Phillips grabs last gasp win

Kevin Phillip struck in the 92nd minute to give Birmingham the perfect start to the new season by beating another of the favourites for promotion, Sheffield United.

Phillips scored on his debut once again when he fired home a volley deep into injury time to garb all three points for the Blues.

The game started with some meaty challenges going in but the first save either keeper was forced into came after 12 minutes when Gary Speed smashed in a shot from 20 yards that Maik Taylor saw late, but managed to tip over the bar.

Gary McSheffrey almost caught keeper Paddy Kenny napping when he put in a cross, while at the other end Taylor was called into action again to stop an effort from Billy Sharp.

Marcus Bent came close to opening the scoring on his debut when James McFadden put in a ball to the far post but the ball was millimetres too high, but as half time drew in, the striker had an effort on target but the shot was blocked by a desperate dive.

If Seb Larsson had been just a whisker quicker off the mark at the start of the second half he could have just beat Kenny to the ball as he came in on goal.

Soon after McSheffrey put in a dangerous cross from the left, but the ball was cleared for a corner.

Phillips came on in the 65th minute and it turned out to be a good substitution in the end although Jon Stead had a chance to give the visitors the lead.

McFadden missed a great chance to put the home side ahead in the 72nd minute, firing over from 12 yards when he really should have at least hit the target.

And just as it looked as though the game was heading towards a 0-0 stalemate, up popped Phillips late on and he made no mistake in making himself an instant hero with Blues fans

Great start for Blues and good to see a clean sheet for the first time in God knows how long.

Blues: Taylor, Murphy, Taylor, Ridgewell, Larsson (Jerome 82), McSheffrey (Phillips 65), Nafti, McFadden, Parnaby, Bent (O'Connor 73), Carsley. Subs: Doyle, Queudrue.

Blades: Kenny, Halford, Naysmith, Morgan, Kilgallon, Henderson (Stead 82), Sun, Speed, Tonge, Sharp (Webber 61), Quinn. Subs: Cotterill, Spring, Ehiogu.

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