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You are in: Essential Stats: 2002-03 Season: Match Reports Also available:  Fans
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Match Reports
 
MolineuxAtt.27, 096
Ref: M Pike
Match No.
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05
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League Division 1
Match Stats27 August 2003
Wolves
2
2
Sheff Wed
Report by Nero Wolf

A point salvaged or a return to stuttering form? Should we be proud of Wolves' ability to come back from a goal down (twice), or have the old ghosts come back to haunt? Pick your own cliche - mine would be "it could have been worse". A goal behind twice in this match, the Wolves team managed to galvanise themselves twice - albeit they should never have been in that position in the first place.

This match reminded me of the 2-2 draw against Stockport last season, a match in which Kuqi also scored the first goal. To quote JD Wolf's report of that match "Anticipation was high going in to a game with the team propping up the division with no win to their name." Wolves always seem to upset the form books, too often at Molineux they do so by losing to a bottom of the table club.

Kuqi seems to make a habit of scoring against us and you have to ask yourself if there was an alterior motive for his brilliant performance. Could he somehow have been offended by the fact that we considered signing him but didn't? Apparently the last time he scored was against us in the 2-2 draw at Hillsborough , which saw our last vestiges of promotion hopes snuffed out.

In fact the whole of the Wednesday squad seemed up for this match. Could it have something to do with the Sheffield Utd/W*** Brom hatred of each other? Or the fact that Smegson used to play for them? They certainly didn't look like a team that had lost their last three games.

Kuqi scored their first after 9 minutes. A simple but neat pass found Kuqi in the box, and with time and space he finished right-footed into the centre of the goal. 0-1

Wolves at least tried to make a fist of it. Ingimarsson missed a point-blank header from an Irwin's corner before Blake had an effort ruled out for offside. Naylor's free kick was deflected by the defensive wall and fell to Blake whose shot found the back of the net, but not before the linesman flagged for offside. That - and a few wide shots were all that we had for the rest of the half, but it wasn't for the want of trying.

At the half time whistle came the almost-predictable boos. Sure that must really help to motivate the team.

Half time 0-1.

If Dave Jones gave Wolves a rollicking at half-time, it certainly didn't work. Almost straight away Wednesday troubled our defence from a throw in, but luckily it came to nothing.

Then came an astonishing ten minutes. On the hour mark Blake got one goal back, rising above the defenders to head home from a great Newton cross. An equaliser provided by the two players who have been getting the most stick from the fans recently. 1-1

Within a couple of minutes it was that man Kuqi again to pee on our bonfire. The cheers for the Blake goal hadn't stopped as Kuqi latched onto a cross to grab his second of the match.1-2

Wolves didn't collapse however and five minutes later Sturridge got his first goal of the season, heading in from a Lescott cross.

Try as they might the Wolves team couldn't break down a resolute Wednesday defence.

Kuqi had troubled the Wolves defence all match - he looked like he had something to prove. Even in stoppage time he placed a header just over the bar.

Wednesday came to defend, hoping for a lucky break. They got it early on and the tried to sit on the lead and catch us on the break. The worrying thing is that it worked, much as it did for other teams last season. Still at least we came back from behind twice in this match, showing signs of a determination which we didn't see towards the end of last season.

Still, early days, isn't it?

Full time 2-2

Match Stats coming soon


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