Middlesboro - 1 Everton - 0 Steve McClaren landed the first blow of Middlesbrough's season yesterday. A sign of the tension McClaren has been feeling was that his hand touched the Everton manager David Moyes as tempers boiled over when a ding-dong game reached injury-time.

McClaren was furious Everton appeared not to return the ball at a throw-in after Mark Schwarzer threw the ball out of play as Wayne Rooney lay prostrate in Boro's penalty area. Thomas Gravesen struck the ball goalward and what he was trying to do is open to interpretation. The ball hit Boudewijn Zenden and then Everton played on.

McClaren, who grew redder and redder through the second half as Everton pummelled Boro in search of an equaliser, turned on the fourth official and on the Everton coach Alan Irvine. Words were exchanged, then Moyes became involved. As the managers marched to the touchline, McClaren put out a hand and connected with Moyes. The level of aggression was disputable. The Scot did well to show restraint. A few seconds later the final whistle blew and Moyes had the maturity to shake McClaren's hand.

"Is that what we're going to talk about, lads?" Moyes said in that cool, menacing manner of his when the incident was put to him. "I think Tommy went to kick the ball back and was closed down. It was nothing, a nonsense. Are we going to talk about the match?" McClaren would not elaborate either. "I'm making no real comment on that. Make your own judgment."

After the managers disappeared the scene on the pitch was of the referee Alan Wiley surrounded by players from both sides. Rooney mouthed something towards Boro fans. Booked in the 19th minute for a foul on Doriva - Rooney's fourth yellow card this season - the teenager endured a frustrating day. He squandered his two chances, missing the ball altogether in the 45th minute and dallying when Everton surged at the end. But two Rooney misdemeanours went unseen by Wylie and his linesmen. There was a bully-boy push on Malcolm Christie at a free-kick, the second a swipe at Colin Cooper.

This had a must-win feel about it for Middlesbrough and the points lifted them out of the bottom three. It was achieved in a first half, in which Everton failed to win 50-50 battles. Joseph-Desire Job scored the only goal in the sixth minute, getting ahead of Joseph Yobo to nudge in a cross from Christie, released by the best pass of the game, from George Boateng.

Six minutes before the interval it should have been 2-0. Frank Queudrue leaped to power in a Zenden corner and his header flew past Nigel Martyn and bounced down off the bar over the line. To the naked eye it was obvious, but not to Wylie or the linesman.

Moyes introduced Duncan Ferguson as Everton charged and the Scot almost provided an 88th-minute equaliser, his header being cleared off the line by Szilard Nemeth. Little did anyone know the action was just beginning.