Birmingham climbed to within a point of the Sky Bet Championship play-off places with a 2-1 home victory over Watford.
The Blues earned a fourth straight win at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park while Watford’s miserable run on the road continued despite a valiant effort in the second half.
Watford had their tails up from their positive recent form but Birmingham had reward for their first-half patience when Paik Seung-Ho put them in front before Demarai Gray doubled the lead in superb fashion before the break.
The home fans had reason for concern in the second period when Othmane Maamma’s strike brought Javi Gracia’s side back into the game but that was not enough to stop them from losing their five-game unbeaten record.
Paik Seung-Ho celebrates scoring against Watford
Chris Davies’ side ensured they returned to winning ways following a draw at the weekend and went to seventh in the table, just one point behind Bristol City in the play-offs.
The visitors almost got off to a perfect start when the ball dropped to Thomas Ince outside the area and he decided to have a crack with an effort that flew past James Beadle’s despairing dive but marginally wide of the target.
Watford allowed Birmingham to have the ball but they were the ones looking more threatening going forward, with Beadle the first to make a save to bat Maamma’s dig from distance away from danger.
Demarai Gray and Jay Stansfield celebrate together
Visiting goalkeeper Nathan Baxter was brought into action for the first time to excellently deny Phil Neumann from point-blank range after Jay Stansfield had made a clever run from a free-kick.
Birmingham made the breakthrough just after the half-hour mark.
Hector Kyprianou aimed to come away with possession but had his pocket picked by Paik who took a couple of touches before smashing ferociously past Baxter from outside the box.
And the Blues had breathing space two minutes before the break courtesy of a piece of brilliance from Gray who shifted the ball onto his right foot inside the area and picked out the top right corner.
Watford celebrate getting one back at St Andrews
Watford’s recent form showed they were not out of the contest though, as Beadle had to fingertip Marc Bola’s close-range effort over the bar to stop them from halving the deficit.
Birmingham should have been three to the good when Jeremy Ngakia played a lazy pass straight to Stansfield in the danger zone and he set up Marvin Ducksch who fluffed his lines from close range.
The home fans grew nervous when the Hornets chopped the lead in half.
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Watford had threatened to do so on a couple of occasions but finally capitalised when Maamma latched onto Bola’s ball in before sending an effort goalwards and too hard for Beadle to stop.
Birmingham did well to stem the tide following the goal but Mamadou Doumbia forced a third save from Beadle to let them know they were still in the contest. However, Birmingham held onto the three points.
The managers
Birmingham’s Chris Davies:
“We’ve hit a good bit of form. Another challenging game but an excellent win for us.
“I thought [Jay Stansfield] was really good. His energy, his intensity, his play for the second goal was high level. It’s not just what he does going forward, it’s what he does the other way. He’s very professional, he does everything right.”
On Birmingham’s away form, Davies said: “We are who we are. We’ve been very close in some away games. It’s hard to create some intensity naturally away from home, but we’ll pick up some points.
“I do have Watford fans in the family, but I’m Birmingham City through and through at the moment. We need to take each game as it comes – next is away at Southampton, and we’ve got a few days to focus on that.”
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Watford’s Javi Gracia:
“After the good minutes in the second half, We had some moments to dominate the game and score, but we couldn’t do it.
“First half was the same – equal game, they took the chances they had and we paid for our mistakes. They showed their quality – Demarai Gray, great goal. We were close to equalising but in the end, we didn’t do it.
“We are getting better day by day – we are young – but I’m sure we’ll improve in the next games, we’ll improve and give the supporters what they deserve.”