It was a frustrating morning for Liverpool U18s as they were beaten 3-0 by Middlesbrough.
First-half goals from Calum Kavanagh and Joe Gibson sandwiched a Fidel O’Rourke penalty kick that was saved at Rockliffe Park.
And Harry Green netted a third for the hosts early in the second half to consign Barry Lewtas’ young Reds to a second consecutive defeat.
After a tepid start to proceedings, interrupted by an injury to a linesman, Middlesbrough opened the scoring in the 11th minute.
A Liverpool pass back from the middle of the pitch was misplaced and presented Kavanagh with a chance to run through, the striker showing composure to slot a shot past Jakub Ojrzynski.