Birmingham City 1 - 0 Wycombe Wanderers: FLW reports as Blues win battle at the top of League One | OneFootball

All eyes were on St Andrews on Saturday lunchtime, as league leaders Birmingham City hosted second place Wycombe Wanderers.

Birmingham City came out on top in the clash of the top-two in League One on Saturday lunchtime, defeating Wycombe Wanderers 1-0 thanks to Taylor Gardner-Hickman's first-half strike.

Birmingham started on the front foot, creating plenty of chances and even having Kieran Dowell's early goal disallowed due to an offside. The league leaders did take a deserved lead after 21 minutes through Gardner-Hickman and a goalkeeping error by Will Norris.

Wycombe tried to claw their way back into the game before half-time, but were given a further obstacle to navigate when Xavier Simons was sent off for a reckless challenge on Ethan Laird.

Despite being at a numerical disadvantage, Wycombe didn't allow this to play on their minds and gave it a good go to get back into the match. It was a much improved performance by the Chairboys, but Gardner-Hickman's early goal proved to be the difference separating the top-two.

Birmingham City 1 - 0 Wycombe Wanderers

Wycombe were handed a bit of a let off early on, as Simons dwindled on the ball close to his own box and was dispossessed by Willum Willumsson. Fortunately, Joe Low was on hand to clear the loose ball before a Blues player could pounce.

Daniel Harvie suffered an injury blow early on, having to be helped off the pitch with an injury he sustained in a tackle. Adam Reach came on for his Wanderers league debut at left-back.

15 minutes in, Norris made a great save down to his right to deny Alfie May. Some slick football by the hosts allowed the number nine to get in behind the Wycombe defence, but the Wanderers shot-stopper was equal to May's rather poor effort.

Just seconds later, Birmingham had the ball in the back of the net. Kieran Dowell found himself totally unmarked from a long ball forward and slotted past Norris. However, the Rangers loanee had strayed fractionally offside, meaning the goal wouldn't stand.

After 21 minutes, Birmingham got the lead they deserved via Gardner-Hickman. A simple long ball over the top wasn't dealt with by Jasper Pattenden, and the makeshift winger drove a powerful effort towards goal. Norris got a glove to the shot, but it flew over the top of the keeper and into the net.

Blues had a great chance to double their advantage through Tomoki Iwata. May's cross fell kindly to the Japanese midfielder, who drilled a low shot at goal, but Low was once again there to bail Wycombe out.

Wanderers had their first sniff of goal through captain Josh Scowen. A deep free-kick by Cameron Humphreys found its way to the veteran midfielder, but his acrobatic effort flashed over the bar. Fred Onyedinma then had a great opportunity to level the game. Once again the away side couldn't hit the target.

Just as Wycombe began to grow into the game, Simons got himself sent off after Ethan Laird found himself free on the right-wing. It was a horrid challenge and undeniably a red card, giving the Chairboys a mountain to climb.

After five minutes of stoppages, Ben Toner blew the whistle for half-time. Birmingham were seriously unlucky not to have more than one goal, but the late red card gave Wycombe a mountain to climb.

Despite the numerical disadvantage, Mike Dodds' men looked to try and salvage something from the game. 10 minutes after the restart, Low went close after a free-kick was knocked into his path, but Toner gave a foul in the favour of Ryan Allsop.

A man and a goal to the good, Birmingham didn't really crank on as much pressure as they did to start the contest, still looking industrious whenever they went forward. Alex Cochrane had a great chance to double the lead, but he fired just wide.

Wanderers continued to apply the pressure, as substitute Jack Grimmer's deep cross into the far post had to be tipped over by Allsop, who landed in a heap inside his own net.

Udoh had such a wonderful chance to level the scores with 10 minutes to play. Richard Kone's inch-perfect ball out wide to Reach allowed the wing-back to tee up the Nigerian perfectly, who couldn't get clean enough contact with the ball to direct it goalwards.

As we entered eight minutes of stoppage time in the Midlands, Chris Davies was forced to make a change of goalkeepers after Allsop seemed to roll his ankle when collecting a cross under pressure. Another injury setback for Blues that Davies will hope is nothing serious.

Unfortunately for Wycombe, the damage was done in the first-half, and despite a much-improved second-half, the ten men couldn't claw back that all-important goal which would earn them a point.

Birmingham now look out-of-sight in League One, which is a testament to their quality. The Blues extended their led to 12-points, with a game in hand over second place. Wycombe didn't feel too hurt by the result, as Wrexham only managed to draw against Bolton Wanderers, meaning the Chairboys still had a two-point gap to the Red Dragons, and must bounce back against Burton Albion on Tuesday night.

Birmingham City player ratings

R. Allsop - 8 (B. Peacock-Farrell 90+2'()6)

E. Laird - 8 (K. Bielik 84'(6))

B. Davies - 7

C. Klarer - 8

A. Cochrane - 7

Paik Sueng-Ho - 7

T. Iwata - 7

K. Dowell - 7

W. Willumsson - 6

T. Gardner-Hickman - 7 (E. Hansson 64'(6))

A. May - 6 (L. Jutkiewicz 84'(6))

Unused substitutes: A. Sampsted, L. Harris, G. Hanley

Wycombe Wanderers player ratings

W. Norris - 5

J. Pattenden - 5 (J. Grimmer 68'())

J. Low - 8

C. Taylor - 6

D. Harvie - N/A (A. Reach 10'(7))

X. Simons - 3 (Sent off 45+3')

J. Scowen - 5

G. McCleary - 4 (R. Kone 72'(6))

C. Humphreys - 5 (L. Leahy 68'(6))

F. Onyedinma - 4 (S. Bradley 46'(7))

D. Udoh - 6

Unused substitutes: F. Ravizzoli, B. Lubala

It was a sell-out crowd at St Andrews @ Knighthead Park on Saturday lunchtime, with 27,522 total fans and 1930 making the trip from High Wycombe.