Football: Shutt is on hand to open the door for Birmingham
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Birmingham City. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Millwall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
CARL SHUTT, signed from Leeds for a modest pounds 50,000 last week, after two months on loan at St Andrews, rewarded his new manager's investment by scoring the only goal of an undistinguished First Division contest that confirmed Millwall as a team who do not travel well.
The Londoners, whose poor away form cost them at least a play- off place last season, have not won outside their New Den since the opening day of the current campaign. They produced some patient, neat passing moves yesterday, but, until an hour had elapsed, too far from the Birmingham goal for it to mean much.
The home side, by contrast, created enough chances without playing particularly well to have won by a more comfortable margin. Andy Saville twice met crosses with only Kasey Keller to beat but each time headed the ball into the goalkeeper's chest. Keller saved twice from Louie Donowa and once from Chris Whyte from equally close range.
'We needed a second goal so that we could relax and kill them off,' Cooper said. 'I was worried that they would get one chance and make us pay for those that we missed.'
Millwall did have the ball in the net during their brightest spell but Mark Kennedy, a 17-year-old striker given the chance to build on a prolific reserve-team record, was ruled marginally offside from Andy Roberts's pass. Kennedy had shot against the foot of Kevin Miller's right-hand post a minute earlier.
Shutt's goal, six minutes before half-time, could not have been simpler. It stemmed from a mistake by Tony Dolby, pounced upon by Donowa at the edge of the box, and Shutt was unmarked on the six-yard line when his team-mate pulled the ball back.
Birmingham (4-4-2): Miller; Hiley, Whyte, Dryden, Potter; Donowa, Parris, Smith, McMinn (Fenwick, 77); Saville, Shutt. Substitutes not used: Hooper, Steadman (gk).
Millwall (4-4-2): Keller; Cunningham, Stevens, Van Den Hauwe, Dolby; Huxford, Murray, Roberts, Barber (Beard, h/t); Goodman (Moralee, 77), Kennedy. Substitute not used: Emberson (gk).
Referee: M Peck (Kendal).
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