Birmingham City 1-0 Exeter City: FLW report as Laird extends lengthy Blues unbeaten run | OneFootball

FLW reports from St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park

Birmingham City extended their unbeaten run across all competitions to 14 matches with a 1-0 victory over Exeter City at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park, courtesy of Ethan Laird's smart finish in added time at the end of the first half.

Chris Davies' side returned to league action for the first time in two weeks after victories over Lincoln City in the FA Cup and Swindon Town in the EFL Trophy, and recorded their 17th league victory over the Grecians, who failed to back up their impressive cup exploits against Oxford United in the Second City.

Laird turned home a smart chip from Alfie May in the dying embers of the first half after 45 minutes that represented very little quality, whilst Exeter posed next-to-no attacking threat against Blues' rearguard, and they were also reduced to 10 men late on through Jack McMillan's second booking.

After a cagey opening period in B9, the entire crowd remembered the life of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes in Birmingham's designated 'Arthur' matchday with a minutes' applause on six minutes, and the home side looked to feed off such energy, but Marc Leonard's low ball evaded all in Royal Blue from a subsequent free-kick.

Unsurprisingly, Chris Davies' side continued to dominate the ball, and forced the first corner of the game through neat link-up play between Scott Wright and Alfie May. However, the following set-piece routine between the former Rangers man and Alex Cochrane was extremely anti-climactic.

It took 20 minutes for Ryan Allsop's hands to be warmed, as a searching ball from Caleb Watts - intended for Millenic Alli - also came to nothing.

After 32 minutes, Blues would be frustrated once more, as a searching ball from Ben Davies eventually fell to former Grecian, Jay Stansfield, but the versatile forward's cut-back to May was intercepted and cleared by Ed Francis.

Exeter's first chance of a goalscoring opportunity came through a set-play four minutes later following a mistimed challenge from Leonard, although the tepid nature of the first-half would continue as Vincent Harper's attempt at a dart into the box from the left-flank was halted through a foul on May.

The Blues striker was in the thick of the very limited action again just two minutes later, as Leonard's threaded pass found the former Charlton man in space on the right side of the area, but his effort was well blocked by Harper.

Taylor Gardner-Hickman then looked to pick out a man in Royal Blue after winning his press against Jack McMillan, but the visitors once again had plenty of bodies inside the box to snuff out any danger.

And, in a half which lacked any form of quality for almost 47 minutes, Birmingham finally made the breakthrough two minutes before the break.

Wright was able to drift inside, and after his powerful effort was beaten away by Joe Whitworth, May was on hand to recycle play and pick out an unmarked Ethan Laird, with the full-back connecting superbly with his left foot to turn the ball home.

Just a minute into the second half, Whitworth was thankful for the intervention of Jack Fitzwater, as the centre-back was able to deny May a chance to make it 2-0 after the goalkeeper's miss-kick.

The hosts were then presented with the chance to do so, as the experienced Kevin McDonald's loose pass was intercepted by the continuously dynamic Wright. But, once again, the winger's attempt was denied by yet another impressive piece of defending by the Grecian's number five.

Stansfield then went in search of a second goal this season against his former side after being sent through by Laird, but the forward's curling effort was always rising into the Tilton.

A curling ball from Alex Cochrane was then punched away by Whitworth before it could reach May, with Wright once again thwarted on the follow-up as the wide man packed plenty of power in his last effort of the match, as he and Stansfield were replaced by Ayumu Yokoyama and Lyndon Dykes.

Caldwell looked to give Exeter a spark going forward as Josh Magennis and Joel Colwill replaced McDonald and Jake Richards, but a low ball from Demetri Mitchell in search of the latter was comfortably cleared away by Christoph Klarer.

Davies' men continued to search for a second to put the contest beyond any doubt, but Taylor Gardner-Hickman's low drive was once again deflected wide with 18 minutes left on the clock.

Whitworth would then have to be on his toes to collect a looping ball which Laird returned with interest from just inside his own half.

Yokoyama has been one of the starring lights in recent times for Blues, and the Japanese international went in search of his third goal in as many games across all competitions, but the Reds' keeper was equal to his curling effort, before being at full stretch to keep out Leonard.

Grecians substitute Pat Jones then looked to yield a first chance of the game for the away side, but Davies was able to turn his low cross behind, before Allsop rose unchallenged to gather the subsequent corner.

