A first-half goal by Lee Bowyer helped Birmingham grind out a vital 1-0 win at home to Fulham in the Premier League.

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With a rare piece of class in a poor game, midfielder Bowyer finished with aplomb after good work by James McFadden to give the hard-working Blues a lead they protected despite Fulham's travails.

The first half was a scrappy affair, not helped by the wet and windy conditions at St Andrews, with Fulham in particular unable to get their typical passing game going.

The Whites should have taken the lead on seven minutes when Bobby Zamora turned on halfway, raced towards goal but put wide when he should have either finished or found strike partner Clint Dempsey.

Birmingham went ahead on the quarter-hour thanks to Bowyer's cool lobbed finish past Mark Schwarzer after a fine pass from James McFadden allowed him to spring the offside trap.

Cameron Jerome could have made it 2-0 but headed straight at Schwarzer from another McFadden centre, while for Fulham Zoltan Gera had a shot blocked and Brede Hangeland headed a corner over.

The second half saw Fulham dominate possession but rarely truly threaten, in part due to a lack of creativity in an under-strength midfield that saw Chris Baird and Jonathan Greening occupy the central berths.

The best chance fell to Dempsey, who tried to go it all alone with his back to goal on the edge of the box with a superb piece of control followed by a bicycle kick that went just wide.

Not long afterwards Joe Hart tipped over from the American's header, while a speculative shot from substitute Damien Duff went wide, but Fulham never really looked like scoring or even getting beyond Alex McLeish's well-drilled defence.

The hosts held out for a win that put them 13th, below Fulham and Everton on goal difference.