Report v Crystal Palace 14/10/00

IF Birmingham City can play like this and still collect three points they must be in for a profitable season.

Blues retained their grip on fourth place in the First Division by pilfering victory from a match into which they fitted months' worth of errors.

Misplaced passes, wavering concentration, even a missed penalty.

It was the most desultory stuff from Trevor Francis's side, yet somehow they prised victory from their collective off-day.

Make no mistake, though, the old platitude "well, you know what they say - if you play badly and still win..." was of minimal consolation to Francis.

He wasted no time in informing his players that this was not good enough.

Such off-days should be - and usually are - punished.

As the manager was quick to acknowledge, Blues got lucky.

Crystal Palace deservedly led into the last 20 minutes.

Blues' defence, usually so diligent, had looked vulnerable while in front of them, the midfield misfired.

That meant the front men were starved of service.

As the crowd's perplexity grew, however, Blues' second shift of strikers got to work.

Geoff Horsfield and Andrew Johnson, forced to feed on scraps, had endured a frustrating afternoon so Francis freshened things up.

On went Dele Adebola and Mark Burchill and both replacements did the business.

At last, in the 72nd minute, Blues constructed a sweet move.

Stan Lazaridis - another substitute - charged 50 yards, worked a one-two with Nicky Eaden and delivered a cross which Martin Grainger drilled goalwards.

Burchill netted in predatory fashion from one inch.

Then, five minutes from time, Martin O'Connor delivered a fizzing cross from the right which Adebola headed past Latvian international Alex Kolinko.

Sympathy is rare in football, but only the most callous Blue Nose felt none for Palace whose manager, Alan Smith, elicited further goodwill at the post-match press conference.

Both Blues goals had sent Palace players racing to referee Matt Messias to offer a few strident opinions.

Burchill looked offside when he scored and Adebola's header hit the onion bag while the robust Jamie Pollock - a key defender against crosses - was off the field against his will, receiving treatment.

Encouraged, several times, to castigate Messias, Smith restricted himself to a calm: "When you start having a go at refs, it's time to have a good look at yourself."

One or two hacks had to rethink their angles as a welcome breath of fresh air swept through the press room.

The air in Blues' dressing room, meanwhile, was still blue from the post-match debriefing.

After five successive home wins, they had produced a first half of baffling sterility although, oddly, almost scored four goals in it.

Andrew Johnson and Martin Grainger sent long-range shots against post and crossbar and Jamie Smith cleared Grainger's much-ricocheted corner off the line before, in the 43rd minute, a gift horse trotted into view.

It was looked squarely in the mouth as O'Connor, his shot having been handled in the box by Pollock, saw Kolinko dive low to parry his penalty.

As the visitors' confidence grew, Clint Morrison and Paul Kitson both squandered chances early in the second half before the former found space behind an unco-ordinated Blues back-line and coolly beat Ian Bennett.

"Ooo-Adebola," chanted the Tilton End.

Soon they got their wish and the big man, accompanied by a sylph-like Scot, dragged this clumsy spectacle around.

Even after they hauled themselves in front, the passage was far from serene.

In injury-time, Bennett was forced to make two excellent saves from headers by Clint, then Andy, Morrison.

As Palace pushed up, Burchill escaped to roll a 93rd-minute shot against a post, but rarely has a final whistle been greeted with such relief.