03/05/2014 Midlands Today

now. There is more throughout the evening

on bids the BBC News There is more throughout the evening

Good evening. Birmingham City have survived in the

Championship with almost the last kick of the season. They equalised

in the third minute of stoppage time to earn a 2`2 draw at Bolton. And

that was enough to avoid relegation on goal difference. Ian Winter was

at the game. They'd travelled north dressed for

an end of season party. But fearing an end of season wake. Over the

years, Birmingham City fans have come to expect the unexpected. But

none of them saw this one coming. It was crazy.

Outside, the England legend Nat Lofthouse listened to the cheers as

Bolton raced into a 2`0 lead. With 12 minutes left, Birmingham were

down and out of the Championship. And that's when their Serbian

striker Nicola Zigic made it 2`1 to throw Blues a possible lifeline.

And then, incredibly, in the third minute of stoppage time, the

unthinkable happened. Paul Caddis popped in one priceless goal to

steal one precious point and trigger one huge celebration. Mission

accomplished, survival on goal difference, Doncaster down instead.

Amazing scenes here. Birmingham City have survived by the skin of their

teeth. The fans cannot believe it. It has been the most remarkable,

dramatic end to a dramatic season. That is what football is all about.

They kept on going. I have just said to the players, let's use this as a

learning curve. We have diced with death is a bit.

To go down and then come back like that is amazing. Everyone saw the

joy of the fans. Tonight, news of the Blues' great

escape will have reached Hong Kong where Carson Yeung is serving six

years for money laundering. His reaction is unknown. But there's no

mistaking the pure delight and sheer relief of thousands of Birmingham

City fans this evening. What a season.

And you can see more on the match on tonight's Football League Show at

quarter to midnight. Onto football now and in the

Premiership, Aston Villa beat Hull at home 3`1, almost guaranteeing

their place for another season and a comfortable win for Stoke against

Fulham 4`1. And in League One, a 1`1 draw for

Shrewsbury away at Gillingham, a goalless draw for Port Vale, also

away at Peterborough. Coventry City were beaten by Sheffield United 2`1,

while Walsall lost to Warriors, relegated back to the

Championship after losing 44`20 to the Saracens, while Gloucester beat

London Irish at home 35`30. The 21st National Open Dwarf Games

got under way this morning, at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium. Over

the course of the weekend, around 200 athletes with dwarfism will

compete against one another in sports including athletics,

swimming, basketball and rifle shooting. Paralympian Ellie Simmonds

is a patron of the Dwarf Sports Association.

This is grassroots sport, really, at its best. It is great to be here and

to see them all enjoying it and hopefully they will get inspired by

it all and maybe find a sport for them that they enjoy for the future.

It shows that the legacy of London is continuing with record numbers of

dwarf athletes competing.