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| Wolves 2 Gillingham 0 02/03/2002 |
| Match Report | |||||||
| Report by Nero Wolf
Before the match the question was: which Wolves would we see today? The team that flatters to deceive and gets beaten by the odd goal to a team that on paper we should easily beat? Or the exciting team that we had seen in September and again recently? The Wolves that had been beaten 1-0 at home by Gillingham in the FA Cup or the team that had beaten them away 3-2? In his report on the Gillingham away match Fat Stat said that the "one touch football and some of the passing was so good I couldn't believe it - I thought I was in the San Siro!" Well today the football was reminiscent of the German national teams of yester year who can grind out results, but the hint of the exotic was provided by the crowd whose Mexican waves in the second half seem to sum up the feeling that party time is already here. Gillingham had the ex-Wolves contingent of Vince Bartram and Simon Osborn and also The Edge from U2 at left back. Good to see that over-paid mega stars still need a second job like playing guitar in a rock band. Wolves played well in the first half for a change. Gillingham gave the ball away to Andrews in their own half and he played the ball to Rae. Rae sent in a cross that was headed out and fell to Butler just outside the box. Butler gave the ball a sweet strike that deserved better, but went just wide. Then Sturridge was played through in the box by Rae and - nearly one-on-one with the keeper - forced a good save. Then came the almost inevitable first goal. Kennedy had swapped wings with Newton and so found himself on the right. He cut inside and teed himself up for a shot with his left foot which had so much power Bartram dropped it. The shot was being followed up by two Wolves players, but the spilled shot fell to Rae who slotted the ball home. The work rate is one of the things that Davey Jones has got right this season, and it was great to see that there were not just one but two Wolves players ready to capitalise on defensive errors. Not that Wolves were getting it all their own way. A good interchange of passes between Shaw and King saw a good chance fall to Shaw in the box, but luckily he shot wide. However deep in first half stoppage time the second goal eventually came. The seed of the goal came from another example of Wolves' work rate. A nothing ball was easily collected by a Gillingham defender deep in his own half, but Newton closed him down early giving him no choice but to put the ball out for a Wolves throw. The throw went to Muscat who played in Rae who sent a cross to the far post. Blake climbed above the defender and headed home. 2-0 at half-time and good night Vienna. Wolves didn't really have to try too hard in the second half. We were two goals up and the crowd were in happy mood anyway. The party mood was demonstrated a Mexican wave going round the Molineux. But Wolves didn't get it all their own way. A good corner routine saw one of the Gills' players step over the ball leaving the late arriving Osborn clear to have a shot from just outside the box. Then Panic in the Wolves area ended in a great shot from Shaw beat Oakes but come back off the post. At the other end a Kennedy shot from outside the box brought a good save, and Lescott shot wide when he perhaps should have done better. After the match Davey Jones said that he didn't want the Wolves players to be distracted by the celebratory mood of the fans, and insisted that "there's a long way to go and a lot of hard games lie ahead." Quite right and I'm glad that he remains focused. But after such a long time in the wilderness, who can blame us for starting the celebrations early? I'm sure Davey has the quality to make sure that our partying isn't premature.....
Attendance: 25, 908
Goals: Wolves:Rae (26 mins), Blake (45 mins) Best Player : Rae (4 votes) Lescott (1 vote) Sturridge (1 vote)
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| Average player ratings are taken from a number of newspapers, magazines and web-sites ...more.... |
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