A shocking equaliser from midfielder Tomoki Iwata dented Hull’s Championship play-off hopes as Birmingham fought again to earn a 1-1 draw on the MKM Stadium.
The Tigers seemed to be heading for a helpful three factors to cement their grip on sixth place due to Joe Gelhardt’s 14th objective of the season halfway by the primary half, till the Japan worldwide’s sweetly-struck long-range effort flew into the highest nook 13 minutes from time.
Defender Semi Ajayi blazed a close-range shot large to spurn an opportunity to win it for Hull as stoppage-time approached.
A fourth league sport with no victory represents their worst run of the season and leaves Sergej Jakirovic’s facet two factors forward of Wrexham in seventh, with each golf equipment having three video games left to play.
Hull ended the Blues’ lengthy unbeaten dwelling run once they got here out on prime 3-2 in a stormy encounter at St Andrew’s in October and Gelhardt’s Twenty fourth-minute strike gave them hope of sealing a league double over Chris Davies’ mid-table facet.
Liam Millar launched the deadlock-breaking transfer down the Tigers’ left. When the Canadian winger was dispossessed by Carlos Vicente as he surged into the Birmingham penalty space, the ball fell kindly for Gelhardt to show and hearth into the underside nook left-footed with a crisp angled drive from 15 yards, which discovered the online with the assistance of a major deflection off defender Phil Neumann.
After taking the lead by the on-loan Leeds ahead’s first objective because the 2-1 victory at Wrexham final month, the hosts nearly doubled their benefit shortly after the half-hour mark.
England Below-21 worldwide James Beadle got here for however bought nowhere close to Mohamed Belloumi’s lengthy throw into the six-yard field from Hull’s proper. The on-loan Brighton keeper shortly atoned for his misjudgement within the ensuing scramble by clawing a close-range effort from Oli McBurnie to security.
The Blues have been largely nameless as an attacking pressure earlier than the break. It was not till half-time approached that they mustered their first actual menace on objective, however Ibrahim Osman was unable to maintain his header on course after assembly Jay Stansfield’s cross from the fitting a dozen yards from objective.
The second-half adopted an analogous sample, with Hull having fun with the vast majority of the ball and their opponents seeking to break on the counter-attack. Birmingham substitute Demarai Grey pressured a sensible low save from Ivor Pandur with a fierce low shot from distance inside the ultimate 20 minutes.
Hull did not heed the warning and once they did not clear one other ball into the hazard space, Iwata was given time to fireplace dwelling a memorable third objective of the season from 25 yards.
Ajayi’s pricey miss quickly adopted and Beadle’s effective save from a stoppage-time McBurnie free-kick snapped Birmingham’s four-game shedding run on the street.
The managers
Hull’s Sergej Jakirovic:
“We’re aware of dropping those 21 points [from winning positions]. We didn’t play our best game today which makes everything very tight. We have to be brave.
“There are three video games to go and we’ll attempt to win the factors. All three of us (Wrexham and Derby) have two away video games so we’ll see who would be the most profitable.
“We have a lot of problems with team selection in terms of injuries but we have to try everything to take three points in each of those games.”
Birmingham’s Chris Davies:
“We deserved a point and if anyone could have won it then it was us. I was encouraged by our performance.
“The dedication from the staff was there and we confirmed resilience and character to remain within the sport after going behind. We bought in some good positions early on with out capitalising on these. From our perspective there was much more good than unhealthy from the efficiency.
“To concede their goal was disappointing because there was nothing in it. Our pressing game was good to limit their possession and we deserved our goal when it came. It was a game of few chances for strikers on both sides.
“The pitch was dry and wasn’t conducive to slick passing soccer. Tomoki did ever so effectively for the objective, he sprinted into place and earned his luck when it dropped for him. He pale it into the highest nook with tempo and that shot will need to have been travelling at about 100 miles an hour!”
