Early and late goals gave Birmingham victory as Wanderers were unable to halt the league leaders’ charge, writes Pete Oliver.
A brilliant volley from Tomoki Iwata and substitute Adam Stansfield’s penalty five minutes from the end brought the Whites’ unbeaten five-match run to an end as City extended their advantage at the top of the table to four points.
The big-spending Midlanders looked the part in their quest to go straight back up to the Championship.
But Ian Evatt’s men will be frustrated they didn’t get some reward for their efforts and their game-plan as they trailed only to Iwata’s stunner and stayed in the game until the closing stages when John McAtee couldn’t take the chance that could have seen them leave St Andrew’s with at least a point.
With Birmingham unbeaten at home and Wanderers stretched by injuries in key areas, Evatt opted for a line-up designed to try and keep things tight to live with the league leaders in the opening exchanges as Scott Arfield and Jay Matete joined a new-look midfield.
A spectacular strike from Blues’ midfielder Iwata after just three minutes dealt the plan an early blow but the Whites responded well to the set-back to feel their way into the contest.
Kyle Dempsey almost got on the end of a looping Arfield cross following an excellent burst forward from Blues’ old boy Josh Dacres-Cogley.
And from the corner that followed, a well-worked routine opened the way for Josh Sheehan to unleash a goalbound effort blocked inside the six-yard box.
Birmingham always offered a threat, though, and Luke Southwood breathed a sigh of relief when Alfie May failed to punish a poor clearance from the Wanderers’ keeper with half an hour of a lively encounter gone.
Still very much in the game at half-time, Wanderers were forced into a change as McAtee replaced an injured Dempsey at the start of the second half.
McAtee immediately helped the Whites raise the tempo, although Southwood had to make a vital contribution to thwart May again with an excellent block at the feet of the Blues’ frontman.
And the Northern Irishman then bettered that save with a brilliant effort to turn away a header from Ethan Laird as the Blues went for the kill with half an hour to go.
That kept Wanderers in the hunt as Evatt made a further double change with the introduction of Aaron Collins and Victor Adeboyejo to try and raise the threat level and find an equaliser.
And with the Whites starting to find some joy further up the pitch and spread some uncertainty in the home ranks they should have levelled with nine minutes to go.
Substitute Will Forrester was involved on his first appearance of the season in pushing City back and when Collins worked the ball into the box, McAtee had the Whites’ best opportunity of the night but couldn’t beat Ryan Allsop in the Blues’ goal.
And from possible parity, Wanderers then found themselves 2-0 down four minutes later when Forrester was judged to have fouled Keshi Anderson in the penalty area as he looked to block a cross and Stansfield hammered home the spot-kick.
There was still time for McAtee to get another sight of goal but this time he dragged his effort just wide as the table-toppers secured their fifth home win of the campaign and the Whites were left to rue pivotal moments they couldn’t capitalise on before looking to resume their progress at home to Peterborough United on Saturday.
Wanderers: Southwood; Dacres-Cogley, Almeida Santos, Johnston; Williams (Forrester 70), Matete, Sheehan, Schön; Dempsey (McAtee HT), Arfield (Collins 58); Charles (Adeboyejo 58). Substitutes: Hutchinson, Lolos, Inwood.
Booked: Dempsey, Dacres-Cogley, Matete, McAtee
Birmingham City: Allsop; Laird (Gardner-Hickman 64), Klarer, Davies, Cochrane; Iwata, Paik; Anderson (Ayumu , Willumsson, Hansson (Leonard 20); May (Stansfield 64). Substitutes: Peacock-Farrell, Sanderson.
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