Birmingham held at promotion rivals Mansfield

Mansfield battled back to earn a deserved 1-1 home draw against League One leaders Birmingham.

Willum Willumsson gave the Blues an early lead but Lee Gregory’s free-kick kept the gap between the two promotion hopefuls at five points.

The Blues scored in the 10th minute when Keshi Anderson got to the left byline and pulled a low cross back into the path of Willumsson, who buried a finish from 12 yards.

Willumsson almost doubled his tally after 25 minutes but home goalkeeper Christy Pym blocked his finish, having given the ball away with a loose pass in the first place.

Birmingham dominated possession but most of their efforts were from distance with a fierce shot from Paik Seung-ho going only inches over before the break.

Lyndon Dykes sent a diving header at Pym just after the interval from a superb Anderson cross.

But Mansfield levelled when Gregory drilled a 63rd-minute free-kick through the wall and inside the near post from just outside the box.

In trying to deny Anderson two minutes later, Mansfield defender Aden Flint played the ball against his own post and Dykes somehow put the follow-up wide of the gaping goal.

Stephen McLaughlin forced two good saves out of Birmingham goalkeeper Ryan Allsop in as many minutes before the Stags comfortably soaked up a late push by the visitors.