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It was good, wasn't it?

The occasion. The performance. The result.

You know what it's like, sometimes you look forward to something and you build-up to something so much in advance that you can't help but feel a little let-down by anti-climax when it arrives.

Not here. This was everything we thought it would be and a little bit more.

A bouncing Riverside, a performance to be proud of and promise. Promise and hope that Boro can build on this performance and make themselves most at home in the Premier League.

Because that's how they looked here. In the first half against Stoke Boro didn't look like newcomers but experienced campaigners, top flight regulars who know the division like the back of their hand.

We used to but a lot's changed since then. Yet Boro quickly adapted and Stoke's players, fans and management will have left impressed.

They'll see that as a good point, which is a of huge credit to Boro.

But it wasn't just the performance, it was everything that came with it. It was that feel of importance at the Riverside again, a sense of occasion and a feel of pride in a team that matters to the town.

During the dark days of the seven years away, there were times when it was hard to imagine the Riverside ever been full again. Empty seats were sadly no longer a surprise. The surprise now would be if those in attendance for the opener didn't want to return for Boro's next home fixture.

Teessiders won't have talked about anything other than Boro in the boozer on Saturday night. It will be the same in the office and on the yards on Monday morning. And more performances like the one on show in the first half against Stoke will ensure football fans from afar turn their attention to Aitor Karanka's side.

Saturday meant so much to so many. Here's what we learnt from the draw against Stoke.

Boro rose to the occasion

OK, they tired in the second half. They dropped a lot deeper and invited Stoke City onto them, with the equaliser feeling rather inevitable.

But Boro still upped their game against a side packed with international quality.

Much has been said of the players who've forever dreamt of Premier League football, of reaching the pinnacle of the English game.

Yet who was to say they wouldn't freeze? That the occasion wouldn't be too much for them?

Instead, they rose to the occasion and stepped it up from what was already a high starting point.

It was clear that was going to be the case from minute one as well as Boro pressed from the get-go and didn't give Stoke a minute's peace.

And it was much required. While the Potters are a quality Premier League side now, it wasn't a bad opening day fixture for Boro and one they'll have identified as a real opportunity to take points from.

Boro's start is kind but they must not allow it to pass them by.

And that's thing in the Premier League. Boro did rise to the occasion but they'll have to do so must weeks. You don't get gimmes at this level.

The need to make dominance count

With that last point in mind, when Boro are dominating games they must make that advantage count.

If not, you'll be punished. Proof, if required, was offered on Saturday.

Stoke couldn't have argued if they'd have gone in at the break two or three goals behind, such was Boro's supremacy in that opening period.

And while it was always going to be tough to keep that intensity going for the full 90, it was also unlikely that Stoke wouldn't improve at some stage and give Boro something to think about.

They did. It's hard to keep players such as Shaqiri and Arnautovic quiet and tucked away in a back pocket for an entire afternoon.

But by the time they came to life, Boro could have been away and gone. A bit more thought in the final third or an inch this way or that with an effort on goal and the home side would have had a buffer.

The fine margins are even finer at this level. Against quality opposition, the need is great to make the most of spells of sheer dominance.

Promising individual displays

Gaston Ramirez, obviously, but it would be unfair to paint the picture of a one-man show.

Aitor Karanka said as much afterwards, listing just some of the players who'd played their part.

Plenty of them.

Stoke fans who knew very little of Antonio Barragan couldn't have guessed he was a full-back filling a hole. Neither was it anywhere near obvious that Ben Gibson was a young defender making his debut at this level.

And George Friend, on the day he signed that new deal, was excellent both defensively and offensively. Just when you thought his lung capacity was at its max, Friend covered more ground than ever up and down that left flank.

The disappointment, of course, came with Marten de Roon's injury - a blow for player and club - yet Adam Forshaw, so often the victim of misfortune himself, hardly put a foot wrong when he came on.

Bringing Forshaw on so early and having a bench stacked with attackers made it difficult for Karanka when he'll have wanted to make changes to Boro's tiring XI later on in the game.

Stewart Downing, who some suggested should make way for Viktor Fischer in the starting XI, showed why Aitor Karanka made the correct decision. He demonstrated maturity on the left and picked out many an inch perfect pass. When he's on song, this is his level.

And Negredo, well we all now know why they call him The Beast. And he's now scored with his first effort on target in the Premier League for both Manchester City and Boro.

A goal per effort on target wouldn't be a half bad ratio this season....

You could go on. Nobody had a bad game for Boro.

Questions were asked of Aitor Karanka post-match and whether he felt Victor Valdes could have done more to stop the Stoke goal. A slight step either way could have been crucial there and the keeper will be slightly disappointed. But he couldn't have done much more to help the defence in front of him before that leveller, constantly aware of danger and sharp off his line.

As previously touched on, the challenge for the squad is making that level of performance the norm.

In summary, it was good, wasn't it?