Wolves 1 – 0 Crystal Palace (Thank Goodness) – Match Review

By: Toby | March 3rd, 2009

Well our luck had to change eventually didn’t it? Despite being ropey, nervous and rushed at times Wolves came away from Crystal Palace, on an evening game, in the rain, with a win. Three points and a clean sheet? Yes please. It’s a result beyond all of my wildest dreams, my most fevered predictions before the game and more. We had a penalty decision go our way, we even managed not to concede straight after scoring, neither did we concede in the first ten minutes.

That’s not to say we didn’t make hard work of it. My goodness me we made hard work of it, making us sweat till the 74th minute for a start for a goal, and with Hennessey trying his level best to divide his time between trying to score an own goal, wondering around aimlessly in his box and pulling off match winning saves, he was utterly infuriating throughout. He showed the class which has made him first choice keeper for Wales and Wolves at just 22 at times, and at times, he reminded us all that he’s still on the sunny side of 25, and wasn’t even born when the first Back To The Future came out.

Once again it was Ebanks Blake to the rescue, quick to make up for his last penalty miss against Coventry to cooly slot the ball past Speroni to claim his 22nd of the season. It wasn’t an assured performance tonight by any means, but for a team who’s streak of losses and draws as bad as ours, you’d never really expect a barnstormer, we were nervous and scrappy, we wanted that win desperately, the beautiful football was kindly asked to wait outside while every player out there put a shift in. It was hugely refreshing. Friend worked well in midfield, Iwelumo was a reassuring presence from the start, while Hill, as always, slotted into defence without much fuss at all.

So where do we go from here? Sheffield, to answer that question literally. The very same Sheffield Wednesday who gave Reading a good run for their money tonight…goodness me, not the kind of game you want when you’re just starting to find your feet again, this really has the potential to knock us right back over again. But let’s not dwell on that for now, Birmingham play on Wednesday, fingers crossed they manage to slip up against Bristol.

Right then, job done.

Tarra-a-bit!