Birmingham City have begun their pre-season preparations with a 3-1 victory over local rivals Solihull Moors this evening.
Two goals from Clayton Donaldson either side of a Diego Fabbrini strike gave the Blues a commanding lead at half time, and they comfortably saw the second half out to cruise to victory.
The Championship outfit almost took the lead as early as the eighth minute when Jacques Maghoma drifted behind the defence to latch on to a long pass over the top before seeing his effort parried away by Danny Lewis.
Lewis was called upon again just two minutes later to tip Jonathan Grounds's deflected cross over the bar, before Solihull saw their first sight of goal go begging when Liam Daly's header from a corner looped over.
The opening goal did arrive in the 17th minute when an unmarked Donaldson got on the end of a whipped Grounds delivery before nodding a downward header into the far corner.
Birmingham continued to push forward and almost added a second when Jonathan Spector turned Robert Tesche's free kick over the bar, but once again they would not have to wait much longer to double their advantage.
This time it was Fabbrini who got the goal, applying the finishing touch to a slick team move that also included David Davis, Ground and Maghoma.
Two soon became three as the visitors took complete control of the contest, with Donaldson doubling his personal tally for the night by steering Spector's header past a helpless Lewis from close range with 10 minutes of the first half still remaining.
Gary Rowett's side still did not look content with their lead, though, and Donaldson, Fabbrini, Tesche and Maghoma all came close to adding a fourth for Birmingham before the interval.
Solihull hit back at the start of the second half as Adam Legzdins was forced into an early save, but Birmingham were soon back on top and both Koby Arthur and James Vaughan came close to putting the visitors further ahead.
The fourth goal of the game did come from the home side, though, as a trialist danced his way into the penalty area before placing a neat finish into the bottom corner.
Indeed, it was Legzdins who proved to be the busier of the two keepers in the second half, also being called upon to keep out Stefan Moore and Lewis Hayden.
Birmingham comfortably saw out the win in the end, though, getting their pre-season schedule off to a winning start ahead of a trip to face Forest Green Rovers on Saturday.
Barney Corkhill