A lengthy stoppage was then in order as Harper would be stretchered off and replaced by Ilmari Niskanen, whilst fourth official Scott Tallis indicated at least 12 further minutes would be played in B9.

After such a lengthy stoppage, Yokoyama saw his latest effort blocked by Fitzwater as Birmingham looked to add daylight between themselves and the Devon outfit.

With the clock ticking over the 100-minute mark, Exeter's frustration was summed up as McMillan was awarded his second yellow card for a late foul on the energetic Yokoyama.

Elliot Bell then called time, as Blues continue to lead Wycombe Wanderers at the top of the table by two points, whilst Exeter remain 16th after a third successive league defeat.

Player Ratings

Birmingham City

Ryan Allsop - 6.5

Ethan Laird - 8

Christoph Klarer - 7.5

Ben Davies - 7.5

Alex Cochrane - 7.5

Marc Leonard - 8

Taylor Gardner-Hickman - 7

Scott Wright - 6.5 (Dykes 62" - 6)

Jay Stansfield - 7 (Yokoyama 62" - 6.5)

Luke Harris - 6

Alfie May - 7.5 (Bielik 84" - 6.5)

Exeter City

Joe Whitworth - 6.5

Jack McMillan - 6.5

Jack Fitzwater - 7.5

Kevin McDonald - 6.5 (Colwill 61" - 6)

Ed Francis - 6.5

Vincent Harper - 7 (Niskanen 85" - 6)

Ryan Woods - 6

Caleb Watts - 6.5

Jake Richards - 6 (Magennis 61" - 6)

Demetri Mitchell - 6 (Jones 74" - 6)

Millenic Alli - 5.5 (Aitchison 74" - 6)

Chris Davies reacts as Birmingham City's unbeaten run continues

Addressing the media after the extension of his side's lengthy unbeaten run, Davies believed it was fully merited, especially from a defensive point of view.

"I thought it was a good win," Davies told the press.

"I thought we deserved it, we were strong in the game, looked solid. They didn't have a shot - on or off target - so that shows you what we did defensively.

"Obviously, we've scored the goal. We didn't create too many clear chances in the game, but there was always pressure building.

"Towards the end, we were managing the lead, really. We had a few more gears that we could've gone through if we needed to. But, we were protecting the lead, so I thought it was a really good win."

Exeter failed to register a shot on target in a game which saw Blues defeat the South West club for the third time in less than two months, and the former Spurs assistant then switched his focus to the game-management his side showcased, especially in similar patterns to the two previous encounters.

"Strikers are your first (form of) defence, and your defenders are your first attackers these days, in terms of how you play from the front," Davies added.

"They try to build up from the back, short, a lot.

"All the games we've had against them have almost been in their half. So, them trying to pass, us pressing and then trying to break their block down, so it's felt like that's been a pattern.

"You don't have to defend deep against them for any length of time, and I thought our pressing was exceptional.

"If you're going to play against us, like that, then it's going to be hard."

Gary Caldwell reacts as Exeter City suffer defeat in the West Midlands

Speaking post-match, Exeter boss Gary Caldwell's first comments addressed the situation involving Vincent Harper, who was stretchered off late on after taking a blow to the head.

"It was a head knock. He wasn't unconscious, which is a good sign," Caldwell revealed.

"He was sick on the pitch, it was quite a serious head knock. But, he's getting assessed in the hospital, and hopefully, it's positive news.

"I wasn't proud or happy with the amount of time that got added after it. I think it was 12 minutes. I understand we have different watches now and a different time-system."

Caldwell then turned his attention to the Grecians' performance, and believed that his side were defensively in control before Laird's opener turned the screw.

"I thought we were in control out of-possession in the first half," the Scotsman added.

"I didn't think they hurt us at all. I thought our press was good, we were compact, we forced them down the outsides and defended the longer ball in the channels fairly well.

"The only chance they had in the first half was the goal, which, so close to half-time is really disappointing and a bad time to lose a goal."

However, in the second 45, the 42-year-old stated that the encounter bypassed his side, who failed to register an attempt all game, and were sloppy in possession on several occasions.

"I think we can be so much better in possession," Caldwell continued.

"We have to be braver, we have to recognise where the free player is, we have to play quicker and we just have to commit more in stadiums like this.

"I questioned the players there if we really believed we could win today, because I didn't really see that.

"But, I think the game was there for us in moments today, and we didn't play at our very best."

Attendance

The attendance for this afternoon's third tier fixture was 25,930.

This included an away contingent of 1,846 from the South West.