Birmingham were indebted to an opportunist first-half goal from Martin
O'Connor as they consolidated their top six position with a fifth successive
home win.
O'Connor's second goal of the season proved crucial and he showed great
determination in scoring the goal in the 33rd minute.
A Simon Charlton left wing cross was headed out by a Blackburn defender to
Gary Flitcroft but he was too slow to gain possession and O'Connor quickly took
full advantage of the situation.
The 32-year-old, who only returned at the weekend from international duty with
the Cayman Islands, blasted his shot past Alan Kelly for the vital victory.
But the player also picked up a booking and will now miss the club's next home
match with Ipswich.
The win is yet another indication of Birmingham's strength as they slowly
recover from their heavy injury list.
Manager Trevor Francis is becoming more optimistic with Birmingham's prospects
on the strength of their current form, which has seen them win six of their last
seven matches.
Blackburn, now without a win in five games, were forced to adopt a more
attacking formation and certainly played with skill as they threatened on
several occasions to grab the equaliser in the second half.
O'Connor had to limp out of the game in the 57th and there was little doubt
that Birmingham lost their command as Blackburn suddenly became the more
dangerous.
Their best chance came when Ashley Ward's header was pushed out to Flitcroft,
who quickly returned the ball into the middle where David Dunn's misdirected
header went well wide.
This sparked off a determined late bid by the visitors to salvage a point and
although Birmingham missed O'Connor and appeared vulnerable, they held on for
the three points.
Teams
Birmingham: Bennett, Rowett, Hughes, Holdsworth, Charlton,
Grainger, Purse, O'Connor (Hyde 57), Lazaridis (Gill 63),
Adebola, Rankin (Marcelo 74).
Subs Not Used: Johnson, Poole.
Goals: O'Connor 33.
Blackburn: Kelly, Grayson, Broomes, Davidson, Dailly, McAteer,
Flitcroft, Duff, Ward (Blake 84), Gillespie, Dunn (Jansen 74).
Subs Not Used: Harkness, Johnson, Fettis.
Booked: Gillespie.
Att: 20,719
Ref: R Pearson (Peterlee).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook