Brum out of bottom three

Tuesday, 04, Apr 2006 10:29

Birmingham have climbed out of the relegation zone for the first time since October after they beat Bolton 1-0 at St Andrews.

Jiri Jarosik's goal eight minutes before the break was enough to give the home side victory and a massive boost in their fight to avoid the drop.

Despite both sides needing the points for their respective goals for the season, with Bolton chasing the fourth Champions League qualification spot, neither team created many chances.

Bolton's Kevin Davies had the game's best chance early on but he headed over from close range.

Birmingham suffered a double injury blow as Stephen Clemence and Nicky Butt both limped off inside the opening 30 minutes.

However, their luck changed on 37 minutes as Jarosik produced good feet to deceive the Bolton defence and create some space on the edge of the area.

The Czech midfielder used it to good effect as he slammed an angled left-foot shot into the corner of the net past Jussi Jaaskalainen.

He could have scored again moments later as he produced another left-foot shot but this time, it sailed just wide of the post.

Bolton looked lacklustre in their response but Kevin Nolan had a good shot saved on the stroke of half-time.

However, this was as good as it got for the visitors as they failed to apply any pressure in the second half.

Stelios Giannakopoulos had their best chance towards the end of the second half but his shot went wide from six yards and Birmingham hung on for a valuable three points.