Boro should still have rescued a point, but Palace keeper Julian Speroni pulled off a superb save to deny Gary O'Neil as he raced through and also blocked a late shot from substitute Jonathan Franks.
Neil Warnock: "That was just an average game for Julian.
"It was a bit hairy at the end and that's when character comes in."
"I was so pleased it fell to Ambrose.
"It's not my fault someone gave him away. I bid £1.5million for him once - that's how much I rate him.
"He needs a certain type of manager and we make a good pairing.
"But I think we had 11 stars out there today."