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Kim Hellberg's exciting Middlesbrough promise as they pass first test against their old nemesis Next-day analysis as Middlesbrough beat Lincoln City 2-1 Not without complication, but Middlesbrough got the job done by beating Lincoln City 2-1 on the opening day of the new Championship season. That’s all that really matters at this stage, but there was one particularly encouraging sign too. “If you're too close to your goal, good teams will hurt you,” said Lincoln City boss Chris Cohen after. Boro were, finally, that good team who found a way. Much like many teams last season, Cohen’s side had taken an early lead against Boro before defending deep to try and hold onto it. It wasn’t, Cohen insisted, the plan. Instead, it was a natural consequence of Boro finally getting a grip of the game and, with their attacking quality and relentlessness, forcing their opponents back. Last season, a Boro win would have been the unlikely outcome. There was very nearly a last season moment when, with five minutes remaining, substitute Isaac Olaofe headed Lincoln back into the lead against the run of play. Thankfully for Boro, the offside flag denied him. And then, with the benefits of their summer focus on solving the problem with their old nemesis - the low-block that is, not Lincoln - they found a way to win. Having a striker like Will Lankshear, who seems to have an instinctive knack of being in the right place at the right time, certainly helps. Following on from his winner against Wrexham, the striker’s brace against Lincoln has made him an instant hit on Teesside. “You can see Will’s quality and of course it helps,” Hellberg said. “You need to put the ball away, and Will did that today.” Boro won’t always be able to just rely on the 21-year-old, however, but Hellberg continued: “There were other players that have the same quality in terms of scoring goals, or similar level of qualities in different areas. “You can also see the ball coming in with top, top quality from Seb [Berhalter] and different players. What we tried to do in the window was add quality in both boxes - and of course a lot of young development players - and I think that is our edge. “We have a very young squad. Our edge if we're going to be successful is to develop from here, and that we have to work with.” That’s going to be important for Middlesbrough. They got the job done in this one, but big improvements will be needed, particularly from the first half. They managed to beat the low block on this occasion. All signs point towards them having far better quality, depth and variation in this year’s squad to better deal with that consistently. But only with sustained success can we be certain, because Lincoln won’t be the last to do it. As for general performance, particularly the first half, it was below the levels that will be required over 46 games. Boro started edgy. They looked frantic in possession, and were hurried by their enthusiastic visitors, resulting in an inability to keep the ball. It was no surprise when Boro academy graduate Adam Reach gave them a 12th-minute lead. Even when Boro finally settled in the first half, their work in possession was unusually careless. It was far removed, Hellberg admitted, from looking like a Boro team under him. Perhaps it’s not unexpected, however. Including the two subs who are summer signings: Myles Peart-Harris and Max Arfsten, Boro had six league debutants playing the game. That’s the most in any single game for the club since 1946! There are players only just returning from injuries too. Aidan Morris missed out altogether, while Riley McGree was able to play 30 minutes from the bench. The Australian star rubber-stamped his quality and importance once more with some brilliant work on the byline to set up Lankshear’s 91st minute match-winner. “It's been a crazy pre-season in many ways because we started with a lot of injuries that were from the last season, and a lot of players in and out,” Hellberg noted. “It was a lot of players in and out, which means that it will take a little bit more time to be perfect. And the first day of the season is never about being perfect in terms of on the pitch, it's about trying to win the game, and that we did. “The key thing for us will be to try to get wins in the beginning here and try to develop through it, and that's why today was massive. “At the end, we beat Wrexham in the cup, we beat Lincoln here, and that's two very tough opponents. So I’m very happy about that. In terms of the way we played, everything will get better, but in the beginning the points will be the key.” It’s hard to disagree. This may not have been vintage Hellball. But it’s three points on the board, a potential banana-skin avoided, and more positive signs of their recruitment strategy to fix the low-block problem paying off. ------------- Get Teesside Live Premium now for just £1 HERE – exclusive Boro news and features, transfer notebooks, comment and analysis from Eric Paylor, plus an ad-lite experience Join our WhatsApp community to get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe. Your information will be hidden, you'll only ever receive messages from the Teesside Live sports team, and you can leave any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'Exit group'. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.