Tottenham Hotspur 1 Birmingham City 3

Trevor Francis was full of pride in Birmingham City's "exceptional" performance which swept Tottenham Hotspur out of the Worthington Cup last night.

Blues booked a fourth-round tussle with Newcastle United or Bradford City by completely outplaying the Premiership club.

"Embarrassing" was how Spurs manager George Graham described Blues' demolition of his fragile team. A delighted Francis simply told his players to enjoy the moment.

Terminal damage was inflicted by a magnificent first-half display which brought Blues three goals - two from Dele Adebola and one from Mark Burchill.

The travelling supporters could hardly believe it and neither could the home fans, whose angst was colossal.

They sought refuge in vitriolic calls for the departures of both Graham and chairman Alan Sugar although they also showed the generosity to applaud Birmingham's players back on to the pitch for the second half.

This was no below-strength Spurs team. There was no question of Tottenham fielding anything but their strongest available side with the Worthington Cup offering their only realistic path to Europe.

Yes, they wanted it - at least to start with, but Blues wanted it more and were superior in all departments. "It was a very satisfying performance and a result I did not expect," said Francis.

"I was confident that my players would play well, but the result exceeded expectations. I thought in the first half we were quite exceptional on the counter-attack. We adopted a very positive gameplan and that seemed to take Tottenham by surprise.

"Our front players took the honours in the first half, then we defended very resolutely. I have told the players to enjoy the moment and then keep their feet right on the ground, because we have got a vital match coming up against Bolton on Saturday."

There should be plenty in attendance in reaction to this display - for the first 45 minutes, especially, Blues were superb.

After 90 seconds, the tone was set when Burchill was denied by Neil Sullivan. The goalkeeper was soon left helpless, though, when Stan Lazaridis curled in a perfect cross and there was Adebola at the far post with space to control the ball, then stroke it into the far corner.

After 27 minutes, things went from good to better as Adebola produced a magnificent second goal. Slickly found by Burchill, the big striker sidestepped two challenges before curling a shot beyond Sullivan.

It was a strike of the highest quality which triggered wild celebrations from the Blues fans and chants of "We want Graham out" from the home end.

A reminder that Blues still had plenty of work to do arrived when Darren Anderton delivered a free-kick from the left and Chris Perry's looping header hit the bar.

The arrival of a third goal, though, on the stroke of half-time was a mortal blow to Graham's bickering troops.

Stephen Carr gave the ball away to Martin Grainger, who galloped 70 yards before delivering a perfect low centre which Burchill tucked in at the far post.

Spurs gave themselves some hope just before the hour when Stephen Clemence was tripped by Lazaridis and Anderton converted the penalty.

Briefly, Tottenham rallied but when Les Ferdinand spurned an excellent chance from six yards, heading straight at Bennett in the 73rd minute, what little stuffing remained in the home side was plucked out.

"It was embarrassing," said Graham. "Birmingham played it just right. They kept it tight, hit us on the break and could have won by more." Yes, humiliation for Spurs, but truly a night for Blue Noses to treasure.

MATCH FACTS

Scorers: Adebola (14) 0-1, Adebola (27) 0-2, Burchill (44) 0-3, Anderton (pen, 59) 1-3.

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (4-4-2): Sullivan; Carr, Perry, Vega, Thatcher; Anderton, Sherwood, Freund (Davies, 10, Young, 46), Clemence; Ferdinand, Korsten (Dominguez, 68). Subs: Walker, Doherty.

BIRMINGHAM CITY (4-4-2): Bennett; Gill, Purse, M Johnson, Grainger; Eaden, Hughes, OÕConnor, Lazaridis (Robinson, 79); Adebola, Burchill (Ndlovu, 73). Subs: Poole, Bass, A Johnson.

Referee: D Pugh (Wirral).
Booking: Spurs - Perry (foul).
Attendance: 27,096.

Blues man of the match: Dele Adebola - gave Ramon Vega a night to forget.

Tuesday, 30 November, 1999

Birmingham 2-3 West Ham

Teenage sensation Joe Cole scored his first ever goal for West Ham as Birmingham's Worthington Cup dreams were ended in remarkable fashion at St Andrews.

