Ten man Blues put in a battling performance to earn themselves a 1-1 draw against Plymouth on  Monday afternoon.

Alex McLeish's side were forced to play more than two thirds of the game a man-down, following a contentious refereeing decision by Northumberland-based official Michael Oliver.

Mr Oliver dismissed keeper Maik Taylor midway through the first half and at the same time awarded Plymouth a penalty, from which Paul Gallagher scored.

Alex McLeish made just one change to his starting line-up from the Charlton game, with striker Garry O'Connor replacing Hameur Bouazza, who was dropped to the substitutes' bench.

Blues began the game on the offensive and with less than a minute gone Lee Bowyer headed Stephen Carr's cross over the bar.

McLeish's side were given a scare with six minutes on the clock after Liam Ridgewell's error allowed Plymouth to break.

The Blues defender saw the ball to bounce over his head and Plymouth's Jamie Mackie collected it, before beating Ridgewell and crossing it for Ashley Barnes to fire home from close range.

Fortunately it was adjudged to be offside by the linesman.

Maik Taylor was forced to make a blinding save on 13 minutes from Mackie.

Barnes out-jumped Ridgewell and the ball fell nicely to the Plymouth-man who lashed in a 25 yard goalbound shot on the half volley.

But Taylor was equal to it and pushed it over for a corner.

With 20 minutes on the clock Ashley Barnes was cautioned for what was really an act of stupidity.

With Ridgewell guiding the ball out for a goal kick behind his own goal line the Plymouth man clearly pushed him in the back, which resulted in the centre half crashing into the advertising hoardings in front of the Tilton Road end.

There was absolute consternation on 23 minutes when Maik Taylor was sent off and at the same time Plymouth were awarded a highly dubious penalty.

The ball had been launched forward from the Plymouth half to the edge of the Blues penalty area.

Maik Taylor, Ridgewell and Mackie all went for it, but as they did so Mackie appeared to stumble.

The initial incident clearly appeared to be outside the box, plus Ridgewell looked to be covering Taylor.

Despite the referee being some distance behind the play and his linesman (who was level with the incident) keeping his flag down, Mr Oliver obviously thought differently.

He red carded Taylor after judging him to be the last man and pointed to the spot.

Keith Fahey was sacrificed to bring on goalkeeper Colin Doyle, but Doyle could do nothing as Gallagher sent him the wrong way to give his side a fortuitous advantage.

Blues were dealt a further blow minutes later when Ridgewell was stretchered off following a challenge by Mackie, with what appeared to be a broken leg.

Franck Queudrue replaced Ridgewell in the heart of the defence alongside Radhi Jaidi.

With 42 minutes gone Jaidi was cautioned for a challenge he made as he attacked a Blues corner.

As the game entered the sixth minute of stoppage time at the end of the half Doyle did well to tip Alan Judge's deflected shot over for a corner.

Half time: Blues 0 Plymouth 1

Blues were right back in the game less than five minutes after the restart.

David Gray fouled Jerome on the left by-line, for which he was cautioned.

Murphy swung the free kick into the far post and Queudrue was there to scramble the ball home with his head.

The goal seemed to have put extra wind in Blues' sails and they were now looking the more dominant side.

Card happy Mr Oliver produced his fifth card of the afternoon when he cautioned Jerome for a challenge on Gray.

There were massive shouts around St. Andrew's for a penalty after David Murphy looked to be impeded in the opposition box, but this time Mr Oliver saw nothing wrong and waved play on.

On 70 minutes James McFadden joined the proceedings in place of Cameron Jerome.

His arrival almost paid immediate dividends as he swung in a peach of a cross from the right, which O'Connor nodded just wide of the Plymouth upright.

On 77 minutes Paul Sturrock's side thought they had regained their advantage only to see Ashley Barnes strike ruled out for offside.

Despite their inferior numbers on the pitch, Blues continued to press forward in search of the winner

On 85 minutes captain Damien Johnson became the fourth Blues player to enter Mr Oliver's busy notebook after he mistimed his challenge on Judge.

With minutes of the 90 remaining Blues had a major shout for a penalty denied after Stephen Carr looked to have been fouled in the box, but were instead forced to settle for a corner.

Sturrock was forced to make an enforced change late in the game when Jamie Mackie came off second best after a 50/50 challenge with Damien Johnson.

Mackie was replaced by Rory Fallon.

Deep into the six minutes of stoppage time Jaidi created a yard of space for himself in the Plymouth box, but he could only head Larsson's corner ball straight at Romain Larrieu in the visitors' goal.

With both Sheffield United and Reading also dropping points, the result meant that Blues retained second spot in the table with just three games remaining. 

Full time: Blues 1 Plymouth 1

Blues: Maik Taylor, Liam Ridgewell (Franck Queudrue), David Murphy, Stephen Carr, Radhi Jaidi, Keith Fahey (Colin Doyle), Lee Bowyer, Sebastian Larsson, Damien Johnson, Cameron Jerome (James McFadden), Garry O'Connor.
Subs not used: Hameur Bouazza, Kevin Phillips.

Bookings: Jaidi (42), Jerome (57), Johnson (85)
Sending offs: Taylor (23)

Goals: Queudrue (50)

Plymouth: Romain Larrieu, David Gray, Marcel Seip, Gary Sawyer, Chris Barker, Jamie Mackie (Rory Fallon), Alan Judge, Carl Fletcher , Karl Duguid, Paul Gallagher, Ashley Barnes.
Subs not used: Lloyd Saxton, Krisztian Timar, Chris Clark, Dudi Douala.

Bookings: Barnes (20), Gray (49), Fletcher (80)

Goals: Gallagher 26 (Pen)

Referee: Mike Oliver (Northumberland)

Attendance: 19, 323