With Edwards opting to rest the vast majority of his senior performers, the likes of Dan Barlaser, Alex Gilbert, Micah Hamilton and Marcus Forss were unable to embellish their faltering reputations against National League opposition.
Finch, who started in a wide role on the right-hand side before being switched to the left, delivered the highlight of the evening when he levelled the scores in the second half, slaloming his way through the Hartlepool defence as he burst forward from the halfway line before drilling home a crisp low strike.
Finch’s goal cancelled out Pools’ opener from former Boro academy product Danny Johnson, and gave the 1,985 travelling [[Boro]] fans something to shout about on an evening that would otherwise not have given Edwards too much positive food for thought as he formulates his plans for the start of the Championship season.
If this was a night when the understudies were granted a rare opportunity to take centre-stage, far too many of them fluffed their lines.
While Edwards was in attendance at Hartlepool, Mark Tinkler was the one issuing the instructions on the sidelines, reflecting the fact that Boro were effectively treating the game as a second-string fixture.
Six members of Boro’s starting XI boasted first-team experience, but they are very much fringe performers and unlikely to be featuring in the starting side when the real business begins a week on Saturday.
Barlaser and Forss were the most recognisable names, with the latter starting in a 3-4-3 formation that mirrored the line-up Edwards has been fielding throughout the pre-season programme.
Forss was handed an early opportunity when Pools’ trialist goalkeeper erred in his own goalmouth, but the Finnish forward was successfully closed down before he was able to get a shot away.
Boro were the dominant side against their National League opponents, although neither Barlaser nor Gilbert were ever able to exert any real control at the heart of midfield.
Oli Samuels blazed over from the edge of the area on the hour mark after Finch rolled the ball into his path, before Forss also failed to find the target with a low drive after turning neatly on the left of the 18-yard box.
It was 19-year-old Rio Patterson-Powell who stood out for Boro, playing at right-back and making a series of rampaging runs down the flank. There was an undoubted rawness to the teenager’s play, but his athleticism made him stand out.
It probably said much that he was much more impressive that the markedly more experienced Barlaser, Forss and Hamilton, with the latter especially disappointing given the sky-high reputation that accompanied him from Manchester City last summer.
Boro struggled to create clear-cut chances all evening, and it was Pools who eventually opened the scoring in the 59th minute.
A free-kick from the left-hand side dropped invitingly for Johnson, a former Boro academy product, and the striker swivelled neatly before firing home. Middlesbrough-born, and a former player at both Billingham Synthonia and Guisborough Town, the goal would have meant a lot to Johnson, who joined Pools earlier this summer from Walsall.
Boro had barely recorded an effort on target at that stage, but the Teessiders kept plugging away and grabbed an equaliser with 17 minutes remaining.
Forss helped the ball on to Finch, and after driving into the left-hand side of the penalty area, the forward drilled home a clinical low finish.
MIDDLESBROUGH (3-4-3): Foster; Baptiste, Woolston, McCormick; Patterson-Powell (Carbon 82), Gilbert, Barlaser, Samuels; Finch, Forss (Lennon 82), Hamilton (Coulson 66).
