Birmingham City 0-0 Crawley Town: FLW report as League One champions held to goalless draw by relegation-threatened Red Devils | OneFootball

FLW report from St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

In the first of their final six League One games of the season, champions Birmingham City were held to a goalless draw at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park by Crawley Town.

Chris Davies and Scott Lindsey were both observing the first of their respective two-game touchline bans, but it would be the latter who was left more satisfied with the result in the West Midlands, despite it not doing much to aid Town's relegation bid, as they sit six points from safety with three games remaining.

Blues went into the game with the third-tier points record and a league-high number of wins to play for, but they fell short in those particular quests on a day they were given a guard of honour ahead of kick-off for their title-winning exploits.

Birmingham City 0-0 Crawley Town

The first chance for Blues came inside two minutes as Player of the Season nominee, Tomoki Iwata, played a sublime over-the-top ball for Jay Stansfield to latch onto inside the box, but his effort was well saved by Crawley's emergency goalkeeper, Toby Steward.

The striker was in the thick of the early action, firing another effort which cannoned off the left-hand post, before whipping in a neat ball that proved a stretch too high for Willum Willumsson.

Davies' men looked to take advantage of successive corners on 14 minutes, with Ben Davies eventually heading over the bar under pressure from Paik Seung-Ho's delivery, before Iwata fashioned a shooting opportunity of his own from 18 yards out which was swiftly blocked.

With 26 minutes on the clock, Ethan Laird was able to burst forward in a central position and eventually slipped in Keshi Anderson, who saw a low effort parried away by Steward.

Four minutes later, strong pressure from Alfie May forced the Town keeper into an error which Paik looked to capitalise on, but his drive was blocked by Dion Conroy.

It took 35 minutes for Crawley to fashion their first half-chance of the encounter as Kamari Doyle's looping cross was headed across the face of goal by Rushian Hepburn-Murphy, although it would cause Ryan Allsop no harm.

The visitors would come forward again five minutes from half-time as a neat passing move ended with a wicked Jack Roles cross deflecting behind, although referee Ruebyn Ricardo would wave away claims for a corner.

Lindsey saw his side's confidence continue to grow in the latter stages of the half as Camara sent Hepburn-Murphy away, with the former Aston Villa man seeing his second attempt in quick succession beaten away by Allsop.

Birmingham looked to end a low-quality half in fine fashion with a neat move between Anderson, Stansfield and Willumsson, although the former couldn't pick out May inside the six-yard box, with the majority of the crowd left frustrated.

The first chance of the second period came two minutes into the half as a Paik cross was flicked back into the danger zone by Laird, before Willumsson could only return a clearance straight into the Tilton.

Minutes later, an Iwata free-kick saw the roles reversed as Klarer was able to glance it into Laird's path from five yards out, with the full-back sending his header wide of Steward's left-hand post under pressure from the Town rearguard.

Neat link-up play between Stansfield and Paik then allowed Alex Cochrane to burst into the box, although the left-back saw a penalty claim waved away as he fell to the ground under pressure from Charlie Barker.

13 minutes into the half, Hepburn-Murphy was presented with a golden opportunity to give the relegation-threatened side a surprise lead in B9 after a loose ball from Allsop. However, the striker would opt for power over placement and blaze it over the bar, in what was a lucky escape for Blues.

Laird would meet another Paik corner after 70 minutes but was unable to turn the ball home from close range in what was his last action of the game as he would be replaced by Taylor Gardner-Hickman, with Myung-Jae Lee also handed his first minutes in royal blue in place of Cochrane.

A melee would occur on 75 minutes as Stansfield was edged out of play by Barker before the centre-back saw himself tumble over the advertising boards, with the Blues record-signing and Bradley Ibrahim subsequently booked for their involvement.

Crawley substitute Gavan Holohan then saw an effort thwarted by the onrushing Allsop as the midfielder was played through by Hepburn-Murphy after drifting between Klarer and Davies.

Despite a below-par afternoon by Birmingham's high standards across the season, Davies' side continued to probe for the breakthrough, with Lee whipping in a cross intended for late substitute and cult hero, Lukas Jutkiewicz, before the ball ricocheted onto the boot of Luke Harris and straight into Steward's grasp.

The Portsmouth loanee would pull off a fine stop with four minutes to go as Harris found Paik drifting into the box, with Steward equal to the South Korean's attempt at a deft chip into the bottom corner.

As the game ticked into four minutes of added time at the end of the 90, Stansfield stood up a cross which Gardner-Hickman was unable to convert, before the forward couldn't latch onto Paik's deflected low ball from the edge of the box, with Ricardo eventually calling time on the affair, which proved to be just the second time when Birmingham have been shut out on home turf this campaign.

Player Ratings

Birmingham City

Ryan Allsop - 6.5

Ethan Laird - 7 (Gardner-Hickman 70" - 6.5)

Christoph Klarer - 7.5

Ben Davies - 7

Alex Cochrane - 6.5 (Lee 70" - 6.5)

Tomoki Iwata - 7 (Leonard 57" - 6.5)

Paik Seung-Ho - 7.5

Keshi Anderson - 7

Willum Willumsson - 6.5 (Harris 56" - 6)

Jay Stansfield - 7.5

Alfie May - 6 (Jutkiewicz 82" - 6)

Unused Subs: Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Grant Hanley

Crawley Town

Toby Steward - 7

Ben Radcliffe - 7

Dion Conroy - 6.5

Charlie Barker - 7.5

Jack Roles - 7 (Papadopoulos 90+1 - N/A)

Panutche Camara - 7 (Anderson 73" - 6)

Liam Fraser- 6.5

Bradley Ibrahim - 7

Jeremy Kelly - 6

Kamari Doyle - 6.5 (Holohan 62" - 6.5)

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy - 7

Unused Subs: Benjamin Tanimu, Tyreece John-Jules, Tola Showunmi

The attendance at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park for this Good Friday clash was 27,325.

Chris Davies reacts as Birmingham City held to goalless draw at St Andrew's

When asked for his take on an intriguing 90 minutes in B9, Davies said: "I thought it was a game we could have, and should have won.

"We had four big chances that we couldn't convert, and then you end up drawing the game and you think, well, we've had, definitely, the opportunities to win it.

"I'm reflecting on the chances we've missed, really. But, it's one of those games," he added.

The 40-year-old felt that his best chances came through Stansfield, who looked as dangerous as ever in the wide left position.

"We looked really sharp on that side, Jay had a couple of chances and an assist chance. I think our start surprised them a little bit," he explained.

"We tweaked a few things around, positionally, and that might have caught them off-guard a little bit in terms of where our full-backs were, which opened up a bit of space.

"From then on, without getting that goal, we couldn't find that same momentum on the left side. There were a few in the second half that flashed across the box late on - a couple of half-chances and moments - but nothing that we could get over the line, and in the end, we obviously draw the game," he concluded.