Wolves 1 Coventry 0

Oct 6 2007 By Paul Berry, Birmingham Mail

A GREAT philosopher once said 'it only takes a second to score a goal'.

Indeed it does. And what a second the 5,781st of the game proved at Wolves on Saturday.

When Neill Collins headed home Michael Kightly's cross with just 40 of those seconds remaining, the grand old stadium erupted.

The bench went crazy, Collins embarked on a Jose Mourinho-style sprint up the touchline to jump on Jay Bothroyd and Kightly, and Andy Keogh gave it the big 'un in front of the Stan Cullis.

Job done, another of those magic Molineux memories tucked safely into the vault.

From the depths of a tepid draw Wolves had snatched a dramatic and unlikely win to rack up a healthy eight points from four games and possibly fire up an, as yet unspectacular, season.

Did they deserve to win? Probably not. Then again, neither did Coventry.

Remember Ian Holloway's analogy about playing badly and winning being akin to ending up taking "not the best-looking bird" home for coffee?

Well, this was like heading off to a nightclub, spilling your drinks and bumping into people all night on the dance floor, only to pull a Page 3 stunner queuing for your coat on the way out.

Despite Wolves losing three players to injury by half-time, including keeper Wayne Hennessey, they battled, scrapped and went toe-to-toe with a predictably robust Coventry side amid a niggling undercurrent fuelled in part by a poor refereeing display from Keith Stroud.

Several Wolves players were unhappy at some of the off-the-ball antics of fiery Coventry midfielder Michael Doyle at the Ricoh Arena last season.

And the Irishman seemed hell-bent on cementing such a reputation, being booked for a push on Karl Henry, escaping further censure after a cynical off-the-ball block on Kightly, and even indulging in more "fun and games" in the post-match warm-down.

Yet Doyle could have dished out some far more worthy punishment from the best move of the match 11 minutes from time only to shoot narrowly wide from Jay Tabb's excellent pass.

The Sky Blues certainly shaded the shots-on-goal tally, but Michael Mifsud was unable to beat both Hennessey and replacement Graham Stack, and when Robbie Simpson found some rare space in the penalty area, Jody Craddock dived in with the sort of challenge emphasising why Wolves have been breached just once in almost seven hours of football.

At the other end, despite the promptings of Kightly, himself denied by Andy Marshall from Wolves' only clear-cut chance of the first 93 minutes, the hosts never really clicked into gear, the main reason why Freddy Eastwood barely enjoyed a kick after coming on at half-time.

But from Liverpool in the Eighties to Manchester United in the Nineties, and even Sunderland last season, last-gasp goals have always been established as a highly lucrative pastime.

On this evidence Mick McCarthy and the Molineux faithful will certainly second that.

WOLVES (4-4-2): Hennessey (Stack 30); Foley, Breen, Craddock, Gray (N Collins 20); Kightly, Henry, Olofinjana, S Ward (Eastwood 45); Keogh, Elliott. Not used: Gleeson, Bothroyd.
COVENTRY (4-3-3): Marshall; Osbourne, E Ward, Turner, Borrowdale; Tabb, S Hughes, Doyle; Simpson (Best, 89), Adebola (Kyle, 75) Mifsud. Not used: McNamee, M Hughes, Thornton.