At St. Andrews

22th September 2000

Att: 17,640

For Tranmere the match was going to script as their direct football unsettled the home team throughout, and the threat of a goal to wake the 17,000 plus crowd was mainly from Rovers' set pieces, of which they won plenty.

But the 62nd minute dual introduction of Burchill, signed on Friday from Celtic, and Peter Ndlovu (pictured) gave Birmingham immediate impetus. Within seconds the little Zimbabwean had found a yard of space on the left side of the area to fire a shot that John Achterberg had little hope with, but it went inches wide.

The previously outbattled Birmingham midfield suddenly realised that they had more options than the aimless ball forward to Geoff Horsfield, and started using the undoubted dribbling ability of Ndlovu, who looks a revitalised figure after hard season last year.

Birmingham finally took the lead after 74 minutes, and it was the two attacking full-backs that combined to break the deadlock.

Nicky Eaden had seen a header go wide just moments before, but this time turned provider as his cross was fumbled by Dutch goalkeeper Achterberg. Martin Grainger, who had three minutes previously hit the post with a free-kick, smashed in the rebound.

Relief, yet Rovers would be cursing their luck. They had dominated long spells of the game, including a run of six corners in the first seven minutes of the second half. But David Holdsworth held firm in the path of the aerial threat of Wayne Allison and Paul Rideout, and the deliveries from the dead ball would have annoyed manager John Aldridge.

After Paul Rideout headed against the bar after 50 seconds, Rovers made the best first half chances. Scott Taylor missed Tranmere's best opportunity after 21 minutes, only for Ian Bennett to rush out and block.

If the final moments had been repeated earlier this would have been a superb match. Instead, they served to make one wonder why the rest of the game had been so tepid. The match did not want for effort, and fortunately it did not escalate into the bloodbath that was here last season.

That is credit to the players for that, though Blues' Graham Hyde's challenge on Henry was nasty, shades of last season when injuries to Stan Lazaridis and a broken leg for Jon McCarthy made it an ugly affair.

In the last minute there could have been a flattering second for the hosts when Danny Sonner tried to lob Achterberg only to hit the angle of post and crossbar. Then Burchill, who was looking confident, pointed where he wanted a Ndlovu pass before firing a great effort from an acute angle just over the bar.

Seconds later Burchill showed his ability when escaping down the right, rounding the 'keeper before shooting. Geoff Horsfield tapped in the second.