Birmingham produced one of the truly great performances I've ever seen from them last night when they clinched a place in the Carling Cup final. 2-1 down from the first leg, they won 3-1 on the night after extra time. This will be our first Wembley Cup final since 1956!
I watched the game in my local pub full of West Ham fans as I live in Stratford East London.
With Blues 1-0 down to an uncharacteristic Carlton Cole wonder goal, I wondered if it was worth sticking around. Thankfully I had just enough faith not to give up.
Just before the second half began I sent out a tweet saying: Coming up the biggest 2nd half at St Andrews in years!
How true that was. Despite the score I was still optimistic we could at least take the game into extra time.
As we staged our remarkable comeback, the pub descended into silence as each of our goals went in. Anyone paying attention would have noticed I was a Blues fan as I was the only person celebrating when our goals went in.
It was such a bizarre feeling listening to the West Ham fans around me shaking their heads in frustration as they watched what looked like certain victory transform into inevitable defeat.
As West Ham fans moaned how it was all so 'typical West Ham' I remembered how I was saying the same thing about Blues only a few hours earlier.
After Craig Gardner's winner went in I jumped up at the bar, arms outstretched and screamed COME ON!! Thankfully no one noticed as everyone else seemed to gutted to care!
I emailed some old friends today and said last night was one of those great moments where the team you support really steps up and rises to the challenge to achieve someone special. This is exactly what Blues did and I'll remember last night's game for years to come.
Can't wait for the final on 27 February.
Bring on the Gooners!
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