Middlesbrough 2-2 Newcastle: The Sunday Mirror match report

Table-topping Newcastle rode their luck to claim a point in a torrid 116th Tees-Tyne derby that Middlesbrough dominated.

But Chris Hughton’s side once again showed their resilience and character to grind out a valuable point thanks to Andy Carroll’s 82nd-minute equaliser and stretch the gap over third-placed Nottingham Forest to nine points with a game in hand.

Boro manager Gordon Strachan was left cursing his luck after seeing his side come back from an early Peter Lovenkrands goal to take a 2-1 lead though former Celtic duo Barry Robson and Scott McDonald.

Strachan felt inexperience at the back cost them all three points.

He said: “I feel sorry for the players. They worked hard against the top team in the league but we lost two goals through naivety.

“Our chances of making the play-offs get slimmer by the week when you don’t make progress on the top six.

“But it was a cracking game, one of the best I have seen for a while.”

Toon boss Hughton was satisfied with a point after having to reshuffle his defence following a pre-match injury to central defender Mike Williamson, who broke a bone in his hand while exercising at home and will probably be out for three to four weeks.

Hughton said: “We also lost Fabricio Coloccini with a dead leg so we had to adjust again at the back.

“Boro had some good spells and Barry Robson was a real handful.

“We finished very strongly but probably didn’t deserve to win. It was a gritty performance and an adequate point.”

Boro began the brighter and had a decent claim for a penalty inside two minutes. Kyle Naughton’s ball into the box saw McDonald and Coloccini in a foot race and the little Australian striker appeared to be pushed over by the big Argentina centre-back but referee Lee Mason, who was well up with the play, waved play on.

But Newcastle stunned the Riverside faithful as Lovenkrands grabbed his 13th goal of the season and his first on the road after 16 minutes from the visitors’ first serious attack.

The Boro defence stood off Jonas Gutierrez as he received the ball from Kevin Nolan on the edge of the box.

Argentine Gutierrez squeezed a delicate through pass into the path of Lovenkrands, who still had a lot to do but showed his confidence by clipping a low, left-foot drive beyond the exposed Danny Coyne.

It was tough on the home side, who had shown plenty of enterprise and endeavour in an impressive opening quarter of an hour that saw Robson emerge as a pivotal figure.

The former Celtic midfielder dragged Boro back into contention with his non-stop energy and enthusiasm.

Robson forced Newcastle keeper Steve Harper to pull off a wonderful save at full stretch to turn his ferocious 25-yard free-kick around a post.

But that piece of brilliance from Harper only delayed the inevitable Boro equaliser on 36 minutes.

Robson and McDonald combined brilliantly with a rapid exchange of passes that opened up a tiny gap in the visiting defence.

Robson spotted the chance to dispatch a crisply struck left-foot drive that beat Harper all ends up and nestled in the bottom right-hand corner.

It was a goal that underlined the sort of instinctive understanding that Robson and McDonald used to have at Celtic and the pair combined again to deadly effect after the break.

Robson floated a free-kick to the head of Chris Killen and his knockdown was hooked home by McDonald from close range for his first goal for Middlesbrough.

But in-form Carroll took his season’s tally to 12 eight minutes from time when he poked home Ryan Taylor’s right-wing cross.

The Magpies finished strongly but didn’t deserve a winner.