Birmingham City Reserves 2 Middlesbrough Reserves 1

BORO Reserves failed in their attempt to make it three wins in a row last night but it wasn't for the want of trying.

A very young side, including some players still at college, turned in a creditable performance with coach Malcolm Crosby commenting: "The lads played some very good football, indeed it was a good game overall.

"We had a very young side out and were very pleased with them, it was a very encouraging performance."

It was the third game in eight days, all away, for the reserves and followed on from a 3-1 win against Bolton and a 4-0 victory over Nottingham Forest.

"It would have been nice to win three in a row," says Crosby. "But it's not just about results when you have a young side like that, it's about the development of players."

City took the lead just past the half-hour mark when a Brett Hinks effort took an unfortunate deflection off Craig Radcliffe leaving David Knight stranded. Tom Craddock, pictured, scored for the fourth time in three matches to equalise five minutes from time.

But Njazi Kuqi scored almost from the restart to take all three points for the home side.

The reserves' next game is on Wednesday (April 6), when they take on Wolves at the Riverside.

TEAMS

Birmingham City: Vaesen; Cottrill, Alsop, Oji, Painter, Hinks, Wright, Howland, Till, Kuqi, Birley. Unused subs: Dormand (gk); Parratt, Blake, Hamilton, Curtis.

Middlesbrough: Knight; J Johnson (Bainbridge 70), H Davies, Kennedy, Grounds, Radcliffe, Lemaire (Reveley 70), Peacock, Craddock, Robson (Fisher 70), A Johnson. Unused sub: Pennock (gk).

Click here to go to the Reserves section of the site for a full list of fixtures and reports.