The MK Dons Youth team were given the unenviable task of an away day at Middlesbrough to begin their season on Saturday 19 August.

And despite a number of excellent individual performances and creating several chances, Adam Sinclair's Under 18 side went down 4-1 in their new coach's first game in charge.

A battery of second half goals from Boro were enough to claim the win, although a spirited display from the Dons was rewarded thanks to a goal from inspirational captain James Nash (pictured left).

The first half saw the young Dons establish themselves as, without a doubt, the better side.

A creative and dynamic attack, featuring pro players Sam Baldock and Joe Howe, was supported assuredly by a rock solid defence, who worked superbly as a unit and clearly reflected the hard work that has been put in during training.

However, despite being firmly on top, the Dons were unable to convert any of their numerous chances, meaning the opening period finished goal-less when it could have easily been 2-0 to the visitors.

It was only a matter of moments before the Dons were punished for not taking their chances when they were unable to cease a sixty yard run, which lead to the hosts taking the lead.

Ten minutes later and the lead was doubled thanks to a well-worked set piece routine and a well taken header.

The turn of the hour saw Sinclair change the team's shape in search of a way back into the game, pushing players forward to offer extra options in the final third.

Unfortunately, despite the Dons relentless pressure on the Boro goal, it was the hosts who scored next after some neat work out wide to capitalise on gaps at the back and make the score 3-0.

On seventy minutes, the reward arrived for the young Dons through captain Nash. After a dangerous delivery from the corner, the hosts failed to clear and the skipper was on hand to force the ball home from close range, for the goal that his individual performance had merited.

The goal gave the Dons extra impetus to attack and search for goals, leaving the team short at the back, allowing the home side to again counter attack and round off the scoring in the 88th minute.

As with any defeat, it was a disappointing result for the team, but had things been different in the first half the three points could have been in the bag at the interval and an opposition packed with youth internationals could have been comfortably beaten.

However, there were definite positives to take from the game as Sinclair was keen to point out: "Although the result's not gone our way I'm more than happy with the lads today.

"We were better in possession, made great use of the width and had it not been for a couple of lapses in concentration we could have easily picked up something from the game.

"After a long trip up north its no surprise that the lads tired late on, but for the first hour we were excellent against one of the top Academy teams.

"There were a number of outstanding individual performances today, in particular James Nash and Ollie Thorne combined well at the back and Sam Collins (pictured left) was superb on the left.

The Dons have an almost immediate chance to bounce back from the defeat when they face Boro's north-east rivals Sunderland this Saturday at Woughton.