A PENALTY miss, yet more injuries, a dramatic equaliser and a contentious late incident that sparked a mass touchline brawl resulting in two red cards. Life at Middlesbrough certainly isn’t dull at the moment.

A night that had looked like ending in intense disappointment eventually resulted in Boro extending their unbeaten home run to nine matches in all competitions after Ashley Fletcher fashioned a slick back-heeled equaliser with nine minutes left, but that doesn’t begin to tell half the story of an action-packed night.

Paddy McNair’s penalty miss, which came three minutes before Jutkiewicz broke the deadlock, summed up the first half for Boro, with Patrick Roberts and Dael Fry both succumbing to hamstring injuries.

But Fletcher’s latest fine finish underlined the strength of the home side’s character, before referee Andy Woolmer assumed centre stage with two minutes left. The official blew to allow Marcus Tavernier to receive treatment seconds before Jutkiewicz put the ball in the net for what he thought was a winner, sparking a remarkable scuffle that eventually resulted in the volatile Leo Percovich being sent to the stands. No matter what else is going on, you don’t mess with Leo.

The drama provided a fittingly chaotic finish to proceedings, and meant Woodgate did not have to dwell on some of the negatives of the previous 88 minutes. Just as it seemed as if there was a chink of light emerging amid Boro’s injury nightmare, so another couple of dark clouds emerged to restore the gloom.

Roberts was the first player to depart from last night’s game, hobbling to the touchline with what appeared to be a hamstring injury just seconds after he was felled in the incident that resulted in Boro’s penalty.

That was bad enough, but worse was to follow ten minutes later when Fry also collapsed in a heap on the halfway line clutching his hamstrings before limping towards the tunnel. Remarkably, with Daniel Ayala, Ryan Shotton and George Friend already sidelined, Fry became Boro’s fourth senior centre-half to succumb to injury this season. Woodgate must be wondering what on earth can go wrong next.

Fry’s departure resulted in Nathan Wood coming on for his first league appearance, with the introduction of the Ingleby Barwick-based 17-year-old meaning seven academy products have now made their league debut for Boro this season. Enforced or not, that is a remarkable statistic.

Wood found himself joining a Boro side that were already trailing by the time he came on to the field, with the game having turned on its head during a manic three minutes midway through the first half.

Having shaded a hitherto lethargic opening period, the Teessiders were handed a golden opportunity to open the scoring from the penalty spot when Roberts’ trickery proved too much for Gary Gardner.

Gardner clipped Roberts’ heels after the Boro midfielder received the ball from his fellow Manchester City loanee, Lukas Nmecha, but having assumed penalty-taking responsibilities in the absence of Britt Assombalonga, McNair fired his spot-kick at a nice height for Lee Camp, enabling the Birmingham goalkeeper to make a fine save tumbling away to his right.

Camp did not enjoy his time in the North-East with Sunderland, with his error-strewn spell at the Stadium of Light coinciding with the Black Cats’ relegation to League One, but the 35-year-old will have relished his latest return to the region.

The same will have been true of Jutkiewicz, whose header fired Birmingham into the lead just three minutes after Camp was performing his goalkeeping heroics at the other end.

Jeremie Bela swung over an inviting cross from the right, and the former Boro striker stole ahead of Jonny Howson to head home from inside the six-yard box.

Jutkiewicz made more than 70 appearances during a two-and-a-half spell on Teesside that came to an end in 2014, and this was his first goal against the club since his exit at the sixth time of asking.

Birmingham came within inches of doubling their lead towards the end of the first half, with Kerim Mrabti drilling a low strike against the outside of the post after Aynsley Pears clawed David Davis’ cross into his path to prevent Jutkiewicz tapping home a second goal.

Hampered by the enforced changes, Boro’s attempts to get back into the game in the second half were somewhat ragged. Fletcher chased lost causes into the channels and Spence made his usual rampaging runs down the right, but there was a lack of composure and conviction to Boro’s play that enabled Birmingham to hold on to their lead for most of the second period.

Woodgate’s final roll of the dice was to bring on Rudy Gestede, and the substitute almost scored with his very first touch, heading Marcus Tavernier’s corner over the bar from six yards out.

That was close, but with the hosts continuing to pour forward, Fletcher levelled as he claimed his fourth goal in the last seven league games with nine minutes left. Johnson crossed from the left, and the striker converted from the edge of the six-yard box with a neat back-heel.

That looked like being that, but there was drama in the dying seconds as Jutkiewicz put the ball into the net moments after Woolmer brought play to a halt because Tavenier was down a head injury. The incident sparked a melee on the touchline that resulted in Percovich and Sean Rush both receiving red cards.