Blackpool - 1 Birmingham City - 0:SOCCER/English League/Second Round: Blackpool were dreaming of famous cup glories again last night as the second division club jolted Premiership Birmingham into a rude awakening.Scott Taylor's sixth-minute goal sent Steve Bruce's side tumbling out of the English League Cup.
The Blues' nightmare was compounded further when Stephen Clemence blasted a second-half penalty high over the bar.
Bruce had made three changes to the side that beat Leeds at the weekend. Aliou Cisse stood in for Robbie Savage and Christophe Dugarry and Mikael Forssell also missed out as Clinton Morrison and Stern John were paired in attack.
Steve McMahon made one change to the team which recorded an impressive away win at Stockport.
The visitors were first to make an impression when Damien Johnson drilled a low cross into the Blackpool box.
McMahon's side were undeterred, though, and had twice looked to set Scott Taylor free before Mike Sheron succeeded after six minutes. Clean through, Taylor steadied himself and sent a low shot under Maik Taylor into the corner of the net.
Birmingham responded positively to the early set-back as Cisse's angled cross flicked wide off Morrison's heel, then Chris Clarke got his head in the way of a Jamie Clapham cross which looked to be dropping nicely for John.
Morrison, again a menace, came close to levelling the score when his turn and shot rasped off the underside of the crossbar.
The home side countered by trying to capitalise on Taylor's pace and Matthew Upson was at full speed to turn a Richie Wellens pass back to his goalkeeper as the Blackpool striker hurtled forward.
Lee Jones denied Morrison with a feet-first save after Dunn had threaded a pass through the defence. John ballooned a couple of decent efforts over before Jones came to Blackpool's rescue again, saving a close-range effort from Stan Lazaridis.
Even though they trailed at the interval, Birmingham's dominance was such that an equaliser seemed certain, but, after giving his team 10 more minutes to change their fortunes before replacing John with Forssell, Clemence blew his penalty and must have left Bruce wondering if it was to be his night after all.
The Blues boss responded by giving £2.5 million Argentinian Luciano Figueroa his debut but did little to change the course of the tie.
Blackpool were far from overawed, with Mike Sheron and Neil Danns both failing to convert half-chances, but it was apparent that if an unlikely victory were to be achieved, it would require a sturdy rearguard action.
Birmingham's profligacy would play its part, too. Lazaridis looked unlikely to reach Johnson's far post cross but he was given no chance to by Jon Douglas' shove and the referee, Graham Laws, awarded a penalty.
Having missed the first of Birmingham's twice-taken effort at Elland Road, Dunn did not retain the job. With his stand-in Savage missing, Clemence took the responsibility and blazed over.
Birmingham piled forward at the end as Bruce pushed three up front but Chris Clarke kept them at bay with a succession of clearing headers, and when Jones plucked Morrison's close-range header out of the air three minutes from time, the home supporters were finally able to celebrate a famous victory.
Guardian Service
BLACKPOOL: Jones, Grayson, Clarke, Davis, Evans, Danns, Wellens, Southern, Douglas, Sheron, Taylor. Subs: Barnes, Coid, Murphy, Bullock, Hilton.
BIRMINGHAM CITY: Taylor, Johnson, Cunningham, Upson, Clapham, Dunn, Cisse, Clemence, Lazaridis, John, Morrison. Subs: Bennett, Tebily, Kirovski, Figueroa, Forssell.
Referee: G Laws
