Craig Gardner celebrates after earning the points for Birmingham

By Les Roopanarine

Craig Gardner and Ben Foster combined to thwart Blackburn as Birmingham came from behind to claim the points.

A slow burner came to life when Foster saved a Morten Gamst Pedersen penalty, awarded by Michael Oliver, the Premier League's youngest ever referee.

Pedersen soon made amends by setting up Steven N'Zonzi's headed opener, but Rovers' lead lasted just three minutes.

Pouncing on James McFadden's cushioned volley, Gardner levelled before sealing victory with a low 25-yard effort.

Gardner's decisive contribution, combined with Foster's crucial save, preserved an unbeaten home record stretching back to last October.

The same two factors also maintained Birmingham's interest in a contest which, briefly, threatened to run away from them, and which ended in a flurry of drama all the more remarkable for the tedium which preceded it.

The kindest thing you could say about the first half is that it suggested little change from last season, when you would have struggled to put a Panini sticker between Birmingham and Rovers.

Both earned 11 league wins and 13 draws, both finished level in mid-table on 50 points and, for 45 soporific minutes, the sense of their inseparability was maintained in laboured fashion.

Though Birmingham were quickly into their stride, their early tempo tailed off alarmingly; Rovers, initially promising on the counter, were little better.

606: DEBATE Great performance today from Craig Gardner. With our front players not looking like the most prolific, this guy could be the difference this season ChuchoTheBlueNose

Not until Paul Robinson was obliged to turn over a meaty, close-range header from Birmingham defender Scott Dann was either goalkeeper obliged to make a save of note. By then, the clock was nudging the half-hour mark.

The obvious contender for man of the match at that stage was Oliver, who at 25 years and 182 days old was making an assured Premier League debut.

But the narrative of the game was to alter with jolting suddenness after the break.

A wonderful flying clearance from the veteran Blackburn defender Michel Salgado, who headed away a Gardner cross with the athleticism of a man half his age, was the cue for a catalogue of second-half incident, starting with the visitors' penalty.

Nikola Zigic, the giant Serbia forward whose ongoing tussle with Christopher Samba was among the afternoon's more diverting subplots, was rightly penalised for tugging his opponent's shirt.

Pedersen's subsequent spot kick was struck sweetly to Foster's left, but the former Manchester United man reacted brilliantly to turn the ball on to the bar and away to safety.

It was to prove a temporary reprieve for Birmingham, however.

Five minutes later, Foster did well to turn over an N'Zonzi header from Pedersen's long throw. But when N'Zonzi nodded across goal from the resulting corner, the England keeper was finally beaten.

Blackburn's lead was to last just three minutes. McFadden cushioned a volley across goal from a long ball into the box, and Gardner nipped in at the far post for a close-range equaliser.

Suddenly, a previously blunt contest was on a knife edge, with chances at either end.

Kalinic hit the post for Blackburn from Pedersen's floated free-kick, although he was perhaps not helped by the efforts of his team-mate, Samba, to reach the same ball.

But with Birmingham's impressive home record in the balance - they lost just twice at St Andrew's last season, form which provided the platform for their highest league finish since 1959 - Gardner struck again.

Finding space in midfield, the midfielder, who joined from city rivals Aston Villa in January, rifled a low effort past Robinson from well outside the area, rendering the game's early lethargy a distant memory.

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish:

"It was a tough game, nobody could get going today.

"Ben Foster made a fantastic save from the penalty, but then we fell behind two minutes later, which was galling.

"But Ben saved us two points here today, there's no doubt about that.

"Up front, we don't really have the balance right yet, but we'll keep working to rectify that."

Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce:

"One man's name will be on everybody's lips, and that's Ben Foster - he's the main reason Birmingham won today.

"We're very disappointed, having created so many chances, that Foster was in such great form.

"The penalty was hit brilliantly, but it was one hell of a save and unfortunately he made three or four of those.

"In terms of the chances they created, they didn't cause us too many problems, but we didn't take our chances."

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