Holland double sinks Birmingham

Birmingham 1 Charlton 2

The Republic of Ireland midfielder, who moved to The Valley from Ipswich in the summer, brought Steve Bruce’s side down to earth with a bump after their flying start to the campaign.

Christophe Dugarry was yellow carded after two minutes for an ugly challenge on Kishishev.

Steve Bruce’s side were the first to settle but they were stunned when Charlton went ahead through Holland’s after 11 minutes.

Claus Jensen’s in-swinging corner picked out Holland who gave Maik Taylor no chance with a powerful header from six yards out.

It needed a superb close range save from Maik Taylor to prevent Jonatan Johansson doubling Charlton’s lead after 32 minutes.

Taylor did well to beat out a rising powerful drive from Parker but from the resulting corner the visitors went further ahead. Jensen’s corner picked out Graham Stuart on the far side of the area and his powerful shot was deflected home by Holland.

Birmingham appeared down and out but after 64 minutes Dugarry gave them a lifeline with his first goal of the season. He had a header deflected over the bar but made no mistake with a similar effort when he connected with a Lazaridis corner.

The Blues fans finally came to life as they sensed their below-par side could earn something from the game.

It needed a brilliant save by Kiely to keep out a Dugarry header after he timed his run perfectly to meet a Hughes cross.

Ten Taylor tipped over a powerful drive from substitute Kevin Lisbie and then denied the impressive Parker with another excellent stop. Blues made a late bid to salvage a point and Kiely made a great save to deny Forssell.

BIRMINGHAM: Taylor, Clapham, Cunningham, Upson, Tebily, Lazaridis, Clemence, Cisse, Dunn, Dugarry, Forssell.

CHARLTON: Kiely, Hreidarsson, Fish, Perry, Kishishev, Stuart, Parker, Jensen, Holland, Euell, Johansson.

LDV Vans Trophy Northern Section, second round: Bury 2 Oldham 1