Birmingham 5-1 Barnet
And we're back underway with, for some reason, the League Cup.
The scoreline makes this game look easier to win than it was. Lee Clark put ut an actual decent side, rather than opting for the "bunch of kids" option. He gave quite a few players their debuts in the side. We started the game well and had a good opportunity when Lovenkrands put an overhead kick just wide of the post. However, Barnet got back into the game and played well for much of the first half. They did score a tap-in, bit it was disallowed for offside. That was the wake up call, but Barnet went 1-0 up with a header at the far post which somehow sneaked past the goalkeeper. Not long after Birmingham got back into the game from a penalty kick, both won and converted by Marlon King. But Barnet really should have gone into the break 2-1 up. Lucas saved a shot, but it came out to one of their players, who shanked it horribly, and they got another bite as it fell to another player who put it over the bar. Half Time 1-1.
The second half was a different story, because we scored early on. Caldwell was given too much space at a corner, and he managed to bring it down and lash it into the top corner of the goal. Not long after Ambrose curled a 20 yard pearler into the net, and that was pretty much it for Barnet. We got a counple of goals very late on, the first from Lovenkrands after a pass through from King, and the second from substitute Wade Elliott who put it in the far corner.
The scoreline makes this game look easier to win than it was. Lee Clark put ut an actual decent side, rather than opting for the "bunch of kids" option. He gave quite a few players their debuts in the side. We started the game well and had a good opportunity when Lovenkrands put an overhead kick just wide of the post. However, Barnet got back into the game and played well for much of the first half. They did score a tap-in, bit it was disallowed for offside. That was the wake up call, but Barnet went 1-0 up with a header at the far post which somehow sneaked past the goalkeeper. Not long after Birmingham got back into the game from a penalty kick, both won and converted by Marlon King. But Barnet really should have gone into the break 2-1 up. Lucas saved a shot, but it came out to one of their players, who shanked it horribly, and they got another bite as it fell to another player who put it over the bar. Half Time 1-1.
The second half was a different story, because we scored early on. Caldwell was given too much space at a corner, and he managed to bring it down and lash it into the top corner of the goal. Not long after Ambrose curled a 20 yard pearler into the net, and that was pretty much it for Barnet. We got a counple of goals very late on, the first from Lovenkrands after a pass through from King, and the second from substitute Wade Elliott who put it in the far corner.