As the pubs and clubs once again opened up in Wolverhampton, so did the Gillingham defence, as rampant Wolves went goal mad on a sunny afternoon at Molineux.
DJ had asked his players to show more passion after the grim struggle against Stoke on Tuesday night. Even he couldn't have dreamed that his words would have such an impact as Wolves recorded a six goal winning margin for the first time since November 1988.
Gillingham's defensive problems started before kick off as first choice keeper Brown was injured in the warm up. He was replaced by former Wolves man Vince Bartram.
Wolves started brightly and saw Kennedy feed Blake on the left, but the flag was raised for offside before the Welsh international could attempt to cross. Blake was causing the visitors all sorts of problems and was cynically hauled down by Hope after the Gillingham player had lost the ball to the Wolves number nine. It earned him a booking. Wolves were fully in control and the inspirational Ince forced Bartam to tip over a fierce 30 yard drive on the quarter hour mark. A minute later Wolves were in front when Blake played a neat interchange of passes with Miller inside the box. It left the striker enough space to fire his shot into the back of the net. It was Blake's first goal since October Wolves 1 Gillingham 0. Wolves had a strangle hold of the game and pressed for the second goal at every opportunity. Miller was denied when his fine volley was ruled out by the flag happy linesman., but the second goal duly came just six minutes after the opener. A poor clearance by the shaky Gillingham defence fell to the feet of Cameron. The Scotsman drilled home a volley from just inside the area, Wolves 2 Gillingham 0. The midfield man left the field temporarily a few minutes later to receive treatment to a head wound after an aerial collision.
Matt Murray's day in the sunshine was briefly interrupted when he calmly plucked across out of the air from former Wolves man Simon Osbourn.
The Wolves attack was relentless and Ince was unlucky when he saw his fine volley hit the post. Wolves made it three on 37 minutes when the ever dangerous Kennedy rolled the ball past Bartram after Newton's cross landed into his path after deflecting off a defender. Wolves 3 Gillingham 0. Wolves fans were treated to two more goals in first half injury time. Firstly Miller made it 20 for the season when he latched onto Ince's clever through ball. The in-form Striker out paced Hope to slot home, Wolves 4 Gillingham 0. Wolves still had time for a fifth goal. Blake's shot cannoned off Bartram's chest, the keeper could only watch as Kennedy volleyed home his second of the match.Wolves 5 Gillingham 0
A quintet of goals in 45 spectacular minutes of football.
HT Wolves 5 Gillingham 0
Any thoughts of a quiet second half quickly evaporated when Miller grabbed his second goal minutes after the re-start. He made it 21 for the season when Ince's floated through ball split the shell shocked Gillingham defence, leaving the flying Scotsman the formality of slotting the ball home. Wolves 6 Gillingham 0. After that it was party time as the Mexican waves started around the sun drenched Molineux.
With Wolves now playing exhibition football and Gillingham looking for damage limitation, the game looked more like a pre-season friendly than a league game. Wolves fan's desperately wanted seven and Irwin came closer than anyone. When Newton was fouled on the edge of the area the ex-Ireland international sent a wickedly curling free kick crashing against the under side of the bar.
After that the game drifted towards the final whistle in a less than laboured fashion. Even the introduction of Rae for the excellent Cameron late on failed to add to the goal tally. The final whistle was greeted with rapturous cheers by the already partying old gold faithful.
With results going our way and a welcome break from the hectic league schedule coming up, Wolves have put themselves in a promising position.
On a great afternoon Wolves looked good and showed six appeal. Long may it continue.
FT Wolves 6 Gillingham 0
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