Wolves 3 West Brom 1: Steven Fletcher brace gives survival chances huge boost

09 May 2011 00:23
ShareSteven Fletcher thrust himself forward as Mick McCarthy's late-season saviour with two goals to settle the Black Country derby and blow the fight to stay up wide open.[LNB]The Scotland centre forward, who became Wolves joint-record signing last summer, has had to play  second fiddle to Kevin Doyle this season. But Doyle's absence with a knee problem and a hamstring injury to Sylvan Ebanks-Blake has placed the spotlight on Fletcher, whose response yesterday was to score twice and play a signifcant part in his side's other goal.[LNB] Hungry pack of Wolves: Steven Fletcher gave his side's survival hopes a massive boost[LNB]The striker, signed from Burnley for ?6m, is making the most of his chance, following on from a wonderful header against Fulham two weeks ago and a penalty in last weekend's draw at Birmingham.[LNB]Uncharacteristically, Wolves  manager McCarthy chose the  occasion to give himself a public pat on the back as his side moved out of the bottom three for the first time in two months. [LNB]And well he might. He took a brave decision to omit Matt Jarvis in favour of Stephen Hunt and took credit too for playing two up front against a suspect West Bromwich defence.[LNB]'It is lovely to be proved right,' he said. 'I've spent millions on Steven. He was my first choice last summer. I thought it was the best bit of  business that I could have done.[LNB] Right place, right time: The Scot pounced to poke his side ahead early on[LNB]McCARTHY'S HOLY GRAIL'When seagulls follow a trawler it is because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea,' was Eric Cantona's bizarre comment in a press conference following his assault on a Crystal Palace fan in 1995.[LNB]Yesterday, Wolves manager Mick McCarthy went down the surreal route when asked why Wolves up their game for the big matches at Molineux.[LNB]'Well, what's the wing speed of an American swallow?' he replied, referencing an exchange between KingArthur and a guard in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.[LNB]'I challenged him to get into this team.And it's my job and the rest of the coaching staff's to get the best out of Steven. But his contribution, above his goals, has been terrific.He has been effective when we have played two up front and he and Stephen Ward were terrific.' [LNB]Wolves took advantage of a lacklustre startby the visitors. It was highlighted by manager Roy Hodgson's behaviour.He was constantly out of the dug-out and pacing around the technical area.[LNB]Going into this game, Albion had not kept a clean sheet in 33 league games this season and they had conceded 27 times from set-pieces.[LNB]It took 16 minutes for both of those records to be extended when Hunt's corner was missed by Albion skipper Jonas Olsson and Adlene Guedioura was unmarked as the ball hit his chest and bounced to Fletcher, who fired home.[LNB] [LNB] Carbon copy: Adlene Guedioura produced an almost identical finish before the break[LNB]Twelve minutes later, another Hunt corner was headed across goal by Fletcher and Guedioura volleyed home from four yards.[LNB]West Bromwich's leading scorer Peter Odemwingie almost reduced the deficit with a moment of  fleet-footed magic on the stroke of half-time.[LNB]Two minutes after the re-start, a mistake by Abdoulaye Meite, when he failed to deal with a Kevin Foley clearance, allowed Fletcher to race through and score his 11th goal of the season.[LNB]Freed by the expectation of  getting something from the game, Albion began to find their feet. [LNB] Three and easy: The points were all but secured moments after the restart[LNB]MATCH FACTS Wolves (4-4-2): Hennessey 7; Foley 7,Craddock 7, Mancienne 7, Elokobi 6;Guedioura 6 (Jarvis 74min, 6), Henry 6,O'Hara 6 (Stearman 79), Hunt 7; Ward 7,Fletcher 8 (Ebanks-Blake 83). Subs notused: Hahnemann, Berra, Vokes, Milijas.Booked: Guedioura, Craddock, Henry.Scorers: Fletcher 16, 47, Guedioura 29.[LNB]West Br omwich (4-2-3-1): Carson 6;Jara 5 (Fortune 68, 5), Meite 4, Olsson 6, Shorey 7; Mulumbu 6, Morrison 6; Tchoyi 6, Cox 5 (Miller 77, 5), Thomas (Vela 82); Odemwingie 7. Subs not used: Myhill, Hurst, Thorne, Tamas. Booked: Mulumbu.Scorer: Odemwingie 55 (pen).[LNB]Man of the match: Steven Fletcher.Referee: Mike Dean 8.Attendance: 28,510. [LNB]Guedioura spoiled his own day by up-ending Jerome Thomas and Odemwingie finished emphatically from the penalty spot. Thereafter, Thomas slammed against the upright and Somen Tchoyi squandered a chance from a header that could have made the last 15 minutes interesting.[LNB]Hodgson said: 'My verdict is that if you concede two first-half goals from corner kicks and then another from an unfortunate error within a couple of minutes of the second half starting, then you have given yourself a mountain to climb.[LNB]'After that, we tried to climb it. We dominated the second half. We showed great fighting spirit. But unfortunately we were 3-0 down against ateam who were desperate for the points.[LNB]'I can't ask any more from the team in the second half. But we were missing Steven Reid, Chris Brunt and Paul Scharner and they are good headers. It was a concern for us before the game.'[LNB]But the final word has to go to McCarthy. He made big calls before this match and was proved right by the result.[LNB]'What pleased me?' he said, 'Hunt's performance, for a start. If we had lost there would have been all sorts of questions about why I left Jarvis out.[LNB]'I just thought Hunty was the man for this occasion and Jarvo hasn't been as effective over the last four or five games. If ever there was a decision justified, it was that one.'[LNB]And he had a warning for his rivals, caught up in what looks like a battle that will go to the final day on  Sunday week. 'There is a great collective spirit in our team,' he said. 'We are still scrapping for it. There's plenty of work to be done yet.[LNB] Crying game: a young Wolves fan found it all too much when West Bromwich scored but it was all smiles at the end[LNB] [LNB] [LNB] Watch all the Premier League goals every week on our brilliant video playerWest Brom set to offer Odemwingie fresh deal to stay at the Hawthorns'If we win we'll stay up,' McCarthy's promise ahead of Black Country derbyAll the latest West Bromwich Albion news, features and opinionAll the latest Wolves news, features and opinion  Explore more:People: Steven Fletcher, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, Mick McCarthy, Kevin Doyle, Matt Jarvis, Jerome Thomas, Roy Hodgson, Paul Scharner, Jonas Olsson, Mike Dean Places: Birmingham, Scotland

Source: Daily_Mail