Match ends, Birmingham City 1, Huddersfield Town 1.
BirminghamBirmingham City1HuddersfieldHuddersfield Town1
Birmingham City and Huddersfield Town shared the spoils at St Andrew's to edge a little closer to safety in the Championship.
Welsh winger David Cotterill fired Blues ahead with a neatly-taken near-post shot, only for Joe Lolley to level for the Terriers by half-time.
That ended a run of three successive defeats for Chris Powell's side to leave them nine points clear of danger.
Blues are four points better off, having dropped a place to 15th.
It means that Gary Rowett's men have lost just once in their last seven home games.
| Lolley pops another one in |
|---|
| Birmingham City Academy product Joe Lolley has now scored three times in his 14 months at Huddersfield since his six-figure move from non-league Kidderminster Harriers - and all three have been away from home. This was only his third start for the Terriers and he has netted in two of them. |
Cottterill scored a cracker when Blues won this season's first meeting between the two sides, 1-0 at the John Smith's Stadium in December.
And, after successive 1-0 home wins, Blues seemed on course for another when Cotterill struck on 10 minutes, with a clinically-taken two-touch finish after David Davis and Paul Caddis had carved out the opening down the right flank.
But Huddersfield, who had won on both their last two visits to St Andrew's, generally had the better of the first half and were deservedly level when Lolley, on Birmingham City's books as a boy, pounced on 27 minutes following a series of ricochets inside the penalty area.
The visitors would have been ahead at the break, but for Blues keeper Darren Randolph making a great save to keep out Joel Lynch's header.
The home side found their feet after the break, however, but not even the introduction of Nikola Zigic for the final 20 minutes could force an opening.
Huddersfield manager Chris Powell:
"Joe is a real natural talent but I would like to see the day he can last 90 minutes. His rise to a Championship footballer is quite amazing.
"He is an ex-university boy who was playing for Kidderminster. After 16 games he gets a big move to a Championship side.
"We are just trying to cajole him. We are trying to get that talent shown regularly on the pitch. Perhaps his nervous energy hinders his progress.
"But he took his goal well and hopefully we have a real talent as there is certainly something there in his play."
Birmingham boss Gary Rowett:
"You could see that Huddersfield were very keen to block the game and work incredibly hard to stop us playing after losing three games on the spin.
"That was evident and it is testament as teams make it difficult for us to play our normal game.
"We moved the ball too slowly and that was the frustration. We scored a well worked goal and it was great to see David Cotterill on the goal sheet after five games without scoring."
Line-ups
Birmingham
Formation 4-2-3-1
- 1Randolph
- 31Caddis
- 23Spector
- 15Kiernan
- 3Grounds
- 13TescheBooked at 37mins
- 26Davis
- 11Cotterill
- 22ShinnieSubstituted forThomasat 68'minutes
- 33GraySubstituted forDyerat 82'minutes
- 9DonaldsonSubstituted forZigicat 76'minutes
Substitutes
- 4Robinson
- 10Thomas
- 12Novak
- 18Hancox
- 19Zigic
- 21Doyle
- 40Dyer
Huddersfield
Formation 4-3-3
- 1Smithies
- 27Smith
- 4Hudson
- 33Lynch
- 17RobinsonBooked at 16minsSubstituted forM Wallaceat 90'minutes
- 6Hogg
- 10CoadyBooked at 9mins
- 8Butterfield
- 18LolleySubstituted forGobernat 77'minutes
- 9Vaughan
- 30BunnSubstituted forScannellat 21'minutes
Substitutes
- 7Scannell
- 11Miller
- 13Murphy
- 15M Wallace
- 25Carroll
- 28Gobern
- 45Majewski
- Referee:
- Paul Tierney
- Attendance:
- 14,747
Match Stats
Home TeamBirminghamAway TeamHuddersfield
- Possession
- Home47%
- Away53%
- Shots
- Home16
- Away19
- Shots on Target
- Home7
- Away6
- Corners
- Home7
- Away7
- Fouls
- Home9
- Away11
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Birmingham City 1, Huddersfield Town 1.
Post update
Hand ball by Lloyd Dyer (Birmingham City).
Post update
Offside, Birmingham City. Darren Randolph tries a through ball, but Nikola Zigic is caught offside.
Post update
Attempt saved. Jacob Butterfield (Huddersfield Town) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom right corner. Assisted by Tommy Smith.
Substitution
Substitution, Huddersfield Town. Murray Wallace replaces Jack Robinson because of an injury.
Post update
Delay over. They are ready to continue.
Post update
Delay in match Jack Robinson (Huddersfield Town) because of an injury.
Post update
Attempt missed. Lloyd Dyer (Birmingham City) left footed shot from the left side of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Nikola Zigic.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Oscar Gobern (Huddersfield Town) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Jacob Butterfield.
Post update
Attempt missed. Oscar Gobern (Huddersfield Town) left footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Jonathan Hogg.
Post update
Attempt blocked. Jack Robinson (Huddersfield Town) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Substitution
Substitution, Birmingham City. Lloyd Dyer replaces Demarai Gray.
Post update
Jacob Butterfield (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Post update
Foul by Demarai Gray (Birmingham City).
Post update
Corner, Huddersfield Town. Conceded by Robert Tesche.
Post update
Mark Hudson (Huddersfield Town) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Post update
Foul by Nikola Zigic (Birmingham City).
Post update
Attempt blocked. Jacob Butterfield (Huddersfield Town) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Jonathan Hogg.
Substitution
Substitution, Huddersfield Town. Oscar Gobern replaces Joe Lolley.
