In an underwhelming opening day contest, the Swans would lose to a solitary goal, but when the tape is played back, Sheehan’s side would only have a single Liam Cullen effort at home keeper Sol Brynn to show for their efforts during the 90 minutes.
Boro centre half Dael Fry’s second-half header settled the match, with both sides lacking invention and key decision-making in the final third to trouble the scoreboard further.
The Swans had captain Ben Cabango available after injury to line up at centre half with new signing Cameron Burgess after missing the best part of pre-season, as the visiting side would look solid at the back, denying Boro many meaningful opportunities.
There would also be a debut for Ethan Galbraith in a conservative three-man midfield with Jay Fulton and Goncalo Franco looking to break up play.
The Swans would look to press, focusing on a cautious counter attacking style, and started the more positive of the two sides. Full back Josh Tymon latching onto a slick reserve pass on the edge of the penalty area, but would be unconvincing with the finish, seeing his effort balloon high and wide.
Brazilian Ronald would then come close, firing an effort just wide of Brynn’s top corner after Boro had only half cleared a searching long ball.
But that would be the best of play for the Swans in the first half as they would be wasteful in possession, and all too often in and around the opposition’s penalty area.
At the other end, visiting goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux, who would be a bystander for long periods, would be nearly beaten as Boro would grow into the game towards the break.
Former Swans forward Morgan Whittaker’s powerful long-range drive cannonned off the Chillian’s fingertips and would crash off the top of the crossbar.
The contest always seemed like it would take a moment of quality to earn victory for either side, and that moment came to Boro minutes into the second half.
Fry perfectly connecting with Whittaker’s corner to angle his header in the bottom corner of the Swans goal.
The goal would energise the hosts and deflate the visitors, and despite showing endeavour, the Swans would fail to threaten a comeback.
Reflecting, Swans boss Sheehan, embarking on his first full campaign in charge of the club, would feel it was a missed opportunity to take something from Teesside.
“I thought the first half was ok with two teams kind of cancelling each other out, said the Swans boss after the match.
“They scored from a set-piece, that’s the difference. That was probably the only bit of quality either team showed in the final third.
“A set-piece or a mistake was going to decide it – it was very tight. Then we huffed and puffed, but we didn’t create enough chances in the second half.
“We didn’t recover well. We didn’t create enough after that. We tried to get more impetus in the game, but we have a few things to improve on that.
“There were moments in the game where we were in control. But no excuses, just disappointing to concede in the manner we did.
“First games of the season are always tight. In the first half, we potentially had the better openings, and the final ball let us down, but defensively, we were fine. They rarely threatened our goal.
“I think a 0-0 would probably have been a fair reflection.”
The Swans return to action on Tuesday night at the Swansea.com Stadium where they face off against Crawley Town in the first round of the Carabao Cup.
[Lead image: Swansea City FC]
