Source: Daily_Mail
Hong Kong XI 2 Birmingham 3: Garry O'Connor's late winner seals victory for Blues
Garry O'Connor scored an 88th-minute winner as Birmingham City began theirthree-match tour of the Far East with a narrow victory over a Hong Kong XI atHong Kong Stadium.[LNB]O'Connor sidefooted home from eight yards following Nikola Zigic's lay-off asBlues fought back from 2-1 down in a game played in blistering heat that sawboth the Serbian striker and goalkeeper Ben Foster make their first appearancesfor the Midlands club. [LNB] Match winner: Garry O'Connor scored late on for Birmingham[LNB]Hong Kong wasted a couple of early chances as Jean Kilama sent a header overthe bar from a corner and Christian Annan was woefully off target afterspringing the offside trap to latch onto Leonardo's ball over the to. [LNB]But Birmingham took the lead in the 20th minute after Stephen Carr won afree-kick on the right and, from Sebastian Larsson's delivery, Scott Dannoutjumped his marker to steer a header into the far corner. [LNB]Hong Kong equalised four minutes later as a poor clearance fell straight toLeonardo and the striker lashed home from inside the box before Annan made upfor his earlier profligacy on the stroke of half-time. [LNB]The forward brought down a long diagonal ball and with the Birmingham defencebacking off, curled a shot into the far corner from the edge of the box beyond astationary Foster. [LNB] In tandem: Nikola Zigic celebrates with Garry O'Connor[LNB]Birmingham made a raft of changes at the break and Cameron Jerome poked overfrom close range within seconds of the restart. Chu Siu Kei then testedsubstitute Maik Taylor with a free-kick before Kilama almost sliced a cross intohis own net with just over 20 minutes to go. [LNB]Birmingham levelled in the 73rd minute when Jordan Mutch floated a delightfulcross to the back post and Craig Gardner nodded into the opposite corner beforeO'Connor struck the decisive blow two minutes from the end.[LNB] Birmingham's £1.25m bid for Palace's Clyne dismissed as 'totally unrealistic'AZ Alkmaar's Dembele targeted by McLeish to solve striker crisisIron Mike shows his Posh side... but who is your club's most famous fan?[LNB]
