By Jemma Tappenden
March 16 2007

Pride. passion and bragging rights. All at stake at Molineux yesterday as Wolves entertained West Brom for the second time this season at Molineux, in the third meeting between the sides in this campaign. Could Wolves fans finally get the bragging rights? Another tension packed derby has been and gone. For the third time this season Wolves and Albion met each other, Baggies fans still with the honours of the bragging rights after two previous 3-0 wins over local rivals Wolves. Stakes on this fixture were high for both clubs, there was no place in the next round of the FA Cup to be had this time, but 3 vital league points as both teams try to mount realistic promotion challenges. For Wolves fans this is almost the unthinkable. A team which started the season under new management, and with squad numbers down to a bare minimum, the main concern was would fielding a team of 11 players week in week out. For Albion expectation has been high all season. Having kept the majority of their premiership squad, promotion has always been a more than realistic prospect.

Albion made one change to their starting line up – Zoltan Gera started in place of Robert Koren who was dropped to the bench. Wolves were also forced to make a change to the side that beat Luton 3-2, Darren Potter taking over the captaincy for the injured karl Henry. Having met them twice already, Wolves were familiar with the stars of West Bromwich Albion. But Wolves featured a host of new faces in their side which the Baggies were yet to come across, including the impressive Michael Kightly.

A relatively bright start from both sides produced its first real threat on goal in the 8th minute. Highly rated Jason Koumas fired in a fierce cross, which fell only inches short of Gera. Minutes later Wolves responded, with Seyi-George Olofinjana drilling in a hard low shot from 20 yards. Dean Kiely gathered the ball on his second attempt after spilling it from the initial shot. Moments later Wolves fans were on their feet screaming “shoot”, as a dangerous ball from Kightly found Andy Keogh who had more space and shooting time than he thought. Neil Clement disposed the young striker to send Albion on a counter attack. Phillips beat Jackie McNamara to the ball and forced Wolves keeper Matt Murray into a fine save. It was not long before Kightly broke with pace again, threading a superb ball to Stephen Ward, who again found Keogh in the box. This time the striker could not apply enough power to the shot, and Kiely collected comfortably. 7 minutes before the break Kevin Phillips found the net, only to find the flag up for offside. Wolves finished off the half with a ferocious shot from Keogh, shot marginally wide from a Collins free kick.

The Baggies started the second half full of character, Curtis Davies showed great strength and composure in the middle of the park to fire forward to Kamara, who left the Wolves defence stranded for pace. The 21 goal Kamara was denied by yet another great save from powerhouse Murray. In the 59th minute Michael McIndoe pounced on a loose ball to close down Albion keeper Dean Kiely, who did well to prevent the shot from hitting the back of the net. Back to the other end and Murray did just as well to prevent Koumas finding the net with a 20 yard cracker. The Baggies fell asleep momentarily, allowing Kightly to break free, Keogh again hesitated in the box and Clement was on hand to clear the danger. A few moments later Keogh did find the net, but his effort was ruled out for offside. In the 63rd minute Kevin Phillips made way for MacDonald. Wolves also brought on estranged striker Jay Bothroyd. Bothroyd’s first touch of he game was a sweet left footed shot, which Kiely fingered round the post to deny Wolves a goal. Albion had 3 excellent chances, all featuring the prolific Kamara who could not find the net. There then followed a period of reasonable pressure from Wolves, although they lacked any real definition on the final ball. Eventually the deadlock was broken, and it was Wolves who found the net in the 83rd minute. Substitute Bothroyd with a low left footed shot which snuck past Dean Kiely into the right hand corner of the net. Albion applied the pressure for the final 5 minutes of the game, but Murray pulled off a series of fine saves to keep Wanderers in line for 3 vital points. The final whistle brought a sigh of relief to all Wolves fans, who moved to 4th in the table, 2 points clear of West Brom. This was Albion’s 2nd league defeat in a row, they move down to 5th.

Wolves fans are well aware that the previous two encounters had been a case of Men against boys. The score line of this one might not have been as impressive, but it did at least hand some of the bragging rights back, and was a clear sign that the gap has at least narrowed. Wolves can and are mounting a challenge for promotion. And there was not a fan of either side at Molineux yesterday who at the very least could not admit that so far Mick McCarthy has done one hell of a job.