Kingson "saves" Birmingham

Birmingham 2 Hereford 1
Birmingham boss Steve Bruce hailed the performance of debutant goalkeeper Kingson after admitting his relief at surviving a second-half fightback by Coca-Cola League Two opponents Hereford in the third round of Carling Cup.

Birmingham dominated the opening half but they were left hanging on after Hereford reduced the arrears with 18 minutes remaining

Steve Bruce's side were grateful to some vital saves from debutant goalkeeper Richard Kingson, the Ghana number one, for not being forced into extra-time.

Kingson made his first save of any note after 42 minutes when he clung onto a shot low to his right.

It needed a double save from Kingson to prevent Hereford from reducing the arrears early in the second period.

Robinson wriggled his way into the box and had his low drive blocked by Kingson and the Ghana international reacted quickly to push away the follow-up effort from Lionel Ainsworth.

With 18 minutes remaining Hereford were given a lifeline when a fierce drive flew past Kingson.

The visitors were now in the ascendancy and Kingson made another double save to keep out two Robinson attempts before Taylor clipped the rebound across the face of goal.

Bruce said: 'We are pleased to get through. In the first half I was delighted with how we played. After the break we didn't do things properly and got sloppy.

'In football, if you think it is going to be easy you can get your backside kicked - and we nearly did. We owe a lot to our keeper.

'He made three or four really good saves and he is the big plus point of the night for me.

'We saw him last season in Sweden playing for FC Hammarby and we watched him play for Ghana last week. He is a very good keeper.

'He can be proud of his debut and he has given me a selection problem which is a nice situation for a manager to have.'