TWO points lost or a point gained? For a team striving to win promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt it was very much a case of the former for Middlesbrough.

No doubt Garry Monk and his backroom staff will have done their homework ahead of the visit to South Yorkshire, but the Barnsley team is still relatively unfamiliar to the Oakwell faithful never mind to a Boro squad more used to lining up against household names last season.

Deep into the third month of the Championship season the reality of how hard it will be to bounce straight back to the big time could not have been made any clearer for the players and for the hoards of travelling fans bathed in warm October sunshine.

It was a terrible start by Boro, who were penned back from the kick-off.

Two inswinging corners by Zeki Fryers caused confusion in the defence with the second flying past Randolph off the head of Ashley Fletcher.

Boro were level within five minutes as Martin Braithwaite finished brilliantly with his right foot after Daniel Ayala flicked on Cyrus Christie's long throw from the right wing.

A third goal in the opening 10 minutes gave the hosts the advantage again as Boro were caught napping at the heart of their defence.

Brad Potts swung over a cross from the left wing that should have been dealt with, but Cameron McGeehan made a late run into the penalty area and guided home a header from eight yards.

It had been a frantic start with both sides looking likely to score whenever they ventured forward.

Braithwaite was at the heart of everything good about Boro. Quick on his feet, the Denmark international has a pleasing habit of laying the ball off and moving swiftly into space for the return pass.

He found room all over the pitch which allowed him to link up well with Britt Assombalonga, Fletcher, Stewart Downing and the midfield duo of Adam Clayton and Grant Leadbitter in turn.

After scoring in the wrong net to begin the match, Fletcher looked to notch at the other end and maybe should have done better with a couple of half chances in the first half. One shot was dragged wide from 25 yards and a volley sailed over.

Leadbitter also saw a well-struck effort from 30 yards fly wide, although Barnsley goalkeeper Adam Davies was beaten if the ball had crept inside the post.

There were a smattering of boos at half-time and whether that led to Boro’s improvement in the second half only the players will know.

Manager Monk did believe his team grew into the game, though.

He said: “Our urgency upped in that second half and we created enough chances to give ourselves an opportunity to win the game.

“Unfortunately, we didn't do that and that's where the frustration comes from. But the collective effort to come to a difficult place and dominate the game after the first 10-15 minutes and get into the situations we did is the positives and what we will take forward into the next game.”

Once Downing had set Assombalonga clear to level the match on the hour it seemed the points would become Boro’s.

Braithwaite should have trusted his left foot instead of cutting back inside onto his stronger right five minutes after the equaliser and Fabio saw a shot saved moments later.

Downing was impressive, particularly in the first half, when he whipped in a series of right foot crosses, but was replaced late on by Bamford as Monk opted for an extra striker.

The 33-year-old said he can be a good foil to Braithwaite and offered advice about how to get the most out of a so-called weaker foot.

He said: "I enjoy playing on the right and have done at a lot of clubs. Teams like to play opposite footed players on the wing, it's a bit of a trend. Martin coming in likes to play on the left.

"I used to just stand on it (right foot) years ago but I've put a lot of work into it."

Despite Boro’s advantage in possession it was the hosts who actually looked most likely to grab a winner.

Left winger Harvey Barnes saw his effort fly off Randolph’s left hand post with 15 minutes to play and substitute Mamadou Thiam caused problems for Ayala and Ben Gibson when he was introduced early in the second half.

Two points dropped then but Monk knows the quality is there, if channelled correctly.

He said: “Goals are coming from our own undoing. It is not what teams are doing to us. The feeling is we are chasing the game and have done that very well and responded very well to those situations, but it is not the situation that you ideally want to be in on a regular basis.”