Muamba provides Blues' grit ; COCA-COLA CHAMPIONSHIP. Birmingham grind out victory over strugglers in stuttering display 2ND Edition

[Steve Bruce] looked agitated for much of the game. With his hands in pockets, shielding himself from the chill on a bitterly cold day, he watched on from the sidelines as his players struggled to find the inspiration to break down opponents who possessed little real threat. Birmingham should have p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Independent on Sunday
Main Author Amar Azam AT ST ANDREWS
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London (UK) Independent Digital News & Media 12.11.2006
Subjects
Bruce, Steve
McSheffrey, Gary
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Summary:[Steve Bruce] looked agitated for much of the game. With his hands in pockets, shielding himself from the chill on a bitterly cold day, he watched on from the sidelines as his players struggled to find the inspiration to break down opponents who possessed little real threat. Birmingham should have performed better than they did, especially given a bright opening to the game. [Gary McSheffrey] ran at the [Barnsley] defence before playing a clever through ball into the path of Nicklas Bendtner. The lanky striker, who is on loan from Arsenal, rounded Nick Colgan in goal but did not leave enough space to turn the ball in. On nine minutes, McSheffrey's free-kick from 30 yards was ferociously struck but was palmed away by Colgan. This domination from the home side did precious little for the jangling nerves of Barnsley's travelling support. On 35 minutes, Birmingham were ahead. Fabrice Muamba threaded a ball into the path of Bendtner, who pulled it back for McSheffrey. The winger finished from 10 yards out.