Sunday 15 January 2012

Right On Track

The past week has been a fruitful one for Birmingham City. A resilient performance and a stalemate against local rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup earned them a replay, and that was followed by consecutive victories in the Championship; first against Ipswich at home where a last gasp winner sealed all three points, and then yesterday against Milwall in a six-goal demolition of The Lions at The Den.

The midweek fixture against Ipswich, although not an exhilarating performance, still saw Blues pick up the much needed three points and left us just outside the play-off places, still with a game in hand. Nikola Zigic was highly instrumental in the victory, bagging two goals. After putting his side ahead, a brilliant piece of lone skill by Lee Martin put the away side back on level term going into half time. After being denied a late penalty, Ipswich were then cruelly denied a point when Zigic scored his second goal of the game from close range to pick up all three points, much to the delight of the Birmingham fans.

Image: bcfc.com

An away trip to Milwall then topped off a perfect footballing week. Curtis Davies’ header put Blues in front before Milwall went down to ten men after an incident involving Nikola Zigic and Shane Lowry, the latter having no complaints when he was sent for an early shower. The red mist descended once again on Milwall as they went down to nine men, this time for a tackle on Zigic by Alan Dunne, making the Serbian even less popular and angering the home fans who became severely angry at the referee’s decision.

Blues then made sure the match was beyond Milwall, as Keith Fahey’s perfectly timed ball found Marlon King who slotted the ball into the net. Chris Burke then compiled more misery onto The Lions, firing home to make it 3-0 Blues and no way back for the hosts. Two goals in quick succession from first Adam Rooney and then King’s second goal of the match sent the travelling Blues fans into away day dreamland, and substitute Nathan Redmond completed the stunning away victory by scoring a sixth, and heaped mounting pressure on Milwall who now sit dangerously just above the trap door of the relegation zone.

Two games, two wins, six points, and eight goals. It’s been a tremendous few days for Birmingham City and this should act as a major confidence boost ahead of the trip to Wolves for the FA Cup third round replay on Wednesday. Blues are still unbeaten in 2012 and now, sitting just outside the play offs, are right on track for a promotion chase as we enter the last few months of the season.

Image: bcfc.com

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