Birmingham 2 West Ham 2

Cameron Jerome and Liam Ridgewell rescued an unlikely point for Birmingham from two goals down.

The Hammers had taken a seemingly comfortable 2-0 lead within 13 minutes of the second-half through Frederic Piquionne and Valon Behrami.

But Jerome and Ridgewell popped up with two goals of their own in a breathless nine-minute spell to earn their side a drawn against the Premier League's basement boys.

Ironically, there was little to cheer in the first half for either side and the game became a damp squib after just three minutes - when two sprinklers were accidentally triggered in the Blues half, forcing a temporary halt to the game.

The game was restarted quickly but the visitors in particular struggled to retain possession on the presumably slippery pitch in the first 15 minutes.

However, it was Avram Grant's side who monopolised what few chances their were in the first half as Piquionne and Carlton Cole both shot wide from distance early on.

Roger Johnson headed comfortably wide for Blues in reply from a Sebastian Larsson corner but Cole was superbly denied at the other end by a miraculous save from goalkeeper Ben Foster with 17 minutes gone.

The former Manchester United shotstopper somehow prodded Cole's close range shot against the right-hand post, after Victor Obinna's cross had sliced open Blues' defence.

The ball rolled menacingly along the Blues' goal line from the save, but Foster's finger-tip touch had bought his defenders enough time to clear the ball behind to avert a certain goal.

West Ham continued to dominate possession but a lack of clinical delivery and finishing saw them waste several decent chances, as numerous crosses were smashed too high or over the bar.

Cole forced another strong save from Foster just before half-time, after swivelling on the ball from Lars Jacobsen's low pass on the edge of the box.

His low shot had Foster scrambling to adjust his body position but the goalkeeper managed to do so, to smother the shot at the near post.

But West Ham found their scoring touch just three minutes after the restart, when Piquionne thumped the ball home from Louis Boa Morte's defence splitting pass.

Cole then nodded just over the bar from a dangerous corner kick, as Foster flapped at the cross.

And the visitors doubled their lead a minute later when Valon Behrami slammed the ball past Foster, after a superb fast break from Parker and Cole.

Parker picked up the loose ball in midfield and found Cole on the edge of the box, who stroked the ball into the unmarked midfielder's path for a painfully easy goal.

Birmingham manager Alex McLeish immediately swapped Alexander Hleb and Keith Fahey for top scorer Craig Gardner and Jean Beausejour to turn the tide.

But Obinna could have made it three when his fierce 20-yard shot cannoned off the Blues bar with Foster beaten.

Jerome breathed new life into the home side with 27 minutes left after tucking home Zigic's flick on from close range, from Larsson's sweeping left wing cross.

Beausejour then forced a dangerous free kick on the edge of the box after drawing the foul from Piquionne.

Blues came within a whisker of an equaliser from the free-kick when goalkeeper Rob Green parried away Larsson's curling shot to Beasejour, whose fierce rebound was blocked in the ensuing goalmouth scramble.

At the other end Obinna forced another decent save from Foster from Cole's nod down.

But Blues completed their fight back with 18 minutes remaining when Ridgewell tapped in from close range, after Green had superbly saved Larsson's curling free kick.

Both sides went for the jugular in the final quarter and Behrami and Zigic both missed the target from good positions.

Jerome almost snatched the win with 13 minutes remaining when Gabbidon turned the striker's attempted shot against his own cross bar, but the visitors somehow survived.

Obinna became the game's first booking with 10 minutes left, after a foul on Larsson and Piquionne headed narrowly over from distance eight minutes from time in a frantic finish to the game.

And Obinna was lucky not to see red in the final minute for a blatant shove on Carr but Blues failed to convert Larsson's deep right-wing cross.

In the end both sides had to settle for a hard-earned point after a superbly entertaining second-half.