Steve Stone’s side took the lead in the 11th minute through Scott Wilson, before a Ben Liddle penalty for Middlesbrough in the 87th minute pulled the scores level at Heritage Park.
Stone admitted his side worked hard and showed desire throughout the match but believes his team should have put the game to bed, with previous chances leading up to the late penalty.
The U23s boss said: “I think if you look from the start, we started the first 15/20 minutes really well.
“Once we got to grips with the shape and the system, we had chances really early on to win the game.