Town 1-0 Birmingham - Match Report Saturday, 5th Aug 2017 17:02 Joe Garner got his Town career off to a goalscoring start as the former Rangers man netted a second-half debut goal to see the Blues to a 1-0 victory in their opening game of the season at Portman Road. Garner turned in a Jonas Knudsen cross five minutes after the break to win the game, however, the victory was marred by what appears to be a serious knee ligament injury sustained by Andre Dozzell just before the break. Garner and Dominic Iorfa were given their Blues debut as Town lined-up in a surprise 3-5-2 formation. Iorfa, on loan from Wolves for the season, started at right wing-back with Knudsen on the left and Jordan Spence, skipper Luke Chambers and Tommy Smith the central three. In central midfield, Cole Skuse was joined by Dozzell and Grant Ward with Garner and Sears up front. David McGoldrick and Bersant Celina were both on the bench having been ill for last week’s 6-1 friendly defeat at Charlton, while midfielders Flynn Downes, 18, and Tristan Nydam, 17, were also among the subs. Birmingham, who lined-up 4-4-2, handed debuts to former Town loan keeper David Stockdale, who joined after turning down a new deal with Brighton, Marc Roberts, who signed from Barnsley, and Cheikh Ndoye, a recruit from Angers. A torrential downpour preceded kick-off and rain continued to fall persistently as the game got under way. Birmingham made most of the early running but without creating an opportunity until left-back Jonathan Grounds, a scorer in the 1-1 draw between the sides at Portman Road in April, hit a weak shot through to Bartosz Bialkowski in the fourth minute. Soon after, as the sun broke through the clouds, Dozzell brought the ball forward from midway inside the visitors’ half but hit his effort well wide. The Midlanders weren’t far from going in front on 10 when a long throw from Grounds on the left reached Michael Morrison, whose header was too close to Bialkowski who saved. A couple of feet either side of the keeper and Harry Redknapp’s side would have been in front.
Birmingham continued to have the better of it and just after the quarter hour right-back Emilio Nsue hit a low shot which Bialkowski claimed comfortably. Town threatened for the first time from a Ward corner on the right. The ball eventually fell to Garner, whose shot deflected off a defender through to Stockdale. The Blues began to get more into the game and in the 21st minute Ward, a debut hat-trick hero on the opening day a year ago, exchanged passes with Garner and broke into the area but put the ball wide from a very tight angle on the left of the area as Stockdale advanced. On 26, following the latest in a succession of long throws from the right, Bialkowski saved Marc Roberts’s low shot from the right. A minute later there was a further scare for the Blues when Iorfa looked to head a cross from the right behind and Knudsen, as he sought to avoid a corner, nodded the ball back to a Birmingham player on the right. Eventually it reached Che Adams on the left just outside the box, from where he curled a shot just over. The visitors continued to look the more dangerous team and on 33 David Davis hooked a ball over as Bialkowski advanced having got in behind the backline, although Smith had looked to be fouled earlier in the build-up. Bialkowski had to be on his mettle again in the 40th minute when Clayton Donaldson was played in on goal following a swift interchange of passes around the edge of the area, the Pole claiming at the former Crewe and Brentford striker’s feet. Two minutes later, Dozzell played in Sears on the right of the box and the striker’s shot deflected wide. From the corner, Dozzell went to ground clearly in pain as he battled for the ball with Adams, Birmingham keeper Stockdale immediately calling for medical staff to be allowed on to the pitch. The midfielder underwent lengthy treatment for what's understood to be cruciate knee ligament damage - with Stockdale continuing to him morale support - before being stretchered off. The 18-year-old, who had previously been treated for a knock a few minutes earlier, had been behind Town’s more threatening moments going forward and had been becoming more influential. Downes replaced the England U19 international in the centre of the three-man midfield, making his senior debut. There was just time for Donaldson to shoot wide past an empty goal with Bialkowski well off his line - an offside Adams having blocked off a Town defender as he looked to get back - before referee Tin Robinson ended the half. The visitors had been on top for the most part and had created the half’s better opportunities. Town had threatened only rarely with Dozzell having been behind their few chances. Concerns regarding the extent of the academy product’s injury dominated the half-time chat around Portman Road. Birmingham created the first chance of the second half from a freekick on 49, Spence having been booked for a foul on Donaldson as they chased a ball down the middle. Craig Gardner’s ball into the box was volleyed across the face of goal by Davis. A minute later the Blues took the lead through debutant Garner. Ward fed the overlapping Knudsen down the left and the Dane sent in a low ball beyond Sears but which the summer signing from Rangers met as he ran in from wide on the right at the far post and hit low across Stockdale before celebrating in front of the Sir Bobby Robson Stand. The goal gave Town a boost and on 58 Downes began a move which ended with Knudsen sending over a ball towards Sears which a defender did well to divert behind. For the first time the Blues were putting the visitors under pressure and a minute later Sears saw another effort well blocked with Stockdale off his line following a corner. From subsequent flag-kicks Skuse hit a shot which deflected wide and Garner headed wide at the far post. Gardner volleyed wide for Birmingham in the 65th minute with Town starting to lose some of their immediate post-goal impetus, although with the visitors by no means putting them under pressure. However, on 71, Nsue forced Bialkowski to tip over his well-struck shot from a tight angle on the right. Three minutes later, the Blues switched debutant Iorfa, who was warmly applauded off by his new fans after an all-action display, for Adam Webster. Town should have doubled their lead in the 76th minute. After Knudsen’s cross from the left reached Spence, who broke into the area on the right and cut the ball across to Sears, who turned the ball wide when he seemed certain to score. Ndoye headed straight at Bialkowski from a corner as the game moved towards its final five minutes. But Town didn’t look too uncomfortable and for spells passed the ball around confidently as they sought to see out the game. On 87, with Smith off the field receiving a bandage to the head, Sears scraped a shot through to Stockdale from a cross from the right by the excellent Ward. In the final minute of scheduled time Roberts was booked for pulling back Skuse after the Blues midfielder caught him in possession on the left a few yards outside the penalty area. Town defended a corner, striker Garner making two important challenges inside the box, before referee Robinson blew his final whistle to confirm a winning start for the Blues. Having been second best before the break, Town deserved their win based on the balance of the second and probably should have won more comfortably given the spell of pressure after the goal and the chance Sears will feel he should have taken. There were impressive performances throughout the side, debutants Garner and Iorfa impressed their new home supporters, while Ward also caught the eye in central midfield. Downes made a lively debut from the bench in the second half, putting in a battling display and passing tidily. Dozzell's injury, which if as serious as feared seems certain to keep him out for most if not all of the rest of the season, was the only minus on what was otherwise a day with plenty of pluses for the Blues. Town: Bialkowski, Spence, Chambers (c), Smith, Iorfa (Webster 74), Ward, Skuse, Dozzell (Downes 45), Knudsen, Sears, Garner. Unused: Gerken, McGoldrick, Celina, Nydam, Kenlock. Birmingham: Stockdale, Nsue, Grounds, Morrison (c), Roberts, Davis, Gardner, Ndoye, Maghoma (Keita 79), Donaldson, Adams. Unused: Kuszczak, Shotton, Kieftenbeld, Brock-Madsen, Harding, Gleeson. Referee: Tim Robinson (West Sussex). Att: 18,153 (Birmingham: 2,012).
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