Middlesbrough's unbeaten Premiership run under Terry Venables came to an abrupt end as Southampton staged a smash-and-grab raid at the Riverside.

Five years ago, Venables and Saints boss Glenn Hoddle were at the peak of their managerial careers, 'El Tel' handing over the England reins to Hoddle.

At the Riverside, they were fighting it out in the lower reaches of the Premiership, and Hoddle must have enjoyed putting one over the man whose shadow he never really managed to shake off at England level.

Boro could point to several missed chances, some misfortune and a couple of baffling referee's decisions, but perhaps Saints deserved a result.

Urged on by goalscorer Mark Draper and fellow central midfielder Chris Marsden, Southampton snuffed out many of Boro's promising moves. In attack, they probed persistently before achieving a reward.

It meant frustration for Boro, for whom Alen Boksic was denied a breathtaking goal by the woodwork, and for their inexhaustible skipper Paul Ince - ignored for Sven-Goran Eriksson's first England squad - after his apparently legitimate claim for a penalty was turned down.

It was the sole England squad member on the pitch, Ugo Ehiogu, who was responsible for the game's first chance - but the Boro central defender almost embarrassed himself hugely.

Ehiogu miscontrolled in his own area and presented a clear chance to Hassan Kachloul, only for keeper Mark Schwarzer to spare his blushes with a sharp block of the Moroccan's side-footed shot.

With Colin Cooper suspended for Boro, Ehiogu was alongside Steve Vickers while Saints were missing Tahar El Khalej, away on international duty with Morocco.

The opening minutes were dominated by neat passing moves by both sides, though most fizzling out in the midfield melee.

Boro's Croatian star Alen Boksic finally roused the home crowd when he beat the offside trap to run onto Paul Okon's through-ball.

Southampton keeper Paul Jones did well to force Boksic wide, but the striker cut back inside and whipped in a low shot which Dean Richards hacked clear off the line.

Jones was Saints' saviour himself when he dived to punch Christian Karembeu's wickedly curling cross off the head of the lurking Hamilton Ricard.

On the half-hour, some individual brilliance by Boksic had the crowd on their feet, even though the woodwork denied the brilliant Croatian.

Boksic turned Richards 35 yards out, raced away from the centre-back and past Claus Lundekvam. At the edge of the box, in full flight, he delicately chipped the approaching Jones and every neutral in the box must have been willing the ball to drop into the net.

Instead it hit the underside of the bar and bounced out, and football had been robbed of one of the goals of the season.

Boro were made to rue that miss just three minutes into the second half.

Matthew Oakley, who also had an excellent all-round match, fed James Beattie from the right. The striker shielded the ball well before sliding an inviting pass across the line of the penalty area for Draper to hammer a shot low into the corner past Schwarzer.

Within a few minutes, Boro howled for a penalty when Ince burst into the box and was up-ended by keeper Jones, who appeared to completely miss the ball.

Referee Neale Barry, bafflingly, waved play on but Ince's reaction was inexcusable. He pursued Barry, screaming at the referee, and was perhaps fortunate only to be punished by a caution.

Boro launched into a series of attacks and Richards headed out from under his own bar after Jones had only half-smothered Okon's shot.

Ehiogu wasted a glorious chance to equalise with 10 minutes remaining. The centre-back had stolen forward and was perfectly placed to meet substitute Dean Gordon's cross but headed wide.

Boksic, after beating the defensive cover with devastating pace, fired wide and then Ince forced Jones into a sprawling save but Boro just could not find that equaliser.

Teams:

Middlesbrough: Schwarzer, Fleming (Gordon 45), Festa, Ehiogu, Vickers (Gavin 45), Mustoe, Karembeu, Ince, Okon, Boksic, Ricard (Marinelli 69).

Subs Not Used: Crossley, Whelan.

Booked: Ince.

Southampton: Jones, Petrescu, Bridge, Lundekvam, Richards, Marsden, Draper, Tessem, Oakley, Beattie, Kachloul (Davies 79).

Subs Not Used: Rosler, Moss, Monk, Gibbens.

Goals: Draper 49.

Att: 28,725

Ref: N Barry (Scunthorpe).