Birmingham 0-1 Bolton

Well. fuck me. Absolute shite to watch but still looked a better side than a team with hopes of the play offs.

Great win. I've cracked open a can of Irn Bru to celebrate!!

rammywhite wrote:Great win. I've cracked open a can of Irn Bru to celebrate!!

Gone off Irn Bru. It tastes different.

rammywhite wrote:Great win. I've cracked open a can of Irn Bru to celebrate!!

Chamomile tea and a 500g Ciprofloxacin for me!

Hmm...makes me sound a bit like a druggie that.

Match highlights -

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Grateful for the points and the show of attacking intent, even though we rode our luck again. Let's hope Rovers do us a favour tomorrow.

I was actually shocked when we took the lead, it's been so long i didn't know what to do. It was a poor game but thought we handled Birmingham well and the change to 352 was much needed and worked well.

Only problem was more injuries, O'Neill went off at HT and Wilson went off as well so the squad is going to be paper thin now if they are missing for a while.

Report: Birmingham City 0-1 Bolton Wanderers

Callum Connolly's first goal for the club earned Wanderers victory over Birmingham City at the St. Andrew's Trillion Trophy Stadium on Tuesday evening

The midfielder nodded home the decisive effort with 71 minutes on the clock, with Phil Parkinson's men running out winners come full time after a solid defensive display.

Team News

Phil Parkinson made three changes to his starting eleven that went up against Preston North End in the Sky Bet Championship.

Sammy Ameobi and Jonathan Grounds miss out, with Clayton Donaldson and Pawel Olkowski coming in to replace them.

Furthermore, Luca Connell drops out for Mark Beevers.

First Half

Craig Noone had the first real chance of the game 11 minutes into this clash, skipping past his marker but over hitting his cross into the area.

Former Wanderers frontman Lukas Jutkiewicz responded almost instantly, turning on the edge of the area before hitting a curled shot straight into the grasp of Remi Matthews.

He was at it again moments later, when he connected with a Gary Gardner cross after beating Olkowski in the air but couldn’t direct his header towards goal.

Maikel Kieftenbeld wriggled away from his oncoming defender on the edge of the box on the 19th minute, before lashing his shot wide of the goal.

Just prior to the half hour mark and some excellent link up play between Magennis and O’Neil saw the Northern Irishman play in Noone who had a sight on goal, but was adjudged to be offside.

Noone stepped up closer to the end of the half with a shot of his own, that tested the handling ability of Lee Camp.

Birmingham went extremely close to opening the scoring six minutes from the close, as a Che Adams cross into the area found Jutkiewicz open at the far post but his effort bounced over the bar.

In stoppage time, Gary Gardner blazed a long range shot over the bar from a speculative range.

Second Half

A corner into the area from second half substitute Luke Murphy found the head of David Wheater, who fired his aerial attempt into a melee of bodies that eventually went out of play, but a positive sign for the Trotters coming out after the break.

Ten minutes into the second period and Magennis managed to shake off his marker from 25 yards, before hitting a shot at goal that missed the frame of the goal.

Just past the hour mark and Remi Matthew pulls off an unbelievable save from Jota, as the midfielder was played in by Che Adams before unleashing a venomous effort on goal, with only the Whites goalkeeper’s hand to force it onto the bar.

Wanderers took the lead on the 71st minute, as a delightful free kick into the area from Murphy found Callum Connolly, who nodded his header into the bottom left corner off the far post.

The Blues tried to respond through a Gardner free kick, but the midfielder’s effort never troubled Matthews in the Wanderers net.

Birmingham began to really put the Whites under pressure going into the last ten, with Wanderers holding firm at the back.

Second half substitute Kerim Mrabti put a dangerous cross into the area, calling for a Birmingham player to head the ball home but Matthews claimed valiantly in the air to quash the threat.

As the referee brought up five minutes of added time, Birmingham continued to hammer down the door for an equaliser, as long balls came into the box in their numbers as Wanderers stood resolute at the back.

Che Adams had the chance of a lifetime in the dying embers of this one, after he was played through one on one and tried to place the ball in the bottom right corner of the goal.

But Matthews had other ideas, as he stretched out his hand to save the ball past the far post, a fantastic piece of goalkeeping.

And that was that as Wanderers took all three points away from St. Andrew’s.

Full Time

Wanderers XI: Matthews, Lowe, Beevers, Donaldson, Noone, Olkowski, Connolly, Wilson (Vela 65), O’Neil (Murphy 45), Magennis, Wheater (C)

Unused substitutes: Alnwick, Little, Ameobi, Buckley, Hall

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