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Tuesday, 10 May 2011

The Black Country and maybe survival is Wolves

By: DJ | May 8th, 2011
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10671402 Wolves made it 11 points from 6 West Midlands derbies this season and took a giant step towards Premier League survival at Molineux on Sunday. There have not been many sweeter days for Wolves fans in recent years than to beat their biggest rivals in such an important game. And they now probably need to win one of their last two games to secure another season of top flight football.

It was a susrprise team selection from McCarthy with Foley restored to right back, Guedioura on the right of midfield and Hunt on the left with the likes of Ebanks Blake and Jarvis on the bench. But the selection was completely vindicated in the first 40 minutes as Wolves totally dominated play and surged into a two goal lead. They were ahead after 15 minutes. Carson pushed a O’Hara free kick round the post and from the resulting Hunt corner the ball fell to Guedioura and then rebounded to Fletcher who swept the ball home. And the same players were involved after 28 minutes when another Hunt corner was headed back across the area by Fletcher and Gurdioura turned it in.

Ward headed inches wide from a O’Hara cross but Albion were edging back into it late in the half and Odemwingie went close with a cross shot. And Albion looked to have an extra fizz about them at the start of the 2nd half but from Wolves first move into their opponents half they were gifted a third. Foley’s through ball was missed by Meite which left Fletcher with just Carson to beat and he made no mistake. And there was almost a 4th as Guedioura’s shot was deflected just wide. But Albion had a step back into the game when Guedioura felled Thomas and Odemwingie converted the penalty. And Wolves fans were getting nervous as Thomas hit the bar and then an unmarked Tchoyi headed wide from a good chance. But Wolves weathered the storm and Ward and sub Ebanks Blake both went close late on.

Hennessey – a safe pair of hands nowadays and one superb save in the second half.

Foley – excellent return to right back before moving to midfield late on

Elokobi – generally played well although Tchoyi beat him a couple of times and he produced one comedy moment attempting to head back to Hennessey from a knee high ball.

Mancienne – also generally good but twice was at fault in letting Odemwingie through on goal

Craddock – the steady rock at the heart of the defence with some solid and unfussy defending

Guedioura – his best showing since returning from injury to justify his surprise selection

Henry – solid in the heart of the midfield

O’Hara – his best game since his early games at the club

Hunt – fabulous man of the match performance. Never gave the Albion players a minutes peace on the ball and was a constant threat from the left side. At last looked like the excellent signing Wolves were hoping for last summer.

Ward – tireless work and his running was a real threat to Albion. His best performance of the season and won over even his fiercest critics on the day.

Fletcher – two more goals and another outstanding centre forward performance. Looks worth every penny of the transfer fee in recent games.

Subs – Jarvis barely got into the game on the right, Ebanks Blake went close to getting the 4th while Stearman almost gifted Albion a 2nd with an under hit back pass.

So with two games to go Wolves are now out of the bottom three and now face Sunderland away and then Blackburn at home. The last game could be a winner take all survival match but three points from either game looks sure to be enough to secure survival.

Category: Team News

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Saturday, 7 May 2011

Bolton v. Sunderland: Hopefully Black Cats Mean Good Luck

By: Mark Yesilevskiy | May 6th, 2011
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With a very short yet very miserable road trip over, the Wanderers return to the Reebok on Saturday to face Sunderland. The Black Cats are one of those very hit-or-miss teams with Bolton Wanderers (then again, who isn’t this season) but with just three matches left in the season, Bolton will look for as many points as possible in order to ensure a top-half finish.

Sunderland beat the Whites 1-0 on the road earlier this season thanks to a Danny Welbeck diving header. Bolton’s away form (as we well know) has been dodgy at best but on the bright side, Owen Coyle has once again made the Reebok a fortress. For the first time in their history, Bolton have won five straight games at home and will look to make it six at the weekend.

It probably is no coincidence that Bolton’s away form at Fulham and Blackburn (that is, not a single goal scored) coincided with an ankle knock picked up by Danny Sturridge. The Wanderers will receive a boost as the Chelsea loanee is set to make a return this weekend alongside Gretar Steinsson. Mark Davies is still suffering with his ankle injury and is expected to sit out once more.

Although Kevin Davies got off to a flying start this season, the skipper hasn’t put a ball into the back of the net since New Year’s Day against Liverpool. If that’s not a scoring duck, I don’t know what is. Both Matilda and I have noted on the @BoltonOffside twitter feed during matches the last few weeks that it seems as though Davies doesn’t know what to do with the ball at his feet. There is no more dribbling from him, everything appears to be headed flick-on. The captain has to score and I’ll put money on it being against Sunderland (I hope).

A win and an Everton loss (who face Manchester City at Goodison) can see Bolton leapfrog the Toffees and re-take seventh place in the Premier League. While that would be nice, some breathing room from ninth place Fulham who sit just a point behind us would be even better.

Come on you Wanderers!