With just three minutes left the First Division side were winning 2-1 and heading into the quarter-finals.

Match facts

8: Hyde gives Birmingham the lead
23: Lomas levels with a long-range strike
44: Grainger's brilliant free-kick makes it 2-1 to City
87: Kitson sets up a fantastic climax
89: Cole sends West Ham into the quarter-finals

But first Paul Kitson levelled the scores and then, before the Blues could regroup, fellow substitute Cole, the 18-year-old who had inspired the visitors' comeback, completed the smash-and-grab act.

It was an astounding finale to a fourth round tie, in which injury-hit Birmingham had matched their more illustrious opponents with a doughy defensive display in the second half.

But just when it looked like Martin Grainger's magnificent free-kick would set up a possible last-eight clash with arch rivals Aston Villa, their tired defence suddenly capitulated.

Redknapp's real deal

Unlike some Premiership clubs, who have virtually selected reserve sides in the Worthington Cup, West Ham manager Harry Redknapp sees it as an important route into Europe and he sent out a full-strength outfit at St Andrews.


But it was Trevor Francis' makeshift Birmingham side - conquerors of Newcastle in the previous round - who looked the more determined team at the start.

And they went ahead after eight minutes, thanks to the persistence of Graham Hyde.

On-loan Sunderland midfielder Allan Johnston decided to take the game to West Ham, beating one defender and racing into the area before shooting straight at Neil Ruddock.

But before the Hammers rearguard could hack the ball clear, Hyde scored at the second attempt, his snapshot giving Shaka Hislop in the West Ham goal no chance.

Shocked at falling behind, West Ham at last began to pose an attacking threat.


And after Paolo Di Canio shot over, the visitors forced their way back into the tie with a piece of opportunism from their captain.

With the conditions in West Ham's favour in the first half, Lomas launched a speculative effort from 35 yards out. The strong wind gave his fierce shot extra pace and a deflection sent it rifling past helpless keeper Kevin Poole.

West Ham should have taken the lead three minutes later, but Paulo Wanchope - who has become a target of abuse from fans after scoring just once in 10 games - somehow poked the ball wide from a glorious position.

It proved a costly miss as Birmingham went ahead two minutes before the break.

When City were awarded a free-kick 10 yards outside the area it spelled immediate danger for West Ham, as dead-ball expert Grainger took responsibility. The full-back curled a stunning left-footed effort around the wall and into the top corner of Hislop's goal.

Hammers hit back

West Ham dominated the opening stages of the second half, despite losing Gary Charles with a gashed leg following an ugly challenge from Grainger.

With 52 minutes on the clock Charles made way for Cole, who only turned 18 three weeks ago, and with Kitson also replacing Wanchope, Hammers suddenly began to offer much more in the way of an attacking edge.


But City, desperately defending in numbers, were largely able to nullify the opposition threat.

Substitute Cole had a rasping drive saved by Poole and Frank Lampard was denied in the area by a superb diving block from Gary Rowett.

Birmingham still created the occasional chance on the break and Darren Purse volleyed wide after linking well with Johnston and Grainger.

Then, with five minutes on the clock, Poole produced a world class save to keep Birmingham in front.

Lampard smacked a first-time shot towards the bottom corner but the keeper dived low to his right to remarkably turn the point-blank effort around the post.

That looked to be the turning point for Birmingham - but just when it seemed as though the save had won the game, West Ham levelled the scores, Kitson turning in the ball after Poole parried Di Canio's goalbound shot.

Suddenly West Ham had a new lease of life and Di Canio broke down the right flank before crossing for Cole, who stabbed the ball home to complete a stunning comeback.

Teams:

Birmingham: Poole, Rowett, Hyde, Holdsworth, Grainger, Bass, Johnson, O'Connor, Holland, Purse, Johnston.
Subs: Hughes, Charlton, Newton, Gill, Bennett.

West Ham: Hislop, Ferdinand, Ruddock, Margas, Charles, Lomas, Lampard, Foe, Keller, Wanchope, Di Canio.
Subs: Minto, Kitson, Sinclair, Cole, Forrest.

Referee: G Poll (Tring