Town dealt Middlesbrough’s automatic promotion hopes a blow after leaving the Riverside Stadium having claimed a 0-0 draw. Former Blues striker Jordan Rhodes came closest to scoring when he hit the post in the second half.
Blues boss Mick McCarthy handed on-loan Barnsley defender Paul Digby his first league start for the Blues at right-sided centre-half alongside Tommy Smith with Christophe Berra out due to a knee injury.
The Sheffield-born loanee had previously made three sub appearances for Town in the league in addition to two FA Cup starts. For Barnsley he had made 11 senior starts and 14 appearances from the bench.
McCarthy made four changes in total with Luke Hyam, David McGoldrick and Kevin Bru also starting, while Andre Dozzell, Brett Pitman and Jonathan Douglas dropped to the bench, alongside Teddy Bishop, who played his first 90 minutes of the season for the U21s at Sheffield United on Monday.
Hyam joined Cole Skuse in the deeper central roles with Bru ahead of them and McGoldrick up front in the middle with Liam Feeney on the right and Freddie Sears on the right.
Second-placed Middlesbrough started with Rhodes up front, while David Nugent was on the bench.
The Teessiders, who were skippered by ex-Town captain Grant Leadbitter, made one change with Ritchie De Laet replacing hamstring injury victim George Friend at left-back.
In blustery conditions the Blues began the game on top and in the fifth minute McGoldrick turned a shot to Boro keeper Dimitrios Konstantopoulos from just inside the box.
But the home side quickly began to take charge, Bartosz Bialkowski claiming a cross from Albert Adomah, then Digby clearing a ball in from the left from Stewart Downing.
The Teessiders had the ball in the net in the eighth minute after a freekick taken by Leadbitter on the left but referee Darren Bond had already called them back to take it again. When it was retaken, Leadbitter’s ball across just evaded Rhodes lurking at the far post.
With the home side now very much on top and with the home crowd making plenty of noise, there was a moment of indecision between Digby and Bialkowski as they sought to deal with a ball forward on 11, but the youngster was able to clear his lines.
Bialkowski kept the scores level with another excellent save in the 15th minute after Rhodes had nodded down an Adomah cross from the right to Downing, who found himself space before hitting a well-struck shot which the Polish keeper stop down to his left.
Moments later, Feeney broke away for Town on the right and sent over a low ball which Hyam bundled wide at the near post.
But Boro were still having much the better of it and in the 21st minute Smith diverted a corner back towards his own goal but straight at Bialkowski, who claimed.
On 28 Digby failed to judge a wind-affected high ball played into a corner and was dispossessed by De Laet, who he caught in the chest with a boot.
Following the freekick the Teessiders went close again, Rhodes - scorer of six goals in his six previous games against the Blues - crossing from the left of the box to Adomah at the far post, but the Ghanaian international nodded wide. Two minutes later Hyam picked up the game’s first yellow card for a foul on Rhodes.
Boro should have gone in front in the 34th minute when Gaston Ramirez played Rhodes in on goal, but Bialkowski stood his ground and got down to his left to palm the ex-Town striker’s shot wide.
Shortly after the resultant corner, Adomah whipped over another teasing cross from the right which Rhodes just failed to reach.
Town were pinned back in their half and at times were defending desperately, not least when Digby, already grounded having bought a dummy, somehow stretched out a boot to thwart Emilio Nsue after he had been played in on goal.
As the half moved into injury time Jonas Knudsen diverted Adam Clayton’s cross from the left wide ahead of Adomah. From the corner, Ben Gibson looped a header wide. Soon afterwards referee Bond brought the half to a close.
Aside from the opening five minutes it had been almost all Boro and they will feel they should have been ahead as they left the field.
The Blues had spent much of the period defending inside their box with Bialkowski forced into two important saves.
Full Town league debutant Digby had had one or two tough moments in what weren’t easy conditions but had similarly made important challenges and had grown in confidence as the half wore on.
A minute after the restart Ramirez sent in a ball from the right which Rhodes just failed to divert away from Bialkowski.
In the 48th minute Nsue did well to crowd out McGoldrick after the striker had got a rare sniff inside the Boro area.
