Jermaine Beckford scored from close range to give Huddersfield Town a deserved half-time lead against Birmingham City at St Andrews.

It was the visitors who started the better of the two sides and could have been ahead in the first minute but James Vaughan missed the target after breaking free from the Birmingham defence.

The hosts struggled to get a foothold in the game in the early stages and were given another lifeline when Peter Clarke headed over from an Oliver Norwood corner.

Birmingham could have taken the lead against the run of play in the 12th minute but Anthony Gerrard cleared off the line superbly after shots from Nathan Redmond and James Hurst.

Huddersfield were rewarded for their early start midway through the first half when Vaughan found Jermaine Beckford and the former Everton striker made no mistake by calmly finishing past Jack Butland from close range.

Redmond was inches away from equalising before the break but his curling effort from the edge of the box struck the post.