His cross reached McCarthy who had continued his run but the Northern Ireland international put his volley high and

His cross reached McCarthy, who had continued his run, but the Northern Ireland international put his volley high and wide.Birmingham came even closer to pulling level with a far scrappier effort just three minutes later. Grainger swung in a corner from the right that Michael Johnson, at the far post, headed on target only for Michael Gilkes to clear off the line with a header of his own. With that in mind, Corica added afterwards: "We had a little bit of luck."Birmingham were then left with good reason for thinking Corica's well- taken goal was something of a fluke. On a rare sortie upfield, the ball fell to him with half an hour gone and, although free and unmarked inside the penalty area, he squirted his shot wide of Poole's left post. That turned out to be Wolves' last attempt on goal, as they sat deep for the rest of the game, inviting Birmingham at them.

For all their possession, their manager Trevor Francis complained later: "We have problems in the forward areas."Yet the home side tried to respond, and Dele Adebola - "he's not quite at full throttle" sighed Francis - then had two chances in quick succession. With 36 minutes gone, the ball dropped at his feet eight yards out but, in the split-second he had to shoot, his control failed him and the chance had gone. Two minutes later, Adebola saw his volley saved comfortably by Mike Stowell. It was a special and assured afternoon for the Wolves goalkeeper - Stowell was making his 421st appearance for his club, breaking the 42-year-old club goalkeeping record held by Bert Williams.He saved his best for 14 minutes from the end, when the substitute Lee Bradbury shot from close range, only for Stowell to tip the ball on to the crossbar and behind for a corner, a moment that summed up Lee's post- match praise: "Every player takes credit today for their hard work.". Gillingham 0 Manchester City 2 Cooke 31, Horlock 64Half-time: 0-1 Attendance: 10,400IT MUST be something in the water.

Another wonder-goal from a product of the Old Trafford youth scheme settled an important match, this time yesterday's Second Division promotion tussle at Priestfield. Terry Cooke celebrated his pounds 600,000 transfer this week from Manchester United, after a spell on loan at Maine Road, with a fine strike, the first-ever goal in league matches between the two teams.It completed a notable week for Cooke, as his girlfriend gave birth to a boy on Friday. Manchester City's manager, Joe Royle, claimed afterwards that Cooke Snr had made the right decision and, in light of yesterday's result, it was hard to disagree "He's come to the club, not the division," Royle stressed. "We all hope we'll be out of the division next season."City's prospects do indeed look bright after this significant victory, which keeps the club in third place. As Royle said: "It just puts the pressure on Walsall: they have to keep winning."Kevin Horlock's goal secured the victory, but it was Gillingham, with promotion ambitions of their own, who should have opened the scoring in the first 10 minutes. A corner from the debutant Kenny Brown was met with a strong header from an unmarked Robert Taylor, whose effort was turned over by the goalkeeper Nick Weaver.

It was a clear chance from which a downward header would have given the home side the lead.Carl Asaba squandered Gillingham's next opportunity after a mix-up in the visitors' defence between Weaver and his disoriented defenders, but the Kent club's leading scorer saw his lobbed shot towards an open goal bounce wide.Asaba was again put through by Andy Hessenthaler but he was unlucky on two counts: his shot touched the top of the bar and he was ruled offside Paul Smith squandered their next chance. After nudging Gerard Wiekens off the ball in the area, the defender's near-post shot was again saved well by Weaver.City opened the first half passively. If they were attempting to contain opponents positioned below them in the table, it was a dangerous game to play. Asaba was put through once again when the ball rebounded to him but a poor final ball to Paul Smith allowed Weaver to collect.Such profligacy was punished by Cooke on the half-hour mark. The ball was only half cleared by a Gillingham head and his sweetly struck right- footed volley from the edge of the area whizzed past a bemused Vince Bartram in the Gillingham goal.Gillingham responded by opening the second half brightly. Mark Patterson was put through by Asaba but, pushed wide, he was unable to pull the ball back for a meaningful shot on target.Then came City's second goal in the 64th minute. Following a foul by Guy Butters on Paul Dickov, Horlock struck a fine left-footed free-kick around the Gillingham wall, one which, in retrospect, they might have assembled a yard in the direction of Bartram's far post.Still Gillingham refused to surrender to their illustrious visitors and Mark Saunders had a clear late chance to score but his close-range volley was well saved by Weaver.