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Stoke City 0-1 Birmingham City
Match Reports, 17:30, December 28, 2009 ,
Cameron Jerome's second-half goal was enough to clinch three points for Birmingham who stretch their unbeaten run to eleven games.
Confidence oozed out of the visitors as they began the Midlands derby patiently, frustrating their opponents who were desperate to pick themselves up following a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City on Boxing Day.
And Stoke did pick themselves up, gaining momentum as Ryan Shawcross came close. Liam Lawrence and Matthew Etherington caused havoc with set-pieces but Shawcross did not have the beating of in-form goalkeeper Joe Hart.
The game turned on its head four minutes into the second-half when the hosts failed to deal with a James McFadden corner and Jerome turned the loose ball home from six-yards.
The hosts bounced back however and it was one-way traffic for most of the second-half. Etherington and skipper Abdoulaye Faye each forced superb saves out of on-loan goalkeeper Hart.
But Birmingham weathered the storm and saw the game through with an efficient defensive performance, now climbing up to 7th in the Premiership table.