Hull dig in to allow Dowie hope of escape

Birmingham City 0 Hull City

With the sun beating down on a neatly mown patch of green, and two sides seemingly incapable of dispelling the end-of-season languor that took hold of St Andrew's, the gardening leave on which Hull City sent manager Phil Brown suddenly looked an attractive option yesterday.

True, the relegation-threatened Yorkshire club dug in for a point, their first away from the KC Stadium under "temporary football management consultant" Iain Dowie, while also recovering some pride after the 4-1 home defeat by Burnley. But with Birmingham falling below their customary standards, this was a day, surely, for the black and amber to bloom.

Instead, all Hull had to show for an afternoon of perspiration without inspiration was a first-half header by Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, which Joe Hart saved athletically, and late efforts by Tom Cairney and Craig Fagan that endangered the 2,000 Hull followers more than Hart's goal.

Dowie, though, saw it as a positive outcome, savouring a second clean sheet in four games as Brown's replacement and suggesting his new charges "shaded" the match.

"No one was more angry, frustrated and furious than me after last week," he said. "We've had a conversation with the lads, ramming home exactly what Premier League survival means to the area and the people who work at the club."

He added: "We're not set up to go gung-ho. But we demanded a response and got it. Now we need to follow up a really good away point with some points at home."

Hull, like Birmingham, face Aston Villa next, before their own fans on Wednesday, and Dowie also sets great store by the fact that his team still have companions-in-distress Wigan to play, albeit away.

Alex McLeish, the Birmingham manager, was similarly satisfied with the way his team recovered from a drubbing the previous weekend. "After the five breakaways by Manchester City we wanted a clean sheet," he quipped, "so I'm proud of the way the lads bounced back."

Matt Duke was largely untroubled after the break though he was the busier goalkeeper in the first half. After diving to parry Lee Boywer's drive, he dealt less convincingly with Craig Gardner's cross before Paul McShane cleared and was a spectator when Bowyer headed over from Keith Fahey's cross.

Jimmy Bullard, on whom Brown committed Hull to spending £18m over four years in respect of salary and bonuses, was conspicuous with his flapping mane and flamboyant touches. Driving forward from midfield, he was behind most of Hull's better moments as they pushed for a late goal, but he could not trick his team-mates into breaking their away duck, leaving Dowie to conclude with a grin: "My head's lifting off with the pressure of it all."

Bookings: None Attendance: 26,669

Referee: Mark Clattenburg

Man of the match: Bullard

Match rating: 4/10