stewart Downing added Boro’s second on the hour mark, a strike that killed the game, with Cherries’ characteristic endeavour not matched by sufficient guile to carve open the resolute home team.

The away side spent the opening exchanges primarily camped inside their own half, without ever looking overly perturbed by the hosts’ probing.

Boro skipper George Friend thrashed wildly over inside the first 60 seconds, while Steve Cook’s lax seventh minute clearance enabled Adam Forshaw to tee-up Antonio Barragan for a shot the Spanish full back dragged wide.

Cook quickly made amends for his previous slip by getting his head to Downing’s left-wing delivery, bound for the lurking Alvaro Negredo.

Jack Wilshere clicking into gear just past the 10-minute mark was the prompt for Cherries to introduce themselves into the game as an attacking force.

The Arsenal loanee’s beautifully weighted pass over the top for Callum Wilson forced Ben Gibson into conceding a corner on the Boro left. King arrived onto Wilshere’s subsequent dead ball delivery to direct an effort at goal that was headed away from the line by Adam Clayton.

Gibson was on his toes again, when the centre half stretched out a leg to prevent Adam Smith’s prod in the area from finding Wilson completely unattended in front of goal.

Wilshere then slipped in Jordon Ibe for a strike from the left of the box that had Barragan fully extended to deflect behind.

Whenever opportunity presented, the hosts were trying to engineer a situation that would leave their steam train of a winger, Adama Traore, one on one with Charlie Daniels. The ploy found rare success when former Barcelona player Traore breezed away from Harry Arter and into the box. A turn of pace then took the attacker past Daniels, who went to ground in his attempt to stop the flyer in his tracks. Traore’s delayed fall did him no favours, however, and referee Stuart Atwell waved away Boro’s penalty appeals.

Most of Cherries’ good work was still sprouting from Wilshere’s vision and creativity. On picking up Calum Chambers’ partial clearance from the Boro box, the England international spied King running in behind Friend. The ensuing pass was perfect and the Norwegian, in one movement, controlled with his chest and volleyed goalwards, only to be denied by Victor Valdes, tipping the ball onto the bar.

When Boro keeper Valdes and King’s paths next crossed it could – and probably should – have resulted in a Cherries penalty. Valdes, one of four Spaniards in Boro’s starting 11, charged from his line to try to beat King to another lofted Wilshere pass. The Boro No 1 achieved his mission, but on the follow through completely wiped out King with a knee to the head.

Perhaps emboldened by their twin-escape, Boro built up their own head of steam. Andrew Surman’s attempt to stem a wave of home pressure only ended with the midfielder clearing to Friend. The Boro player charged forward via a one-two with Ramirez and hit a thumping shot that brought one side of Riverside Stadium to its feet – the side that couldn’t see the left back’s effort had careered into the outside of the goal net, rather than inside Artur Boruc’s right-hand post.

The next time the roof threatened to come off this throbbing stadium, though, the home celebrations could continue unabated.

There seemed little cause for concern when Ramirez collected the ball inside his own half. As the Uruguayan sped away from Arter and kept the retreating Wilshere at bay, however, Cherries’ sense of danger was heightened. But as Simon Francis slid across to try to put the brakes on the attacker, cutting in from the left, Ramirez simply lifted the ball over the defender and past Boruc’s left glove for his first Premier League goal since he scored for Hull at Sunderland on Boxing Day 2014.

Cherries’ search for an equaliser before the break saw Arter shoot off target from 25-yards and Chambers having to wear Smith’s piledriver from distance in order to prevent Valdes from being called back into action.

A scrappy start to the second half was best summed up when Cherries first coherent spell of passing ended with Daniels planting his left-wing cross into the stand behind the goal.

And Cherries frustrations were swiftly compounded when Boro doubled their lead on 56 minutes. Traroe was afforded far too much time to turn in his opponents’ half, before jinking away from Surman and using the outside of his right boot to cross to the far post. Negredo rose to direct the ball across goal, where hometown boy Downing had the simplest of tasks to ram home.

Howe responded to that blow by sending on Benik Afobe and Ryan Fraser in place of Wilson and Ibe. And the manager’s changes nearly reaped instant dividends. Afobe was sent clear by Daniels, but the striker’s prodded finish was too close to the advancing Valdes.

Negredo then had a chance to wrap things up for his team, when the former Manchester City striker was played in by Forshaw’s cute pass, but only able to steer a weak effort into Boruc’s grasp.

Cherries weren’t going to give this one up easily. Daniels raided forward to collect Wilshere’s pass and jink his way into the box. The left back squared for Smith, confronted by a host of defenders, with Chambers the man to get the vital block on the right back’s driven shot.

A visibly agitated Howe’s final change saw Arter make way for Dan Gosling. Six minutes later, however, Cherries’ bid to take something from the game was hamstrung, literally, Surman hobbling off clutching the back of his thigh to leave Howe’s team a man down for the closing stages.

Still Cherries gave it a go. King volleyed acrobatically wide, Valdes had to tip Fraser’s delivery over his own bar and Afobe headed a Smith free-kick onto the top of the goalframe.

By now, though, the Riverside atmosphere had taken on a triumphant hue, the home support revelling in seeing their side win on home turf for the first time in seven league games.

Cherries’ winless run away from Vitality Stadium, meanwhile, extends to a seventh game.

MATCH FACTS

Middlesbrough (4-2-3-1): Valdes; Barragan, Chambers, Gibson, Friend; Forshaw, Clayton; Traore (Fischer, 90), Ramirez (Leadbitter, 63), Downing; Negredo (Rhodes, 86).

Unused subs: Fabio da Silva, Bernardo, Nugent, Guzan (g/k) Bookings: Ramirez.

Cherries (4-4-1-1): Boruc; A Smith, Francis, Cook, Daniels; King, Surman, Arter (Gosling, 73), Ibe (Fraser, 60); Wilshere; Wilson (Afobe, 60).

Unused subs: Mings, Ake, Gradel, Federici (g/k).

Bookings: Smith.

Referee: Stuart Atwell (Warwickshire).

Attendance: 29,600.