Hundreds of angry Stoke supporters staged an after match demonstration on the
pitch after their side was slaughtered by rampant Birmingham.
Supporters chanted for the head of chairman Peter Coates and many had to be
restrained by police and stewards as they attempted to storm the West Stand.
Birmingham were in irresistible form as Paul Furlong helped himself to a
hat-trick and their unbeaten run now stretches to eight games, including six
victories.
Stoke, now without a win in ten games, were stunned as the Blues surged into a
commanding lead with two goals by Bryan Hughes inside nine minutes.
The opener arrived in the fourth minute when Furlong crossed low from the
right and Hughes flicked the ball in at the near post.
And it was soon 2-0 when Hughes cut inside Andrew Griffin and smashed a 20
yard drive inches inside Carl Muggleton's left hand post.
The visitors looked dangerous every time they attacked a shambolic home
defence and Nicky Forster struck their third in the 26th minute.
There appeared little danger when Forster collected the ball 25 yards out, but
he skipped past a challenge from Steve Tweed to place a low shot beyond a
bemused Muggleton.
Griffin then denied Birmingham a fourth goal when he booted the ball for a
corner as Furlong threatened to convert a cross from Forster.
Stoke, in desperate search of a lifeline, mounted strong pressure as half time
approached, but Steve Bruce led by example in a solid Birmingham rearguard.
Desperate Stoke made a double substitution at the break, bringing on Marco
Gabbiadini and Ray Wallace for Paul Stewart and Kofi Nyamah.
But they went four down in the 50th minute when Hughes outjumped Tweed and
Furlong hammered in the loose ball from ten yards.
It became a rout in the 56th minute as Jon McCarthy ghosted onto a throw in
from Jonathan Bass to drill an angled drive into the roof of the net.
It was too much to take for some Stoke fans with several ejected after running
onto the pitch as stewards reacted smartly to restore order.
But worse was to follow in the 69th minute when Forster sprinted half the
length of the field to lay on Furlong to fire a sixth.
And Furlong completed his hat-trick and Stoke's misery by chipping the seventh
three minutes from time.
Teams:
Stoke: Muggleton, Griffin, Nyamah (Wallace 45), Sigurdsson,
Tweed, Keen, Forsyth, MacKenzie, Thorne, Stewart (Gabbiadini 45),
Kavanagh.
Subs Not Used: Whittle.
Booked: Thorne.
Birmingham: Bennett, Bass, Charlton, Bruce (Johnson 51), Ablett,
Marsden, McCarthy, O'Connor, Furlong, Hughes,
Forster (Ndlovu 80).
Subs Not Used: Francis.
Booked: Charlton.
Goals: Hughes 4, 9, Forster 26, Furlong 50, McCarthy 56,
Furlong 69, 87.
Att: 14,940
Ref: T Heilbron (Newton Aycliffe).
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