Kings of Leon! Birmingham 0-2 Newcastle.

Newcastle took a massive step towards Premier League survival by beating Birmingham 2-0 at St Andrews.

The win eases the pressure a bit and leaves us sitting in ninth place in the table on 35 points, which is already more than we managed in that dreadful relegation season, and we still have eleven games to go.

The match was played on a pitch that looked like it would be more suited to growing potatoes, but it didn't stop Newcastle as they once again put in a performance that deserved to get a result, only this time they managed to find the back of the net to get the win that they deserved.

Both sides remained unchanged from their respective weekend matches, which given the impotency of our attack against Blackburn could have been cause for concern. Peter Lovenkrands allayed those fears just two minutes into the match though when he finished superbly from a near-post Jonas Gutierrez cross.

Birmingham seized the game at that point and had most of the ball, but they were unable to do much with it although Nikola Zigic forced a fine save from Steve Harper whilst Roger Johnson wasted another chance for the home side by heading wide from close range.

The home sides attack generally consisted of a long ball to Nikola Zigic with Obafemi Martins feeding off any knock-downs. Unfortunately for Birmingham though, and as Nufc fans know themselves, Martins football brain is the size of a pea which resulted in him being less than effective.

Both sides huffed and puffed their way to the half-time whistle with few chances being created by either side. On balance of play though, Birmingham could perhaps feel a little aggrieved at going in behind at the interval. Such is life though, eh?

Lighting struck twice early in the second half when Leon Best put the away side two up, thanks to another assist from Jonas Gutierrez. The Argentine, who had his best game in a while in my opinion, jinked and twisted on the left before crossing to the back post where Best out-jumped the Birmingham defence and slammed his header into the back of the net to send the away fans into raptures.

Jonas has had his critics, and will continue to do so, but he was superb tonight in my opinion and summed up his performance quite nicely just after that second goal when he ran the ball the entire half of the pitch past several players only to be denied by a last ditch Stephen Carr challenge.

If Birmingham just shaded the first half, Newcastle most definitely had the second half as they looked solid in defence, again, looked assured in possession, again, and worked hard all over the pitch, again.

Birmingham did manage to mount a late rally, but they still never really managed to create anything and the defence and goalkeeper mopped up most of what was thrown at them.

Leon Best and Peter Lovenkrands have their critics, but the pair of them ran themselves into the ground and defended from the front. Best actually managed to boss Roger Johnson, who is arguably one of the most physical defenders in the league and Alan Pardew said in his brief post-match interview how both of their injuries were intensified by the amount of work they both put in.

Speaking of Pardew, he also has his critics, but I think he called the game superbly. He made the right decisions from start to finish and set the team up superbly well. He deserves his portion of praise in my opinion.

Newcastle now have a break of eleven days to rest and recuperate before a double-header of home games against Bolton and Everton, and that break will be made sweeter by the win over Birmingham.

Howay the lads!

Birmingham: Ben Foster, Stephen Carr, Roger Johnson, Liam Ridgewell, Martin Jiranek, Seb Larsson, Anthony Gardner, Barry Ferguson, David Bentley, Obafemi Martins, Nikola Zigic.

Subs: Colin Doyle, David Murphy, Lee Bowyer, Keith Fahey, Jean Beausejour, Kevin Phillips, Cameron Jerome.

Newcastle: Steve Harper, Danny Simpson, Mike Williamson, Fabricio Coloccini, Jose Enrique, Joey Barton, Cheik Tiote, Kevin Nolan, Jonas Gutierrez, Leon Best, Peter Lovenkrands.

Subs: Tim Krul, James Perch, Sol Campbell, Danny Guthrie, Shane Ferguson, Shefki Kuqi, Nile Ranger.

Attendance: 28,270.

Referee: Lee Mason.