Stern double gives ‘Blues’ third spot

KUALA LUMPUR: Trinidad and Tobago striker Stern John blasted two goals as Birmingham City romped to an easy 4-0 win over Malaysia’s national team to take third spot in the FA Premier League Asia Cup yesterday. John scored a goal in each half, while second half substitutes Stephen Clemence and Bryan Hughes added to the rout in the four-team tournament in Kuala Lumpur, the first of its kind allowed by the English Football Association. John’s two strikes were enough to convince manager Steve Bruce that the forward had shrugged off a knee injury which kept him out for long spells last season. “I had told him to work on his fitness and he did just that,” Bruce said. “Now we are enjoying the benefits of it.” John took Birmingham into the lead in the eighth minute with a low drive from 20 metres past Malaysian goalkeeper Azmin Azram. But any hopes of a goal avalanche against the Malaysians — the obvious underdogs against three English Premier League sides — were dashed as Birmingham muffed numerous chances that came their way. Geoff Horsfield, David Dunn and Paul Devlin blew their attempts, leaving Birmingham with just a one-goal lead at half time.

Despite being weary after playing Chelsea on Friday, Malaysia managed to press forward on occasions with Akmal Rizal forcing Ian Bennet to palm away his long range attempt. Bruce made several changes into the second half which gave his team more depth in attack. Australian Stan Lazaridis, who replaced David Dunn, found John with a fine cross and the striker  made no mistake to put his side 2-0 up. Birmingham, which had a day’s rest before Saturday’s match, created several more chances but were let down by poor finishing, with Darren Carter, Matthew Upson and Stern among the culprits. The Malaysians were a spent lot in the closing stages of the match and gave Birmingham two easy goals. Stephen Clemence connected a Paul Devlin cross in the 76th minute while Bryan  Hughes scored from a similar move nine minutes from time. Bruce said he would be looking to sign up a goalkeeper when the team returns to England over this weekend after finishing the tournament, which began on Thursday. Chelsea meet Newcastle in today’s final of the tournament.