The Sky Blues were the away side today in the big landlord versus tenant Midlands derby at St Andrew'sCoventry City came from behind to earn a hard-fought point against Midland rivals Birmingham City in the landlord versus tenant clash at St Andrew’s.
The Sky Blues handed Blues the early first half lead from the penalty spot but Gus Hamer got Mark Robins’s men back on level terms with a well struck shot just inside the box ahead of the half hour mark.
Although Coventry looked the stronger of the two sides going into the break, Birmingham had the better of the first 20 minutes of the second half before a frantic end to the game which resulted in the fourth stalemate between the two sides in their last four meetings in all competitions.
The game started at a fairly pedestrian pace with a distinct training game feel to it and with neither side able to keep possession for more than a few passes on a sticky looking pitch.
And chances were restricted in the opening 15 minutes, largely due to the linesman’s flag as both sides were guilty of failing to time their runs in a frustrating opening to the fiercely contested local derby.
But Blues were gifted the lead in the 18th minute when Sam McCallum fouled Ivan Sanchez as he cut into the box from the right, leaving Jeremie Bela to score with a precise finish from the penalty spot.
That appeared to spark City into life and they wasted no time in getting themselves back on level terms after some excellent play from Callum O’Hare.
Max Biamou played a ball in behind the defence but none of his team-mates read the pass but O’Hare raced in to keep it in play as Adam Clayton dithered for Birmingham, the ball falling to Ben Sheaf who slipped it to his left for Gus Hamer to slam home from 16 yards out.
Both sides went close to taking the lead shortly after, first when Scott Hogen got on the end of a Sanchez cross but headed straight at Ben Wilson with all the goal to aim at. Then Viktor Gyokeres was unlucky when he got his head on the end of a Biamou cross, only to be denied by a Mikel San Jose block.
Hamer tested Neil Etheridge just before the break as Coventry looked the stronger of the two going into half-time, sending a low and powerful free-kick fizzing to the near post when the keeper dropped to make the save.
Aitor Karanka made two changes at the interval, adding Gary Gardner and Marc Roberts to add a bit more mobility and steel to his midfield, while the home side tested City with three corners and a free-kick in quick succession as they dominated the first ten minutes of the second half.
Hamer sent a thundering volley over the bar on the hour as the Sky Blues attempted to take the sting out of Birmingham’s spell of pressure, while Biamou put a shot wide from a decent position on the edge of the box.
Harlee Dean volleyed wide at the other end as the game looked like it could go either way in a frantic end to end last 15 minutes.
Former Sky Blues striker Lukas Jutkiewicz went on and almost snatched the win at the death, only to be denied by a decent block by the outstanding Leo Ostigard.