Team News

For the first game of pre-season, Andy Whing started three of our new summer signings with goalkeeper Laurie Walker beginning in goal with Sam Bowen and Bradley Stevenson both starting from the off.

In the second half, the entire XI is changed with Olly Tipton and James Gale amongst those taking the field in the second 45.

Match Report

The match begun with the visitors with the ball and looking dangerous with Koji Myoshi shooting towards the far corner, forcing Laurie Walker to push the ball away from danger.

In the ninth minute, a long ball over the Moors defence was collected by Emil Hansson who cut the ball back for a blue shirt, but Trialist B was there to intercept the pass.

A minute later, Jon Benton sent a free-kick towards the far-post and was met by Alex Whitmore who headed towards the centre of the goal but was saved by Bailey Peacock-Farrell.

Birmingham took the lead after 12 minutes through Alfie May. A threaded pass in behind the Moors defence was controlled by May, who sent the ball low into the far corner to make it 0-1.

The League One side nearly doubled their advantage shortly after, with May again the danger-man. The striker had time to dribble with the ball inside the area, and aimed his shot for the near corner but Walker made a terrific save to tip the effort behind the post.

In the 21st minute, Birmingham continued to make chances with debutant Emil Hansson looking for a goal after a slight pass was sent into him. Whitmore was in the way to block the shot, before May volleyed the rebound wide.

Six minutes later, Walker made two brilliant saves in quick succession to deny Birmingham a second goal. The first was to deny a powerful strike from Paik Seung-Ho on the edge of the box, before Walker stopped Hansson’s curling effort from reaching the corner.

On the half-hour mark, Seung-Ho had his free-kick cleared off the line by Whitmore after the shot looked to be creeping into the far corner.

The second half began with a host of changes with the entire team being replaced by manager Andy Whing.

However, the visitors continued to dominate the ball and scored a second goal in the first six minutes of the restart. A loose pass from the Moors defenced was intercepted by Hansson, who sent a cross for Myoshi in the middle of the penalty area. Myoshi curled the ball first-time past Aaron Flahavan to make it 0-2.

In the 63rd minute, Birmingham scored their third with substitute Lukas Jutkiewicz adding his name on the scoresheet. Sirki Dembele picked up the ball on the left-hand side before running down the wing and beating his defender for pace, before crossing the ball into Jutkiewicz who calmly tucked the ball away.

Three minutes later, Jutkiewicz had a chance to grab his second after having the ball 15 yards away from goal. His left-footed shot was pushed away from Flahavan, before the resulting corner was cleared.

On 74 minutes, a long ball over the top of the Birmingham defence was chased by James Gale who won the race, before sending a low cross towards a teammate in the middle. However, the ball was cleared for a corner. From the corner, James Clarke flicked the ball at the near-post but the Birmingham defence sent the ball out of play.

Five minutes later, Jutkiewicz had a chance to score a second as he held the ball inside the box before turning and hitting the ball towards the far corner. His effort though went just wide of Flahavan’s goal.

With four minutes to go, the Moors cleared a shot of the line after Tyler Roberts struck the ball on the edge of the box and his effort looking to go in.

However, the match would end 0-3 and see Birmingham City retain The Arthur Cup.

Another game at Damson Park next for the Moors, as we host Oxford United in our second game of our 2024/25 pre-season campaign.

Moors starting XI (first-half): Walker, Trialist A, Whitmore, Martin, Newton, Mafuta, Bowen, Benton, Stevenson, Trialist B, Bruck

Second-half XI: Flahavan, Shambrook, Clarke, Craig, Howell, Tipton, Owen, Holmes, Stevens, Gale, Ryley (Corns 88)

Subs: Corns, McGuigan

Birmingham starting XI: Peacock-Farrell, Laird, Sanderson, Bielek © (Cochrane 46), Buchanan, Myoshi, Sueng-Ho, James, Hansson, Donovan, May

Subs: Allsop, Pendleton, Khela, Fogarty, Cochrane, Roberts, Home, Anderson, Jutkiewicz, Hall, Dembele, Bateman, Camara

Attendance: 2,692