Source: Telegraph
Birmingham City 0 Hull City 0: match report
The Hull City players wandered over to where those who had travelled to St Andrew's to support them were sitting at the conclusion of this turgid affair and applauded. [LNB]Presumably it was to acknowledge their encouragement even though the spectre of relegation lingers on after this 0-0 draw with Birmingham City left Hull three points adrift of safety, but it could just as easily have been to thank them for sticking around for the whole 90 minutes.[LNB] Related ArticlesPremier League actionFootball League ups and downsPremier League tablePremier League fixturesBirmingham City 'loses possession' of sharesMcLeish targets top 10 finishOne suspects that sunshine was the only reason they did.[LNB]Perhaps it was because both sides were on the receiving ends of spanking defeats last week — a 5-1 loss to Manchester City in Birmingham's case, and a cringe worthy 4-1 loss to Burnley in Hull's — but both were crippled by caution. [LNB]A superb Joe Hart one-handed save in the 41st minute from a header by Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, and a header from Lee Bowyer which directed Roger Johnson's cross over the Hull bar really were the only diversions, leaving the supporters with nothing to do but vent at Mark Clattenburg, whose performance was consistent in its inconsistency.[LNB]George Boateng, the Hull midfielder, had observed before this match that now is not the time for 'flair football'. Indeed not, but Hull needed at least a spark of something verging on originality to come away with a win at a ground that has stopped Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool in their tracks. [LNB]Jimmy Bullard did his best, spraying balls left and right and toe poking one at Hart at the death, but his attempts came to nothing. It should be a serious concern — Hull will have to produce far more if they are to avoid the drop.[LNB]Birmingham were little better in terms of invention, even when the evergreen Kevin Phillips was introduced in the second half. Despite Alex McLeish's travails, this team now look content to wind down what has otherwise been an impressive season. [LNB]'A clean sheet today - I'm proud of the lads,' McLeish said. 'We didn't have the imagination in the final third, it was a bit laboured, but we've proved that we can bounce back.'[LNB]
