Wolves Get Lucky On Doomsday

Blackpool 1-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers

(Baptiste 89, Ebanks-Blake 3, 72 (pen))

Pennant: Finally impressed tonight

Wolves finally found favour with Lady Luck on a difficult night in Blackpool. After countless decisions, deflections and second-balls had gone against them this season, tonight it was Wolves whom the Gods were smiling on. With the loss of the energetic Sigurdarson down the right flank, some Wolves fans were concerned that we'd lose a huge threat going forward. However, step-forward Jermaine Pennant. The on-loan winger has had a tough time settling down at Molineux, not really producing anywhere near his best form and looking a disinterested figure, but tonight he put in his best performance in a Wolves shirt in what could, ironically, be his last game for us. It's greatly ironic that I have criticised him for being too narrow, and yet it is this precise positioning from him that gave us such a great start. He tucked slightly inside and found early space between Broadfoot and Crainey to deliver a fantastic ball in that both Doyle and Ebanks-Blake will have been unhappy not to get a head to. But just a minute later he was at it again - tucking inside and dropping off the Blackpool back-four to produce a perfectlyweighted through-ball for Ebanks-Blake to slot home a deserved opener. Though that's when the good news stopped for the first half. Straight from the restart, Blackpool began to show they mean business and began to demonstrate why they were unbeaten under Michael Appleton. As expected, much of their best play came through the lively Tom Ince who showed that, although he prefers his left foot, his right is more than capable of troubling defenders. Ward appeared nervous against the in-form winger and youngster took full advantage, twisting the Irishman inside and out before getting shots away that tested Carl Ikeme or putting in teasing crosses just begging to be finished off. Wolves, having started so brightly, appeared to be retreating into their shell and it looked only a matter of when, not if, Blackpool would draw level.

Ince: Constantly thwarted by Ikeme

The Seasiders hadn't banked on one, unbeatable brick wall: Carl Ikeme. The giant keeper pulled off save after save after save - some of them truly miraculous! The watching Matt Murray would have been particularly proud and watching Ikeme between the sticks, it did feel like déjá vu with his presence, stature and ability to pull off unbelieveable saves similar to the giant fans' favourite. One save in particular stood out - as Wolves pushed numbers forward for a corner, the move broke down and they gave possession away cheaply. Tiago Gomes played a stunning ball over the top to Ince's feet and, whilst Wolves were looking (incorrectly) for a flag, Ikeme held his nerve and got down low to turn aside the winger's goalbound effort. It was a brilliant save and made better by Wes Thomas' poor effort on the rebound. Every time Blackpol got forward - mostly on the counter - Ikeme stood tall to deny them and looked assured coming from crosses and dealing with shots at his near-post.

Ikeme: Best performance in a Wolves shirt tonight

But it was the second-half where the Nigerian keeper truly excelled himself beyond any level he has done before for Wolves. Inside the first 5 minutes, he produced 3 saves in 90 seconds that were all remarkable - two of them were part of an ongoing battle between him and Tom Ince. The first was a low, reflex save to deny Tiago Gomes from a stooping header, and when the ball was poorly cleared by Ward to Ince of all people, the Blackpool man ran at the defence before cutting inside onto his left foot and curling a perfectly placed effort that looked to be creeping in. However, Ikeme flung himself to his right and got a strong right hand to it to tip it around the post. But the third of his trio of saves was the best of the lot. From the resultant corner, the delivery was only partially cleared to Ince who took a touch to set up, then fired goalwards with his second. It came through about 5 bodies, including the Blackpool skipper Alex Baptiste throwing his head at it, only for Ikeme to dive to his right and push it around the post. He can't have known much about the shot until the last second, but he pulled off an absolute 'worldy' save to deny the England U21 International.

Ebanks-Blake smashes home the penalty

Then came the moment that changed the game - not the penalty (although, of course, that had the final impact on the result), but the introduction of David Davis for Doumbia in the 67th minute. The young midfielder added bite and energy to the midfield, whilst also displaying some fantastic touches and a real eye for a pass. It was much more like the Davis of last season and his recent performances off the bench suggest he could be beginning to show his real potential. He actually played a key part in the penalty move. He showed great strength to hold off three defenders and keep possession, and then played a simple ball through a slight gap to find Sako who burst forward into the box. On first viewing (i.e from the crowd) it looked the sfotest penalty you will ever see. Having got home and seen the Sky coverage, I can see why the referee gave it. It is such a blatant, needless shirt tug, but certainly if I was a Blackpool fan I would feel incredibly hard done by (and all Wolves fans know that feeling!). But who cared? We had a penalty - something myself, @Matty_WWFC and @Reece_WWFC celebrated like we'd already scored, it was just that rare an event! Despite our nerves, Ebanks-Blake showed none as he smashed the ball straight down the middle - something he's become famous for (and something that keepers really should pick up on by now). With the security of a two-goal advantage, Wolves finally came out of their shell and looked exciting again, while Blackpool looked shell-shocked. Having dominated for so long, they were now two behind. However Wolves, led by the impressive Davis, carried the fight to Blackpool and could (and should) have wrapped up a comfortable victory in the 88th minute, but a cruel cruel bobble denied Ebanks-Blake the hattrick.

Not even Kevin Phillips could haunt Wolves again

In the same minute, Wolves replaced Sako with Stearman. This did affect Wolves, however, though not because there was anything Stearman did wrong, it's just it made it far too crowded at the back and defenders lost sight of their responsibilities. Blackpool took full advantage and grabbed a scrappy goal back through their skipper Baptiste after Ikeme had once again denied Blackpool. After that, it looked certain that Blackpool would snatch an equaliser - especially with Kevin Phillips now on the pitch and Wolves looking incredibly nervous. But again it was Ikeme who proved a formidable last line of defence with a late save from Dicko. After that, the Seasiders never really threatened again and Solbakken's men held on for a priceless - if not totally deserved - three points.

I said at the start of this report that Lady Luck smiled on us tonight - nothing backs that up more than the stats of the game. Blackpool dominated in all areas, with 56% possession, 24 shots and 15 of them on target (we had 6 with 3 on target inc. the penalty), plus 6 corners (to our 3). Not to mention the decision to award the penalty - that makes up for not giving a penalty to us against Millwall (mind you, we've still got another 5+ lucky penalties to come our way this season if that's the case!). And of course, the fact that the saves from Ikeme either stayed close to him, went out for a corner, or fell to a Wolves player was a case of luck shining on us too. Looking back, I'm not entirely sure how we came out of this came without a total drubbing. But as I said in the preview, this could prove to be our most valuable three points of the season!

My Wolves MOTM: Carl Ikeme. There were several contenders for this, but Carl beat them all hands down. By far his best performance in a Wolves shirt, and the best display by a Wolves keeper since Hennessey at Arsenal last season. He was more than match for everything Blackpool threw at him and when he was finally beaten, there was literally nothing he could do about it.

Wolves In A Word: Lucky

In Stale We Trust.