Northampton’s lack of attention and inaccuracy resulted in a point at St Andrew’s.
Birmingham appeared to be heading into another international break with their league winning streak at home intact, with the exception of the opening-day draw against Reading. But Iwata was the guilty party, and after bizarrely handing control to Mitch Pinnock, there was rejoicing in the away end, stunning the sell-out audience.
Blues must be careful not to waste points because whilst this league should present very few problems for the Midlands outfit there will always be twists and turns. And that was evident in this tussle with The Cobblers. The hosts were not at full tilt and weren’t really swinging the match in their favour. We can’t be resting on our laurels as this squad just needs to go up as soon as possible with the amount of investment made in this team in the summer.
Jay Stansfield was convinced by the project in an astonishing multi million pound move from Premier League side Fulham and a rasping finish gave the home side the lead just before the hour mark. His strike partner Alfie May couldn’t impress on the same level having scuffed a chance after some neat work by Paik. The former Charlton man was to be brought off after a largely ineffective outing.
May has been pretty good this season but could’ve helped the team to be clear of Northampton before the eventual calamity. Ryan Allsopp stood up once again and his goalkeeping to deny Guthrie was excellent. It was just a shame that he saw his net bulge six minutes into stoppage time.
Alfons Sampsted didn’t add the same threat as Ethan Laird down the right. Laird didn’t star himself after some poor connections with teammates in the first half.
Blues must ensure that any slip ups are kept to a mimimim because the likes of Wycombe and Wrexham represent serious competition if given the chance to take advantage.
Wycombe are on six straight wins and it has definitely felt like Blues have faltered in recent weeks. Their form is average right now and even Wrexham are catching up in terms of a run being put together.
It was always coming though. Youngster Yokoyama was impressive but his defensive work was sadly lacking and after Iwata failed in the crucial moment two points were snatched.
