Birmingham City 1 Brentford 3

A brilliant second half comeback saw Brentford start 2017 in the best possible fashion by beating bogey side Birmingham City this afternoon.

It's been more than two decades since the Bees have beaten the the Blues – but a Scott Hogan strike, a David Davis own goal and a Nico Yennaris screamer cancelled out Lucas Jutkiewica's first half opener.

Brentford had first sight of goal when nice play by Romaine Sawyers allowed Lasse Vibe to play in Scott Hogan, but home keeper Tomasz Kuszczak was equal to the Bees striker's effort.

Opener: Jutkiewicz scores for Birmingham

Birmingham should have taken the lead when the Bees stepped up for an offside decision but the flag never came and the lively Che Adams missed a one on one. However, they made no mistake soon after when Jutkiewica shrugged off Harlee Dean far too easily and comfortably beat Dan Bentley.

Bentley then saved from Adams after Yoann Barbet was caught out on the left, while at the other end, Vibe missed a golden chance to equalise when a lovely passing move found him free in the area, but Ryan Shotton got back to block well.

The second half was in its infancy when Brentford levelled, Barbet seeing his shot blocked and the ball falling to Vibe, who looked like he had wasted the opportunity but instead put in Hogan to finish clinically into the top corner.

Old nemesis: David Cotterill shoots.

Hogan turned from hero to villain minutes later when he won Brentford's first penalty of the season five months in after Vibe was hacked down by Shotton right on the edge of the area, but Kuszczak got down well to save low to his right.

Despair turned to joy soon after for the Bees when Ryan Wood floated in an innocuous looking free kick from near the left touchline which was flicked on by Andreas Bjelland, and Davis headed past a stunned Kuszczak before collapsing in a heap of despair.

And with time running out, sub Yennaris, who had only been on the pitch for a few minutes, made an instant impact, picking the ball up off Bjelland before superbly smashing it into the top corner from fully 25 yards out.