Wolves 1, West Ham 1: Bill Howell's big match verdict
YOU’RE alone in a big, old house and it’s past midnight. The only sound is the wind rattling the window frames. It is cold and dark.
Then, suddenly, you hear footsteps in the corridor. Slow unmistakable footsteps walking towards your bedroom.
Perspiration is on your brow and you are gripped with fear as the door handle turns and the oak door creaks.
And there in front of you... one by one... stand skeletons and ghouls. One wearing royal blue, one with a sky blue rattle and two more in red and white.
It’s not even Halloween.
The Fixture List From Hell has come to take you away. And you’ve little to cushion yourself against its icy chill.
Mick McCarthy will have wanted rather more than six points in the bag by the time Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal came to play.
He’ll have expected rather more than half a dozen after seeing his side dispose of Stoke City on the opening day.
Having witnessed a first-half demolition of a woeful Hammers, he will have been anticipating three crucial points by 4.50pm on Saturday.
But this is Wolves 2010, and they tend to want to do things the hard way. West Ham turned the game completely on its head. They scored with a debatable penalty, saw a shot ricochet off the crossbar and saw an injury-time ‘winner’ controversially chalked off.
And the last thing Wanderers needed heading into their Games of Doom was stand-in skipper Jody Craddock picking up a hip injury which would appear to put his participation, certainly at Stamford Bridge, in doubt.
“Keep our self belief and keep playing the way we have, and we’ll be fine,’’ said McCarthy in the build-up to this, the first of many likely six-pointers this winter.
There was little wrong with the belief as Wolves sauntered into an early lead through Matt Jarvis – the winger’s second of the season which puts him only five behind his best-ever in a Gillingham shirt.
Comic capers from Robert Green aside, it was a fine finish and it took a fine save from the blundering keeper to deny David Jones a second.
