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As usual, a Birmingham-Preston clash was not without controversy and once again it was the North-West club who emerged triumphant.
There is little doubt that the game took a major turn in the 28th minute when Horsfield received a red card for elbowing Graham Alexander while waiting for a throw-in near the halfway line.
Referee Graham Poll, who sent of Birmingham's Olivier Tebily at West Bromwich a few weeks ago, was within ten yards of the incident and had no hesitation in sending off the Birmingham striker, who had been recalled to the first team in place of Stern John.
Preston exploited the extra man as Birmingham's make-shift side dropped back on the defensive for a long spell as they reorganised their team.
But the Lancashire club were unable to break through in this spell and failed miserably to test goalkeeper, Ian Bennett.
Clinton Morrison, operating as a loan striker, had to work hard and he displayed some individual skills when he turned and shot to test goalkeeper David Lucas.
Morrison later set up a fine opportunity for Darryl Powell but the former Derby skipper blasted his shot high over the bar, which was sadly in keeping with the general indifferent play in the game.
Tyrone Mears produced an equally bad miss when he shot hopelessly well wide with only Bennett to beat.
But Fuller, booked four minutes previously, was more successful in the 59th minute when Birmingham's defence was caught wrong footed by a right wing cross from Lewis.
Fuller moved quickly onto the ball and guided it low to the right of Bennett, making his first appearance of the season.
The game was effectively put out of Birmingham's reach in the 80th minute when Lewis collected a cross from Paul McKenna to score with a powerful left footed drive.
| Kickoff 5 November 2002 19:45 at St Andrews | |
| Referee: Poll, G. | Attendance: 12,241 |
Final Result | |
Birmingham 0 | Preston 2 |
R.Fuller (59) E.Lewis (80) | |
Yellow Cards | |
D.Powell, 82, unsporting behaviour | R.Fuller, 55, unsporting behaviour |
Red Cards | |
G.Horsfield, 28, violent conduct | |
Match Squads | |
Birmingham 0 | Preston 2 |
1. I.Bennett 2. D.Powell 3. K.Cunningham 4. O.Tebily 5. M.Sadler (46) 6. B.Hughes 7. J.Hutchinson 8. D.Carter (64) 9. S.Lazaridis 10. G.Horsfield 11. C.Morrison | 1. D.Lucas 2. G.Alexander 3. C.Lucketti (73) 4. M.Broomes 5. R.Edwards 6. T.Mears (61) 7. D.Etuhu 8. P.McKenna 9. E.Lewis 10. R.Fuller (83) 11. D.Healy |
Substitutes | |
12. N.Vaesen 13. P.Devlin 14. S.John 15. J.Kirovski(64) 16. C.Fagan(46) | 12. T.Moilanen 13. R.Cresswell(61) 14. C.Murdock(73) 15. M.Rankine(83) 16. M.Jackson |