Birmingham City - 3 (Adebola 12. O'Connor 29 pen. Forster 90.)
Crystal Palace - 1 (Mullins 73.)

Crystal Palace slipped again, giving Birmingham City the top slot in the Divsion 1 table. The Blues well deserved a win over the Eagles. Trevor Francis' side was determined and proved to be a top class club in this lop sided match.

It was striker Dele Adebola who was the hero for the Blues. He scored his third goal of the season and showed the Eagles supporters once again where the gaps were in their defence.

After the start of the match, Palace were condemned to their backfield as the Blues took to the offensive. It was on the 12th minute that Adebola fired home his goal. Peter Ndlovu sent the ball onto the path of Adebola who shot it past the despairing goalkeeper, Kevin Miller, from just six yards out.

On the 28th minute, Jamie Smith pulled down Simon Charlton inside the box and Martin O'Connor converted to put the Eagles down two goals. In the midfield, Attilio Lombardo made desperate attempts at creating some chances, but his keen ball control was overpowered by the Blues ongoing attack.

Terry Venables made two substitutions, hoping to start something with his team. On the 73rd minute, Hayden Mullins moved onto a Dean Austin Cross, beating keeper Ian Bennett to head home a goal in his first team debut.

The closing minutes of the match saw a great save from Bennett on Matthew Jansen and the Palace offensive became more prevalent. In stoppage time however, all hopes would be cast aside as substitute Martin Grainger sent in a cross to the far corner which was met by Nicky Forster.

The last three matches have exposed the Eagles' weaknesses and all three of our opponents have exploited them. Venables lineup should be aided with the signings of the two Chinese national defenders, but there is no clear leadership in the current squad. Let's hope that we see more of an offensive effort versus Oxford United this weekend and that Sasa Curcic and Lombardo will guide the side.

Jonathan Collura

Birmingham: Bennett. Gill. Charlton. Marsden. Ablett. Johnson. McCarthy (Purse 90). O'Connor. Adebola. Hughes (Grainger 66). Ndlovu (Forster 87).
Booked: Johnson.

Palace: Miller. Edworthy. Smith. Curcic (Austin 61). Hreidarsson. Linighan. Lombardo. Warhurst. Dyer (Bent 60). Jansen. Mullins.
Not Used: Burton.
Booked: Mullins.

Attendance: 16.699
Referee: Mr K. Lynch (Kirk Hammerton)