Striker Paul Furlong scored his second hat-trick of the season to give Birmingham a runaway win over Stockport in the second meeting of the clubs in four days.

Saturday's FA Cup tie, also won by Birmingham, was stormy but there was no repetition of the incidents which marred that match, although Stockport lost Tom Bennett with a suspected broken leg midway through the second half.

Birmingham dominated the first half when they effectively secured the points.

Furlong found the net in the seventh minute when he pounced on a misplaced back pass from Martin McIntosh to score past Eric Nixon with a low drive.

Birmingham went further ahead in the 16th minute when Jon McCarthy struck his first goal at St Andrews since his move last September from Port Vale.

Furlong created the opening, feeding Martin Grainger whose cross was headed goalwards by Nicky Forster. Nixon could only push the ball into the path of McCarthy, who scored with a low shot into the corner.

Stockport tried to regroup after conceding those goals but Birmingham were in no mood to relax their grip and surged forward again to bombard Stockport's goal and Furlong made it 3-0 with a low left-foot shot.

Birmingham sat back on their lead in the second half and Stockport rallied with several dangerous attacks.

But they were dealt a blow when Bennett sustained his injury in the 69th minute after colliding with Grainger and was clearly in great pain when stretched off the pitch.

Stockport continued to battle and Sean Connelly reduced the margin of victory in the 79th minute only for Furlong to complete his hat-trick in the final seconds with a low, angled shot from the left.