|
Slowly but surely, Wolves are beginning to adapt to Premiership life. The Wanderers climbed off the bottom of the table after scrapping out a point from home-less Fulham.
It's a minor achievement but perhaps its importance should not be underestimated. Pre-match, many Wolves fans watched the egg-chasers beat South Africa in West London bars. Then they walked up South Africa Road expecting to see their own team face a bit of a mauling against a team who scored in every game this season. There were some hairy moments but Oakes and his defence should take some pride in the fact that they ended this statistic.
Fulham and in particular their Frenchman Saha, had most of the chances in the first half. The striker headed one chance wide on 32 minutes and then mis-hit another opportunity shortly after. In reply, a typically-lively Camara saw a low effort go wide.
Wolves did a lot of chasing in the first half and the midfield were missing the suspended Ince. Not a lot went right for his replacement - Joey Gudjonsson - all afternoon. Fulham strung five across midfield and were at their most impressive on the counter-attack. They didn't seem to know how to cope with being the favourites to win and the Wolves fan were the happier (and louder) as the half ended all square.
Half Time Fulham 0 Wolves 0
After the re-start, Fulham started with renewed vigour and their fans woke up a bit too. The result of a passage of play that went in the home team's favour was a penalty appeal - Inamoto went crashing down in the box after Oakes advanced but the referee judged the Japanese international to have dived.
Kennedy replaced Miller on 59 minutes and it sparked a change in formation and fortune that suited Wolves. There was suddenly more confidence in attack and Cameron was getting the opportunity to get forward to support Blake and Camara.
It was now our chance to enjoy some pressure and there were a series of corners and promising situations where we could have sneaked a goal. In one instance, Henri Camara found himself unmarked in the area but panicked and blasted well over - the story of his season so far really. Shortly after, the huge Van der Sar pulled off a great reflex stop and parried over from close distance.
Fulham came back towards the end and Malbranque had two great chances. The first time he raced clear but Oakes came out well and parried. Very late, Malbranque hit the bar with a volley, although it looked from where we were sitting that Oakes got a touch.
I've now attended three Premiership games this season and I've seen Wolves score only once. Ultimately, this lack of firepower will cost us our Premiership status but at least - on this evidence - it looks like the lads are willing to make a fight of it.
Full Time Fulham 0 Wolves 0
|