Bolton Wanderers vs Birmingham City. Sky Bet Championship.
University of Bolton StadiumAttendance13,703.
Tuesday 20 October 2015 22:57, UK
Paul Robinson followed up the goal which ended his eight-year drought in league football with the winner against his former club as high-flying Birmingham defeated struggling Bolton 1-0 at the Macron Stadium.
Prior to last weekend the 36-year-old had not registered in a league fixture since playing for West Brom alongside John Hartson and Kevin Phillips in 2007, and that barren spell had included a three-year stint with Wanderers, but after finding the net in the victory over QPR on Saturday, he was celebrating again three days later.
The veteran defender crept in at the back post to head in Demarai Gray's free kick midway through the first half as Blues climbed up to second in the Sky Bet Championship table.
Robinson proved his worth at the other end too, sliding in on the line to stop Gary Madine scoring, on a night when bottom-of-the-table Wanderers' unbeaten home run in the division was ended.
Wanderers slipped to the foot of the table following a 2-0 loss at Burnley on Saturday and Neil Lennon's response was to pair Emile Heskey and Madine together in attack for the first time.
That produced an open first 15 minutes, during which Liam Feeney lashed wide, Wellington Silva's near-post try was pushed into the side netting by Tomasz Kuszczak and Darren Pratley stabbed over.
But the home side were then undone by an unlikely source. Gray's inswinging free-kick from left of centre went right through to the back post where an unmarked Robinson stole in to head home from inside the six-yard box.
The hosts looked to hit back before the interval but Feeney's shot was beaten away by Kuszczak and Heskey, who himself has only scored once in Wanderers colours, failed to connect with Jose Manuel Casado's free-kick.
Silva thought he might have created an even better set-piece opportunity when he fell to the turf between two Birmingham defenders as he burst into the box, but referee Geoff Eltringham did not buy his appeal, booking the Brazilian for simulation.
To make matters worse, the Arsenal loanee injured himself in the process and was substituted off for Max Clayton.
That meant Lennon had three strikers on the pitch and the home side did look vulnerable on the counter at the start of the second period, the lively Gray picking out Shinnie, whose attempted finish past Ben Amos did not match his tricky footwork to create the chance.
Bolton's front two were posing few headaches but only some desperate Blues defending prevented an equaliser 10 minutes after the restart.
Feeney's skew across goal was pushed straight to Madine by Kuszczak and after the forward was denied by Robinson's brilliant block on the line, Pratley's goal-bound effort was repelled by Birmingham captain Michael Morrison too as Wanderers fans were left scratching their heads.
At the other end Amos continued to stop Gary Rowett's men doubling their lead by saving from Shinnie once more and then Jacques Maghoma in quick succession.
However, there was no late equaliser for Lennon's men, who failed to score for the seventh time in 12 fixtures.
