Town fell to their second defeat in three games at Molineux, but can think themselves very unfortunate not to have gained at least a point. An early goal in each half from Harvard Flo gave Wolves a two goal lead and Town could only respond with A James Scowcroft header towards the end. A controversial decision in the closing stages saw Town have a blatant penalty denied.
Town lined up without Marcus Stewart whose thigh strain sustained in training was clearly worse than originally thought. James Scowcroft had recovered sufficiently to take his place with Jermaine Wright continuing in midfield and John McGreal coming in for Manu Thetis at centre-half.
The game was just starting to get into a pattern when Wolves scored. Michael Branch played a swift ball in from the right to Harvard Flo's feet and the Norwegian turned a rather static John McGreal and hit the ball past Richard Wright.
Town gradually started to take control after this and the rest of the half was a series of misses from the Blues. If it wasn't a goalmouth scamble, it was shots flying high and wide, excellent saves from Michael Oakes in the Wolves goal, headers from Matt Holland going wide of the post or badly worked free-kicks. At the other end there was little action for Richard Wright as the defence regained possession very quickly whenever it was lost.
The Town team was clapped off their fans at half-time with an equaliser seeming the most likely occurance when the game restarted. Sadly this was not to be the case. Another lapse at the back saw Harvard Flo hook the ball past Richard Wright. After this the half continued much as the first; constant Town pressure. It seemed only a matter of time before Town scored, but as in the previous two games the goal just would not come. David Johnson had a shot superbly tipped over as it dipped into the net, whilst Jermaine Wright, Jamie Clapham, James Scowcroft and others sent shots high or wide and Tony Mowbray should have done better with a header from a corner.
Jermaine Wright was brought off and Richard Naylor came on with James Scowcroft moving into midfield. The substitution paid dividends within a few minutes as Town pulled one back. Good work from Jamie Clapham and David Johnson down the left saw a deep cross fly in and James Scowcroft head back inside the right-hand post.
There was still more than enough time on the clock for Town to get back on terms and they seemed determined to do something about it. With 88 minutes on the clock the referee, who had annoyed the home fans in the main up to now, made his worst decision of the match. Richard Naylor flicked the ball past Kevin Muscat and ran into the area where the combative Australian defender upended him. The linesman, right in front of the Town faithful, waved his flag vigorously, but was ignored by ref Michael Jones. The Town players and fans appealed long and hard but the referee was having none of it.
The final few minutes were played out with Town still pushing forwards and the nerves and whistles of the locals more than noticible. As the players left the field some of the Town players continued to remonstrate with the referee and George Burley made a far more strong statement about the referee than he has in the past, labelling him 'a disgrace'. It certainly was a bad decision, although Town should have won easily had they taken their chances and the penalty wouldn't have been an issue. At least Town scored one goal at the weekend and we go into next week's derby having played Wolves off the park even if the result didn't show that. Someone is going to get Town on a day when the ball is going in rather than wide, high or into the keeper's arms. Could it be Norwich in next week's derby?
R Wright 7 Goals not his fault
Wilnis 8 Good coming forward once more
Mowbray 7 Should have done better with header
McGreal 6 At fault on first goal
Brown 6 Distribution still not great
Clapham 7 Free-kicks and corners poor, but good in open play
Holland 7 Captain's performance
Magilton 8 Passed the ball well
J Wright 6 Still not fitting in (Naylor,
Johnson 8 Good work, but needs a goal
Scowcroft 7 Looked better in midfield