Wolves get a win for Sir Jack

A packed Molineux paid tribute to Sir Jack Hayward before the game in a tribute to the man that invested millions to bring the club back from the brink of extinction to one that can attract over 28,000 to sit in comfort and watch the club he loved. And then they sat back and watched Wolves make very hard work of beating bottom of the table Blackpool, before clinching the points with two late goals.

The same team that had won at Blackburn was selected with new man Benik Afobe on the bench;

Ikeme
Iorfa, Batth, Stearman, Hause
McDonald, Price
Van La Parra, Edwards, Henry
Dicko

It was a very forgettable first half with neither keeper having a serious shot to save. Blackpool looked to have little to offer but Wolves made hard work of breaking them down and were crying out for Sako to offer them some creativity and positive running. But they should have gone in ahead at the break with a clear opening late on. Edwards had looked the most likely to make something happen in the final third with one shot curled narrowly wide and another one blocked. But in the last minute of the half he won the ball off the last defender. Incredibly Wolves had three players clear of the last line of defence with Dicko and Van La Parra in support and waiting for the sideways pass that would have left them with an open goal, but Edwards decided to shoot himself and put it wide.

The opening period of the second half was more of the same with plenty of huff and puff from Wolves but little quality. Van La Parra was making good runs down the right but his final ball was poor. But Blackpool were sitting deeper and deeper and resorting to time wasting with more than half an hour remaining. After 57 minutes Henry was withdrawn with Afobe coming on for his debut. The striker was soon impressing his new fans with some positive runs and some flick ons with his head.

Van La Parra and Iorfa were now a constant threat on the right as the pressure grew from the home team. And the Dutch winger had a shot saved then got in a cross that was inches away from finding Dicko in front of goal. With three minutes of the 90 remaining Van La Parra finally got it right after being set up by excellent play by Iorfa. He got to the bye line and his cross found Edwards who turned it in at the far post. And two minutes later the game us won as a mix up between keeper and defender left Afobe with a clear run on an open goal and he made no mistake.

Ikeme 7 – one of his easiest games of the season
Iorfa 8 – another highly impressive game by the youngster
Batth 9 – right back to his best and impeccable at the back
Stearman 8 – probably enjoying the best form of his career
Hause 7 – another sound 90 minutes
McDonald 7 – much better today with some good runs and prompting second half
Price 7 – keeps it simple and keeps Wolves ticking along
Van La Parra 8 – lets of good runs on the right and after a lot of poor final balls he kept going and made the breakthrough goal
Edwards 8 – the best of the attackers on the day and deserved his goal
Henry 5 – never got going today
Dicko 6 – not great service today but had some good moments
Afobe 7 – impressive half an hour and looks just what Wolves needed

In the end a vital three points after keeping going when it looked like they would be frustrated. But three points just had to be found today, Sir Jack insisted on it.