By the end of Tuesday night's game there had been some 38 shots for both teams, 23 for the home side and 15 for the away.
And an at-times breathless encounter could easily have seen more than the single goal that was knocked in by the outstanding Adam Webster.
The entertainment was however paused around the hour mark as both benches collided with head coach Lee Johnson unhappy about the use of the towel.
Seeing as Middlesbrough were using one, why couldn't Bristol City?
"Towel-gate? Middlesbrough have got some big old boys and they've got a fantastic weapon in Shotton's throw," explained Johnson in his post-match press conference.
"We noticed on the analysis that either the ball boy or someone pops out from the crowd and gives them the towel when they have a throw but doesn't when the opposition do.
"We asked the referee for it to be equal or kill the towels. Really, we wanted to kill the towel because it was probably worth an extra two or three yards of Rory Delap-style throw.
"But it got a bit confusing until eventually Mo Besic gave us a towel. So we thank you very much for that," he said.
Tony Pulis was also asked about the "shenanigans".
The former Bristol City boss and Bristol Rovers defender explained that he had no problems with the situation and both teams should have the same options for using a towel or not.
"That was our fault. I’ll be honest and open," said Pulis in his post-match press conference.
"If we’ve got a towel down one end of the pitch then we should have one the other end too."
