Southampton parked 'spygate' and survived an early onslaught against aggrieved Middlesbrough as a pulsating first leg of this Sky Bet Championship playoff semifinal somehow ended 0-0.

The noise around an already eagerly-anticipated clash increased immeasurably when Boro accused Saints of snooping on training this week, leading to the south coast club being charged with a breach of EFL regulations.

Middlesbrough flew out the blocks fuelled by a sense of injustice, with Tommy Conway going agonisingly close on three occasions as Kim Hellberg's hosts racked up 17 first-half shots at Riverside Stadium.

Tonda Eckert's distracted side looked like they could be on the receiving end of a 4-0 hiding like on January's trip to Teesside, but Saints improved after the break, having taken the sting out of proceedings.

The visitors, unbeaten in the Championship since January, were far from their best but came close to snatching victory, with Taylor Harwood-Bellis seeing a six-yard header crash back off the crossbar.

The goalless first leg, and continuing brouhaha around 'spygate', sets things up fascinatingly for Tuesday's St Mary's shootout for a place at Wembley.

Binoculars and branches were among the props brought by Boro fans to a game that saw the team bus welcomed by thousands of supporters lining the streets.

That spectacular welcome left Conway "ready to run through a brick wall" and Hellberg's team matched the intensity from the stands as they peppered the visitors throughout a one-sided first half.