Horsfield completes Villa night of misery

Birmingham City 3 Aston Villa

Half of Birmingham's joy was unconfined here last night as the team which has so long been considered Second City behind Aston Villa produced a result that will be gloated over for years to come.

By the time the final whistle blew, the side with the League titles and European Cup win on their honours board were a demoralised force, and the stand in which their supporters had been located for this first top-flight meeting of the local rivals in 16 years was virtually deserted.

Birmingham had gone in at half-time with a deserved lead, after Clinton Morrison had capitalised on confusion in the Villa defence following Kenny Cunningham's forward lob on the half-hour. But even in their fondest dreams they could not have expected the two gift goals Villa presented to them in the final quarter of an hour.

After Villa had improved their performance and been denied an equaliser through a controversial offside decision in the 56th minute, fortune finally tipped City's way in the 77th minute through the freakiest of freak goals.

The Villa defender Olof Mellberg, whose reported comments before the match that he did not know any of City's players, were pinned up in the home dressing room as a motivational tool, aimed a throw-in on the right back to his goalkeeper Peter Enckelman. The Finn, clearly thinking about what he would do next with the ball, neglected to trap it properly and the ball rolled under his foot before completing its slow, nightmarish progress into the far side of the goal. Villa claimed that the goal should not have stood as their keeper had not touched the ball, but the referee, David Elleray, disagreed.

Six minutes later, Villa's night of misery was complete as the substitute Geoff Horsfield robbed Alpay Ozalan on the edge of the box and drove home a simple shot to make it 3-0. As time ran out, with Villa's humiliation complete, the home supporters began an ironic chant in tribute to the visiting manager: "One Graham Taylor, there's only one Graham Taylor...''

Taylor had rushed to the touchline when what looked like an equaliser from Darius Vassell, who enlivened Villa's prospects as a second-half substitute along with his forward partner Dion Dublin, was disallowed. The England striker appeared to have been played onside by the City defender Martin Grainger's back header. But the linesman had already raised his flag to indicate that Vassell was interfering with play and in an offside position. The incident caused Taylor obvious agony and frustration ­ did he not like that decision.

Birmingham's manager, Steve Bruce, admitted that his side had had the better luck on the night. "We had the little breaks where they mattered but, overall, I think we deserved the win,'' he said. "This was a proper game, as they say. The Birmingham fans have waited a long, long time for a night this and they thoroughly deserve it.

"Villa claimed that the second goal shouldn't have stood, but, if the keeper hasn't touched the ball, why is he sprinting back for it? Does he know the rules?"

No, he did not, according to Taylor. "Peter felt once the throw-in had gone in it was a goal anyhow; he did not realise he had to touch it. He does now, of course," Villa's manager said. "I asked him if he touched the ball and he said: 'I haven't got a clue ­ but I thought I hit the ball'.'

It was a historic victory for the home side, whose last home League win over Villa had come in in 1984. Such a long-awaited rematch offered the ideal opportunity for City to air their fondest memory ­ the 3-1 aggregate win over Villa in the 1963 League Cup final which earned them their only major domestic honour to date. The home programme notes dwelled lovingly on the achievement of a side that included players such as Jimmy Bloomfield and Bertie Auld, who would later help Celtic to win the European Cup.

Since then, with a few fleeting exceptions, Blues followers have endured nearly 40 years of hurt. Among the painful memories was the side's last meeting, when Villa beat Birmingham 1-0 at St Andrew's in 1993 en route to winning the League Cup. No medals were awarded for last night's performance, but the memory will be enduring as any metal.

The only smudge on City's picture of delight were the crowd incursions after the first two goals, which may yet cause them grief with the authorities.

Birmingham City (4-4-2): Vaesen 7; Kenna 6, Cunningham 5, Purse 7, Grainger 7; Devlin 8, Savage 7, Cissé 7, D Johnson 6 (Powell, 79); Morrison 8 (Horsfield 7, 69), John 6. Substitutes not used: Bennett (gk), Hughes, Lazaridis.

Aston Villa (3-5-2): Enckelman 3; Mellberg 4, Alpay 4, Staunton 7; De la Cruz 7, Johnsen 5, Kinsella 6, Barry 5, Samuel 8; Allback 4 (Vassell 7, h-t), Angel 5 (Dublin 7, h-t). Substitutes not used: Postma (gk), Hendrie, Moore.

Referee: D Elleray (Middlesex) 7.