Aston Villa blog: Derby day a point gained, not two lost
I can't say I really enjoyed the opening second city derby of this season. Until the final whistle was blown and we hadn't lost that is... writes Justin Hawthorne.
The biggest surprise pre-match was the return of Gabriel Agbonlahor to the bench with Steve Bruce stating he has shown the right attitude and effort in training to deserve a recall. We can only hope that this work ethic carries on.
The question before all away derby games is always 'would you take a point?' and I said yes.
Not because I don't think we're capable of beating them, but simply because I hate losing to them and having to wait for our next chance to right the wrongs we made.
I thought both teams started slowly and took plenty of time settling into the game, and it wasn't until Clayton Donaldson's would-be goal that the game really kicked into life.
I genuinely think that we deserved to take the lead when we did, and what a goal to do it with.
I'm very pleased for Gary Gardner as he's a villa fan through and through, and it would have meant so much to him to get the opener against the club's arch-rivals.
Following that perfectly placed header the game petered out to half time.
This is where I think Bruce will be disappointed with his players the most, as like we have done so many times this season - our second half display wasn't quite where it should be and we couldn't get the ball down and get forward as well as he would have liked.
But credit where it's due, Birmingham had a real go and it's the least the home support would have expected - drawing level with a well struck, if slightly deflected effort halfway through the second period.
This is now where things have changed for the better under Bruce, as under our previous managers we could well have fallen to pieces and lost the game.
However, we stood firm in the final moments, with special thanks to Mile Jedinak who I thought had his best game to date, along with Nathan Baker and James Chester who are forming a decent partnership at centre back.
Admittedly, we did ride our luck with Blues missing a number of good chances, but in the long run I'm sure most Villa fans will consider this a point gained rather than two points lost.
