10 man Birmingham... again!

Just a few more points. Just three. That was all we wanted against Wolves and we got a man sent off and one point for our troubles. Then again against Newcastle, but this time all we wanted was a point. This time we got a man sent off and came away from the game after a resilient, brave but ultimately failed performance.

The beginning of the match looked promising. As the away team, setting out with a 4-5-1 formation we had a clear game plan of catching them on the break with our quick striker Jerome; set-pieces and hopeful balls up to the lone striker whom we hoped would hold it up until he got support. But we were passing it around quite nicely and had a few chances in the early exchanges.

Not to mention the fact that Steven Taylor - Newcastle's second goal scorer in the game - should have been sent off for his elbow on Jerome, and a penalty which was turned down after a Shola Ameobi handled in the area. It was all looking promising... until the arrival of the 36th minute.

There was a goal-mouth scramble as Blues tried to clear the ball after a thumping shot by Fabricio Coloccini was equalled by the save of Ben Foster, and the ball bounced around the penalty area which was subsequently handled not once but twice by defender Liam Ridgewell. Chris Foy made no hesitation to point to the spot, and the red card was out his pocket equally as fast. Two games in a row; two penalties awarded; and two players sent off.


Shola Ameobi converted the penalty which was tucked in the corner of the net and nearly saved by Ben Foster. But once again Blues were left to rue missed chances and saw themselves 1-0 down and with ten men for the remainder of the game.

Newcastle began to press more and more now that they had the upper hand, and their second goal of the game through Steven Taylor, who headed in from a Joey Barton corner which Seb Larsson, on the line, tried but failed to clear. It seemed like a long afternoon ahead for the travelling Blues.

But credit to the team and their never say die; never back down attitude. A long ball was played up to Jerome who found himself in front of goal with the ball at his feet. The Newcastle defenders did well to distract him from shooting and get the ball from under his feet, but their efforts fell kindly to the feet of Lee Bowyer, whose powerful shot flew past the two defenders and Tim Krul in the Newcastle net, to give Blues some hope that they could get something out the game.


The ten men of Birmingham put on a brave performance in the second half, resulting in a shut-out in a game which they very nearly attained a point from. It was a case of all hands on deck to defend their goal and keeper Ben Foster was on hand to make sure Newcastle didn't increase their narrow one goal lead, with some superb saves to keep his team in the game.

Seb Larsson had a brilliant chance to level the score near the end but he didn't make the best contact with the ball and saw his shot go high and wide over the bar. Matt Derbyshire added to the Blues attacking force late on but it was too little too late for Blues who contributed somewhat to being the masters of their own downfall once again - with Newcastle having the added help of referee Chris Foy falling for all their antics.

A win against Fulham is now needed to secure Premier League survival, with Blues on 39 points and just three points from the drop zone. Along with making sure we get three points, keeping eleven men on the pitch for 90 minutes would also be a very nice achievement!

Full Time: Newcastle United 2-1 Birmingham City

Thinking of Wembley

I think we should have guessed what the game would turn out like when kick off went wrong. Or when Newcastle went 1-0 up after a minute and forty seconds.. What really did it for me though, was when Stephen Carr nearly impaled someone sitting in the Family Stand when he angrily threw a pitch fork over the advertising hoardings. In short: tonight just wasn't our night.

Going one nil down so early on in the game is real confidence knock, especially to a team with one eye on Wembley and the other on not picking up any injuries. But after that early blip, we pretty much ran the rest of the first half. We had the majority of the possession and were getting in good places, but we just couldn't find that killer ball and we're lacking any form of shot on target. But then again, so were Newcastle, it was just lucky breaks and bad defending from Blues than got them their early goal that proved very costly for the home side, and very beneficial to the travelling Geordies.

The flag happy linesmen didn't really help the shots on target total though, who rose their arm pretty much every time Zigic went near the ball. Surely he's not that stupid to be offside that many times, but I guess we won't know until we see the game again... which I doubt many of us will be doing any time soon!
Obafemi Martins looked lively again like he did in the Stoke game at the weekend, but lacked the cutting edge. His control is brilliant though: if only Cameron Jerome had that touch! He seemed to overdo it at times too, much like team mate David Bentley, who strangely won man of the match. He wasn't at the races tonight and went missing at times during the first forty-five, and when he did get the ball, granted he put in some decent crosses and did some good running, but sometimes he just overdoes it and tries to do too many fancy turns: just get it in the box Bentley!


It was a pity the first half had to end, as Blues were the team in control and the team who shaded the half; despite lack of real chances as other than a Gardner shot after a nice passing move went just over, we didn't really have too much to shout about. The second half again started badly for Blues as they went two goals behind after a goal from Leon Best. One goal, we may have been able to do, but two seemed pretty impossible - and the rest of the game proved this.

Heads dropped as Newcastle began to seize the game into their control. Blues tried to get back into it but with no avail. Roger Johnson almost did a Wayne Rooney when the ball fell to him just outside the area but it fell agonisingly wide of the post, and the defender walked away to chants of 'Rooney! Rooney!' from the Tilton. Zigic also came close a number of times, especially with a header that went just over the bar, and Roger Johnson again came close when he headed the ball hard from a corner, only for his effort to fall straight to Harper in the Newcastle goal.

With 20 minutes to go Blues began to surge forward more, with Cameron Jerome - who came on earlier in the half in place of Martins - causing problems. A few corners, offsides and Newcastle falls (over thin air) later, and it seemed that two goals from the home side really was too much to ask, and the game finished 0-2 to the away side - only the third home defeat all season for Blues.


The Premier League can be pushed to one side for a moment now as we have the FA Cup game against Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend, and a Wembley date the Sunday after. Nothing really went our way tonight and credit where its due - Newcastle simply wanted it more than we did, although we had enough possession to create, we just didn't.

Winning three on the bounce just isn't our thing anyway...

Full Time: Birmingham City 0-2 Newcastle United