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Birmingham City 2-0 Reading

Birmingham 2-0 Reading
© PA Photos
Birmingham beat Reading 2-0 on the last day of the Championship in a game that saw three penalties.

Birmingham City have beaten the Championship champions Reading 2-0 on the last day of the season in a match that saw three penalties.

The hosts took the lead after 25 minutes when Adam Rooney, who had come on as a substitute for the injured Zigic, fired a first-time shot past Adam Federici having been found by Nathan Redmond.

Redmond then came close himself, firing a shot from outside the box just over the crossbar as the hosts continued to look dangerous.

The champions had chances of their own towards the end of their half, with one effort from Adam Le Fondre having to be hacked off the line by Pablo Ibanez.

Le Fondre then raced through once again and dinked the ball over Colin Doyle in the City goal, only for Ibanez to once more save his side with another clearance off the line.

Ibanez was almost the hero at the other end just minutes later when he met an Andros Townsend free kick only to see his header come back off the post.

The visitors almost levelled the sides midway through the second half when Doyle spilt Joby McAnuff's cross, but Simon Church was denied by a last-gasp block from Davies.

The Royals were then awarded a penalty when Alex Pearce was bundled over in the area, but Ian Harte saw his spot-kick saved by Doyle.

Birmingham got a penalty of their own later in the half when Townsend's cross hit the arm of Jay Tabb. Wade Elliott stepped up and sent Federici the wrong way to double Birmingham's lead.

Then, in the dying moments, the hosts were awarded a second penalty to make it 3-0. Once again Elliott took the responsibility, but this time Federici guessed the right way and denied the Birmingham man.

The result doesn't change Reading's status as champions, but does mean that Birmingham move up to fourth in the table, although they will still play Blackpool in the playoffs.

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Barney Corkhill
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Wycombe WanderersWycombe19134243222143
2Birmingham CityBirmingham18133234161842
3Wrexham20125330131741
4Huddersfield TownHuddersfield19113530181236
5Stockport CountyStockport2096532211133
6Reading199463028231
7Barnsley208662926330
8Bolton WanderersBolton189362829-130
9Lincoln CityLincoln207762625128
10Blackpool197572931-226
11Mansfield TownMansfield187472222025
12Stevenage187471517-225
13Peterborough UnitedPeterborough197393735224
14Charlton AthleticCharlton196671819-124
15Exeter CityExeter197391721-424
16Wigan AthleticWigan196581716123
17Rotherham UnitedRotherham186571920-123
18Leyton Orient196491920-122
19Northampton TownNorthampton205692129-821
20Bristol Rovers1963101728-1121
21Crawley TownCrawley1954102032-1219
22Cambridge UnitedCambridge1945102031-1117
23Burton Albion1926111630-1412
24Shrewsbury TownShrewsbury1932141939-2011


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