Bolton fall short as Bruce discovers a gem in Purse

Birmingham City 3 Bolton Wanderers 1

Birmingham kept clear blue water between themselves and the rapids at the foot of the Premiership, enjoying the better of a game that boiled up vigorously in its last half-hour.

Both sides had striven to play decent football in dreadful conditions at St Andrew's, but four goals and a sending off in little more than 20 minutes saw all the action that mattered compressed into one frantic interlude.

It started with a corner needlessly conceded by Bolton's refugee from Real Madrid, Ivan Campo, whose sliced clearance turned into a wild up-and-under. Robbie Savage and Paul Devlin worked the ball across and Darren Purse got hold of a perfect right-footed volley from the edge of the area.

Purse had shone at the other end of the field in keeping out Youri Djorkaeff and Michael Ricketts with expertly-timed tackles in the first half, but this was the sort of goal defenders dream about.

"The thing I'm paid to do is to defend, you've got to get yourself in the way of the ball," said Purse, who revealed that his rather more spectacular contribution had provided a nice little pay-day for his father, who invariably backs him to score the first goal.

Five minutes later, Bolton were reduced to 10 men, Ricardo Gardner seeing his second yellow card for an innocuous challenge on Geoff Horsfield. The referee, Chris Foy, also booked five others as he made no allowance for the conditions in a match that barely featured a malicious tackle.

"I've been trying my best to keep my mouth shut, but I can't do it any more," said the Bolton manager, Sam Allardyce. "He was poor and the sending off was diabolical. He's taken the opportunity away from us to get a point."

Against the odds, Bolton equalised through Jay Jay Okocha, the Nigerian World Cup captain on for a rare start and making his mark despite looking short of condition. He had already hit the bar with one effort and not been far away with another during a thoroughly lively contribution and his volley from Mike Whitlow's cross brought Bolton back into it.

That parity only lasted for a matter of seconds. Straight from the kick-off, Devlin played the ball through the middle, the Bolton defence hesitated and Savage was allowed to round the goalkeeper and claim his first goal since his summer arrival from Leicester City.

There was little wrong with Bolton's spirit in this game, even though their defeat leaves them adrift at the foot of the table and facing a long, hard winter. They even hinted at a second equaliser when Per Frandsen had a shot pushed away and when their substitute, Dean Holdsworth, found himself with the ball at his feet near goal.

Those chances were their last. With seven minutes to play, Clinton Morrison broke down the right and, although Jussi Jaaskelainen palmed his chip on to the post, that only succeeded in leaving Horsfield an open goal.

Coming after successive 2-0 home defeats by Newcastle and Manchester City, the Birmingham manager Steve Bruce had described this in advance as their biggest game of the season.

"It was a massive one for us," said Purse. "The gaffer said before that it would put them seven points behind us and they would need to win three more games than us." That gap between them and the side assumed to be among their fellow strugglers sums up the task ahead for Bolton now and Allardyce admitted that converting some of the chances they make into goals is a priority that must be addressed quickly.

Ricketts, back at the club he supported as a youngster, had two excellent opportunities in the first half, but his lack of confidence has turned him into a liability, whereas at this stage last season his goals were keeping Bolton afloat.

Birmingham City 3
Purse 61, Savage 72, Horsfield 83

Bolton Wanderers 1
Okocha 72

Half-time: 0-0 Attendance: 27,224