"We scored a penalty, we scored a penalty, we scored a penalty..........."

What a joy to hear those words, as the south bank sarcastically savoured a momentous moment.

Wolves were saved by an ex Derby player, his first for almost two years, as relief echoed around a near capacity Molineux. DJ's head was on the block, however it remained on his shoulders - for the moment anyway.

It was a chilly autumn evening but I was expecting a warm reception inside the ground, however to my astonishment, Wolves fans were subdued. DJ, in his after-match West Ham speech stated that change was bad, however many changes were made some enforced others not. Newton and Naylor retired to the bench whilst Lescott and Ince were nowhere to be seen - had he had a prematch tantrum with DJ - who knows? So Cameron, George and Cooper filled the midfield whilst the impressive looking Biscoff partnered Craddock in defence, with Kennedy and Lowe as fullbacks.

Wolves decided to kick towards the favoured North Bank in the first half, and Oakes got a tremendous reception as he took his (rightful?) place in goal. Almost from the kick off Wolves fans got behind the team and (particularly) DJ - somewhat of a surprise for me.

This was a must-win match and although Wolves started brightly enough, we still seem to be missing a real cutting edge. And so, although having much of the play, no real chances were created. In reply Derby looked weak in attack, but were easily dealing with any Wolves attack.

The turning moment came in the 19th, when an in-flight Kenny Miller, through on goal, was clumsily taken out by the Derby keeper. The ref had no choice and instantly brandished the red card and awarded a penalty. For a moment the ground went deathly quiet as the realisation came about that for the second time in four days we had a penalty given, one of their men sent off, and against a team from the East Midlands.

Wolves record of penalties has been abysmal - 8 misses out of the last 11. However after a lengthy delay, some caused by a substitution for Derby to accommodate bringing on a keeper (but was deliberately done to crank up the atmosphere in the hope of causing fear?), up stepped, derby fan, Cooper. His ears must have still been ringing as the South Bank sang "Oaksey, Oaksey take the kick, Oaksey....."; but Cooper blasted the kick down the centre bursting the back of the net. Relief all round (except in the lower Steve Bull stand), as the chants of "we scored a penalty" echoed around the ground.

Down to ten men, Derby tried to claw an instant reply but Oakes pulled off a magnificent save to justify his position.

Derby temporarily went down to 9 men, as one of their defenders had to take lengthy treatment when he was struck in the face full force point blank range by a Kenny Miller exocet. Another one to keep his head, however Wolves failed to capitalise on even better numbers.

With the advantage of numbers you would expect an all out assault, unfortunately it didn't really happen. Miller made the substitute keeper pull off a fine save, but for all their huffing and puffing no real chances were ground out.

Half time Wolves 1 Derby 0

Wolves started the second half on a brighter note (as you would expect), as they went for a killer second goal - one that was very necessary!

Just 5 mins into the second half, Miller was again bundled over, this time from 25 yards out. With several players around the ball, Cooper curled in an absolutely sweet free-kick which nestled into the top corner, giving the substitute keeper no chance. 2.0 Wolves as the goal surprised most in the ground including the announcer as it took an age for "Tom Hawk" to be played.

At times we had to wait for ages to retrieve the one and only match ball - most clubs now keep many balls to keep the game flowing. Is it tactics? Or just that Jessica is too mean to buy more? I believe the later, so Jessica get your fat chins out of the trough and spend some money on the club!

It was effectively game over, but Derby tried to battle back into the game although they soon began to tire as the extra man showed. Wolves still showed promise, but were making little way into the Derby box and what few real chances there were fell to Miller. However he must have been wearing the rat Camara's boots as his wild shots pinged off the corner flags and upper tier of the South Bank.

The temperature rose in the Derby end as some irate Derby fans were ejected by some over zealous stewards, but to be honest that's all they had to sing about all night.

With Derby tired and Wolves failing to find the target the game drifted into our first home win of the season.

DJ again used his get out of jail card.

The performance lacked bite and worthwhile attacks, however as has been muted so many times before, confidence is at an all time low and this can only improve things. DJ's sweeping changes seem to be the last throw of the dice for a doomed man; but the players still don't seem to be giving their all for him. This suggests to me that he has "lost the dressing room" and so has this win just given him a brief lifeline?

I am not a great fan of DJ, I believe he is tactically naive and truly believed that he would do better in the Premier - although he was badly let down by the board. This Sunday league we are in is totally different; its a case of bullying the opponents and long balls - something that DJ has not really got the hang of and something that the bennies learned several years ago!

However change now could be a bad thing so a message to Jessica and his spineless lackies:

BACK HIM OR SACK HIM!!!

Full time Wolves 2 Derby 0