Soon after, the Irish international was found in space on the right of the box but was dispossessed as he turned inside a defender. At the other end, Adomah hit a 50th minute shot through to Bialkowski, which the keeper held on to comfortably.
The Blues had made a stronger start to the second half and on 52 Feeney won a freekick on the right but the on-loan Bolton man hit the first defender with the set piece.
Two minutes later, Skuse headed an Nsue cross from the right behind and from the corner Daniel Ayala nodded into the ground and over.
Rhodes got in behind his good friend Smith who had misjudged a ball over the top on 61 and tangled with Digby inside the area, leading to penalty appeals from the home fans, but with the linesman’s flag already having been raised.
After the Blues’ couple of early forays into the Boro box, the game had reverted to the pattern of the first half. On 66, with the home fans very vocal, Knudsen did well to beat Adomah in the air at the far post as a cross came in from the left
A minute later, the home side went within a whisker of claiming the lead. Ramirez made a clever run into the area and found Rhodes, who hit a shot on the turn across Bialkowski and on to the post and the keeper gratefully pounced on the loose ball.
Cristhian Stuani replaced Downing for the Teessiders on 70, then a minute later Bishop replaced Hyam for the Blues. Bru moved alongside Skuse and Bishop, who had one of his best games for Town in the 2-0 home victory over Boro at Portman Road last season, took up the role behind McGoldrick.
The Blues managed to weather the storm and as the game moved towards its final quarter of an hour were starting to look more threatening, albeit without forcing Konstantopoulos into a save.
On 76 Kevin Foley replaced Knudsen, who limped off with what looked to be an ankle injury.
A minute later, McGoldrick sent Sears away in space on the Town left but the former Colchester man cut inside and lost the ball when he should have played in Feeney, who was breaking quickly down the middle.
Town nemesis Nugent was introduced with eight minutes to go for Ramirez as Boro moved to 4-4-2 as they desperately sought a winning goal.
Two minutes later Leadbitter was booked for a foul on McGoldrick and while the Blues were preparing to take it Douglas took over from Bru.
McGoldrick smashed the freekick against the wall, but Town regained possession and Smith brought the ball forward before finding Feeney on the right but the winger screwed his shot well wide.
De Laet curled a shot well past Bialkowski’s left post in the 88th minute but the Teessiders hadn’t seriously threatened for some minutes and appeared to have run out of ideas.
A minute into three additional minutes Nugent got a chance to add to his 15 goals in 14 games against the Blues, but the one-time England man’s header was too close to Bialkowski, who saved.
Moments before the end, a cross from the right reached the former Leicester and Portsmouth striker at the far post but he scuffed his strike. Seconds later, a battling Town point was confirmed.
Aside from the spell midway through the second half in which Rhodes hit the post, the home side weren’t as dominant after the break as they had been in the opening 45 minutes.
Town defended staunchly and Digby, making his first start, will be pleased with his performance overall, despite a couple of nervy moments in the first half.
At the other end Boro keeper Konstantopoulos was rarely seriously tested with Town’s better attacking opportunities tending to flounder at the final ball stage and the Blues have now scored only three goals in seven games.
However, a point and a clean sheet away against one of the division’s top sides is a decent result for Town, particularly with neither Rhodes nor Nugent managing to score.
The Teessiders remain second on goal difference from Burnley with Brighton third, also by goal difference.
Town, who in any case had all but no chance of making the play-offs, are now are mathematically out of the play-off running and confirmed as a Championship side for a 15th year.
The Blues face the MK Dons in their final home game of the season next week before a last day trip to Derby.
Middlesbrough: Konstantopoulos, Nsue, Ayala, Gibson, De Laet, Clayton, Leadbitter (c), Adomah, Ramirez (Nugent 82), Downing (Stuani 70), Rhodes. Unused: Agazzi, Forshaw, Kalas, Husband, De Sart.
Town: Bialkowski, Knudsen (Foley 76), Chambers (c), Smith, Digby, Skuse, Hyam (Bishop 71), Bru (Douglas 84), Feeney, Sears, McGoldrick. Unused: Gerken, Foley, Bishop, Dozzell, Douglas, Pringle, Pitman. Referee: Darren Bond (Lancashire). Att: 30,505 (Town: 329).