Birmingham City player ratings from Stockport County win with 'exceptional' 8s and several 7s

Birmingham City preserved their unbeaten run at home in League One as they beat Stockport County 2-0 at St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park.

Alfie May scored twice inside nine minutes to give Blues a commanding lead. He hadn't scored since October 1, more than two months ago until he breached a Stockport defence that had only conceded six goals on their travels before Wednesday.

Birmingham stays in third despite the win but moves to within three points of the summit and possesses games in hand over Wycombe Wanderers and Wrexham. Up next for Chris Davies’ side is a trip to Barnsley.

The hosts started brightly and forced the away team into some errors, but they went unpunished. Stockport had the first meaningful chance when Louie Barry expertly picked out Will Collar whose thunderous effort bounced off the crossbar.

Birmingham had a lot of the ball in the opening quarter but had struggled to get a clear-cut chance on goal. Eventually, Alex Cochrane put in a low cross, but Keshi Anderson couldn't direct his shot on target.

Cochrane went down from a challenging tackle from Macauley Southam-Hales before play was pulled back for a free-kick. Paik Seung-ho's delivery was spot on but Ethan Pye was able to touch the ball away and prevent a blue shirt from getting on to the end of it.

Patience paid off as Birmingham eventually took the lead. Anderson intercepted Ben Hinchcliffe's throw out, ran on to the ball, and teed up Alfie May who scored with a low finish as the ball deflected off of Pye.

Birmingham City doubled their lead and it was the same combination which provided the same outcome. Jay Stansfield played a clever pass through to May, and he found himself unmarked from six yards out to poke home.

Ryan Allsop hadn’t had much to do but twice he denied Stockport from getting a goal back. Louis Barry was able to swipe a shot at goal, and then Kyle Wootton was denied on the rebound. Birmingham headed in to the dressing rooms holding a two-goal lead from Allsop’s heroics.

Dave Challinor made three subs at half-time with Jack Diamond, Isaac Olaofe, and Callum Camps all entering the action. Stockport showed a bit of adventure with the subs with Camps knuckleballing a shot that troubled Allsop, whilst there were earlier chances for Diamond and Barry.

Birmingham wasn’t able to do much in the opening quarter of the second period, and so goalscorer Alfie May was withdrawn for Lyndon Dykes. Anderson who earned two assists was booked for losing his footing and fouling Callum Connolly but had to be cautious to avoid being booked a second time, after disagreeing with the decision.

Referee Ben Toner wasn’t interested when Stockport appealed for a penalty. Players and the travelling support believed that Klarer handled the ball when blocking Collar’s route at goal.

In the final 15 minutes, Anderson looped the ball into the box to the path of Stansfield, who raised his leg high to pull off an acrobatic shot, but Hinchcliffe tipped his effort around the post.

Stockport facing an uphill battle did not down their tools as the game drew to a close. Diamond from distance saw his effort whistle just past the post but Allsop would have had it covered. The visitors eventually ran out of steam and Birmingham were able to see the night through on a night that belonged to Alfie May.

Here is how we rated the Blues players in what was a well deserved victory: