Birmingham City vs Cardiff City. Sky Bet Championship.
St. Andrew's StadiumAttendance14,414.
Monday 21 December 2015 09:01, UK
Paul Caddis' goal from a dubious penalty was enough for Birmingham City to beat Cardiff 1-0 at St Andrew's.
Caddis provided the Blues' first goal on their own ground in 432 minutes and the win lifts the hosts above Cardiff and into seventh place in the Sky Bet Championship on alphabetical order.
Birmingham broke the deadlock in stoppage time of a low-key and almost entirely chanceless first half and in controversial circumstances.
Goalkeeper David Marshall dropped what should have been a routine catch at his back post, spilling the ball into a group of players.
James Vaughan reacted first to steer a shot goalwards which struck Matthew Connolly as he went to ground to block it.
Referee Keith Stroud signalled for a penalty, adjudging that the ball had hit Connolly's arm but replays showed it had in fact rebounded off his head.
Caddis, who had been introduced as a substitute for the injured Neal Eardley, made no mistake from 12 yards, sending Marshall the wrong way after a long delay.
The goal did add a little intensity to the contest in the second half but both sides continued to struggle for clear-cut goalscoring opportunities.
Cardiff were probably the better side overall but their best chance to equalise was not even one of their own making, Birmingham defender Jonathan Spector turning a low Tony Watt cross against the foot of his own post.
But this was a game short of goalmouth action and it was perhaps appropriate that it was decided by the only genuinely noteworthy incident of the 90 minutes.
