Kenna ensures Bruce's Christmas comes early

Birmingham City 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1

Having set a target of 20 points by Christmas for a first season among the big boys, Birmingham City's manager, Steve Bruce, can be well satisfied with achieving it before the end of November. The total should have been 22, but his hard-working charges were unable to make the most of their unexpected superiority over a Tottenham team who did not look worthy of their elevated place in the table.

Spurs were flattered to be ahead with a goal by Teddy Sheringham early in the second half as the game slowly improved from dreadful beginnings, and if Stern John, the home side's leading goalscorer, had been more careful with his finishing, the journey back to London would have been even more salutary. Glenn Hoddle, desperate to ease the pressure building up in the later stages, hauled off Darren Anderton, Gus Poyet and Robbie Keane in quick succession, though the choice cannot have been easy – he had no shortage of candidates.

He blamed the lack of quality, unconvincingly, on the wet conditions – "the ball was like a bar of soap" – and was unkind to his hosts in suggesting: "I don't think either side deserved to win."

Bruce, who has seen his charges well beaten by teams like Arsenal and Chelsea, a level above Tottenham, seemed surprised that yesterday's opponents offered so little. "I can't remember our goalkeeper making a save," he said. "It would have been an injustice if we hadn't got anything out of it. We're a little bit ahead of schedule, but now we must get to 30 points as soon as possible and mustn't rest on our laurels." As long as they do not, there is every chance of three teams finishing below them, which was the aim at the start of the season.

Even in a desperately poor first half, the couple of chances created were both Birmingham's. The better one materialised in the seventh minute. Stan Lazaridis played the ball down the left for Clinton Morrison, whose deft touch set his partner John free, only to be betrayed by one of those embarrassing attempts at a delicate chip that ends up dropping limply into the arms of a grateful goalkeeper.

Footballers' memories tend be as long as those of the Spurs supporters booing every touch by Robbie Savage (who had finally admitted that he took a dive to get Tottenham's Justin Edinburgh sent off in the League Cup final at Wembley three years ago) and Morrison has not forgotten how the London club rejected him as a schoolboy. Given the opportunity to play against them at senior level for the first time yesterday, he was livelier than most, but wasted his team's only other opportunity of the half, shooting high into the crowd as John headed down a long ball hoofed into the penalty area by the right-back Olivier Tebily.

Spurs, even with the extra man in midfield provided by their unconvincing 3-5-1-1 formation, rarely had control of the game, or even the ball, for very long. At one stage, their free-kick on the halfway line somehow finished up going all the way back to Kasey Keller and then being hacked into touch and a worse position than they started from.

Mercifully, the level of entertainment improved considerably after the break, with Tottenham taking the lead, then surrendering it in a spirited Birmingham revival. Teddy Sheringham, who had earlier failed to find the space he likes in between the opposing midfield and back-line, did so at last in the 55th minute, dropping off to collect a pass from Stephen Carr and feeding Anderton for a diagonal pass to Christian Ziege. The wing-back, in full flight, drove a low shot that Nico Vaesen only parried into the path of Sheringham, who was left with a tap-in.

The lead was undeserved and did not last, though what was astonishing was the identity of the home side's saviour. Jeff Kenna had not troubled the scorers in the Premiership since April 1995; perhaps he should try more often to reprise his fine effort, cutting in from the left, eschewing a cross and instead sending a low drive skidding into the far corner of the net.

John would have been thankful for that, after missing with two headers, one high and one straight at the goalkeeper. Birmingham continued to make the running to the finish, but came no closer than Morrison's angled shot, held by Keller, after Brian Hughes set him up. In a year Birmingham have moved from 11th in the First Division to the same position in the Premiership. That's progress.

Birmingham City 1
Kenna 68

Tottenham Hotspur 1
Sheringham 55

Half-time: 0-0 Attendance: 29,505