Fulham’s hopes of automatic promotion died in the sunshine of St Andrews.
But, who’d have thought, going into the final weekend of the Championship season, the results would have seen both Cardiff City and Fulham fail to win, with Cardiff only drawing 0-0 with Reading.
That results only serves to add to the disappointment felt by the huge travelling Cottagers army that descended upon St Andrews.
Birmingham entered the game knowing they needed a result to end any fears of dropping into the third-tier of English football and the home support more than did their bit to ensure that was the case.
A disastrous first-half saw Fulham concede twice, with Lukas Jutkiewicz and Harlee Dean doing the damage.
The second-half saw Fulham do their utmost to mount a comeback and the travelling support were given hope that their side could turn around the game when Tom Cairney scored with just six minutes of normal time left.
But, it wasn’t to be and with Fulham pushing forward for a second goal they were caught by a sucker-punch when Che Adams drilled a low shot, past Marcus Bettinelli, into the Fulham net.
The 23-game unbeaten run had ended at the most unfortunate of times and now Fulham will have to battle through the playoffs, starting with a trip to Derby County, this Friday, to achieve their promotion dream.
COYW’s