Christophe Berra’s own goal has given Stevenage a 1-0 lead over Town in the Capital One Cup first round at Portman Road.
Central defender Josh Yorwerth, left-back Myles Kenlock, winger Larsen Touré and striker Brett Pitman were handed their debuts in a much-changed Town line-up. Skipper Luke Chambers was the only player in the XI who started at Brentford on Saturday.
Kenlock was making his first senior appearance, while summer signing from Cardiff Yorwerth’s only previous experience of first team football was during a loan spell with Hereford United in the Evo-Stik League last season.
Guinean international Touré and Pitman also made their Blues bows having joined the club in the summer, while Giles Coke and Jonathan Douglas made their first Town starts.
After a quiet start, Pitman turned the game’s first chance wide at the near post in the ninth minute after Touré had crossed from the right.
Two minutes later, Charlie Lee hit a shot which deflected wide, then following the resultant corner skipper Steven Schumacher fired wide from distance.
The visitors began to present the greater threat with the Blues looking somewhat disjointed in the early stages. On 18 Christophe Berra got in the way of Dean Parrett’s strike, then from the corner Fraser Franks’s header was saved by Dean Gerken.
Just after the 20-minute mark Douglas chipped the ball over the Boro backline towards David McGoldrick but the Town number 10 was flagged offside.
David McAllister scraped a shot well wide in the 26th minute when he should have done much better having been teed up by Dipo Akinyemi after the striker had got in behind Yorwerth, a ball having been played over the top down the left.
Three minutes later, Chambers over-hit his cross from the right after a sweeping Town move involving Jay Tabb, McGoldrick, Kenlock and Douglas.
After Stevenage had taken several goes at clearing a corner on the left - a Douglas shot struck a hand claimed the home crowd - Coke was booked for a foul as Parrett broke. Touré joined him in referee Fred Graham’s book soon afterwards for a foul on Tom Pett.
Tabb was unable to take down Pitman’s clever pass into the area when in a dangerous position, then on 34 the visitors went in front.
Coke was dispossessed midway inside the Town half on the left - the midfielder believing he was fouled - before Akinyemi took the ball into the area and found Parrett, whose shot was stopped by Gerken but the ball rebounded off the unfortunate Berra and into the net.
The Blues had been thoroughly underwhelming and the League Two visitors deserved their lead.
Town weren’t far from getting back on terms in the 38th minute when Coke fed in Pitman on the left but the former Bournemouth man’s strike flew just the wrong side of Boro keeper Chris Day’s left post.
Two minutes later, Kenlock played in Tabb and the midfielder went similarly close, keeper Day this time touching the ball just wide.
In injury time the Blues threatened again, Touré crossing from the right and Pitman’s header striking a Stevenage defender.
Seconds before the break, Lee was booked for a foul on McGoldrick midway inside the Boro half. The Blues striker failed to find Tabb with a return pass from the freekick, a passage of play which summed up Town’s first-half performance.
The Blues had looked every bit a side featuring 10 changes from their regular line-up, although they probably should have got themselves back on terms towards the break.
While Stevenage’s goal was fortunate, the visitors might have gone in front before that having had the better of the earlier opportunities.
Town: Gerken, Chambers (c), Yorwerth, Berra, Kenlock, Coke, Douglas, Touré, Tabb, McGoldrick, Pitman. Subs: Bialkowski, Smith, McDonnell, Benyu, Fraser, Murphy, Sears.
Stevenage: Day, McCombe, Franks, Schumacher (c), Pett, McAllister, Parrett, Wells, Akinyemi, Lee, Okimo. Subs: Jackson, Hughes, Williams, Casey, Johnson, Conlon Gorman. Referee: Fred Graham (Stanford-le-Hope, Essex).