Blackburn striker Dwight Yorke grabbed the only goal of the game to clinch a 1-0 victory against Birmingham at St Andrews.

	Yorke celebrates and gets abuse from the home crowd (DaveRogers/Allsport)

Yorke, who has become renowned for his love of parties, turned gatecrasher on this occasion to wreck City's long-awaited homecoming return to the big time.

Yorke has often been criticised in the past for his playboy lifestyle, one which is understood to have angered former boss Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

While Ferguson can tolerate the kind of spotlight which captain David Beckham basks in, he is averse to the kind of headlines which Yorke has attracted, not least for his affair with glamour model Jordan.

Perhaps unsurprising then Ferguson enacted his own kind of vengeance last season by relegating Yorke to the reserves for the majority of the campaign, the striker looking on ruefully from the bench as Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer plundered the goals.

Rovers boss Graeme Souness remained undeterred and sensing an opportunity finally landed the Trinidad and Tobago star for what could prove to be a bargain £2million, reuniting him with former Old Trafford strike partner Andy Cole.

The duo plundered 53 goals between them during the 1998-99 season, and while that is an unlikely return this campaign, what Souness would surely give for around 80% of that figure.

With Matt Jansen unlikely to return to the Rovers side for another few weeks after sustaining head and chest injuries in a motorbike accident while on holiday in Italy during the summer, Yorke and Cole have the opportunity to rediscover the telepathic understanding which made them a force to be reckoned with at United.

It was Yorke, so deadly in and around the six-yard box, who proved he has lost none of his predatory instincts by scoring the decisive and only goal of the game.

Despite City suffering a 2-0 opening day defeat to Premiership champions Arsenal last week, this was the moment Blues fans had waited for as they welcomed top-flight football back to St Andrews for the first time in 16 years.

Fireworks and a cacophony of noise heralded Steve Bruce's side onto the pitch, with the high expectations briefly punctuated by an impeccably observed minute's silence in memory of murdered 10-year-old schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

City certainly started with the intent of giving the full-house crowd of 27,563 - 25,000 of those season-ticket holders - what they craved, only for another silence to follow in the 13th minute when Yorke gave Rovers the lead from what was the visitors' first attack.

It was a brilliantly worked move, one which started from the halfway line and spread across to the left wing, with David Dunn ultimately setting up Yorke for a close-range left-foot shot inside Nico Vaesen's right-hand post.

Perhaps Yorke felt at ease in the red and black of Blackburn's away strip, somewhat reminiscent of United's kit, for he then immediately taunted the Birmingham supporters by turning his back to them and pointing to his name at the top of the shirt.

Blackburn should then have killed the game with the chances which followed, in particular in the 19th minute, with Dunn - being watched by England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson - again pivotal to the move.

His feeder pass found Cole, who in turn laid off a first-time forward through ball for Damien Duff, but the 23-year-old was denied by Belgian Vaesen who had advanced and spread himself well.

Vaesen then toe-ended away an angled Cole strike before the forward then pounced on a mistake by Olivier Tebily, only to get the ball stuck under his feet and allow the Blues' keeper to clear the danger.

For the next 40 minutes Birmingham controlled the game and created the chances, but in failing to score they must be wondering just why they have yet to break their Premiership duck.

Before the break, Stern John saw a thunderous drive cannon off the legs of Craig Short, while United States international Brad Friedel superbly tipped away a Martin Grainger 22-yard free-kick.

After the interval, the pressure remained intense with Friedel first plucking a Geoff Horsfield flick header out of the air, prior to a moment of inspiration which seemed to take the heart out of City.

A Damien Johnson right-wing cross found John on the rise, the striker hanging in the air superbly before powering in a header destined for the top left-hand corner, only to be denied by the brilliance of Friedel as the American somehow clawed the ball away.

Penalty appeals against substitute Henning Berg, on for Tugay in the 58th minute, and Craig Short were turned away by referee Dermot Gallagher, further sapping City's spirit for in the closing 15 minutes they ran out of steam.

Three superb saves by Vaesen from Cole, Taylor and Yorke, and a wasted chance apiece by Rovers' front-running duo, prevented the possibility of a rout, but the one goal was enough to leave City still searching for their first points back in the top flight.