The importance of momentum was neatly encapsulated inside 90 pulsating Molineux minutes last night.
Wolves were gliding for an hour, three goals to the good and wasting gilt-edged chances with every other attacking foray.
In fact, only criminal profligacy from Edwards, Jacobs and repeat offender Clarke prevented their side from establishing their highest goal tally of the season. Seven wouldn’t have flattered the league leaders.
But when Colchester stole one back through a well flighted cross and a superb glancing header, the well-oiled machine began to splutter and stall.
Some neat possession football looked to have restarted the ignition, but with no real forward thrust, the Us soaked it up with ease and struck again with a replica second.
Suddenly Wolves didn’t know whether to stick or twist. Pursue another goal or defend what you’ve got? What had been a cruise on open water was suddenly like wading through a swamp.
Colchester almost made the situation stickier through Freddie Sears’ swerving effort that hit the inside of the post and rebounded to safety.
Kenny Jackett attempted to stem the flow by deploying Sako and Dicko, thus reinstating the team that had achieved 9 straight wins.
Thankfully this proved decisive as Wolves were finally able to break the shackles with a raking Sako pass and a composed finish from his best mate.
If only Clarke had showed similar equanimity in the first half, the salvage job could have been avoided.
Notable misses from the former Coventry man against Shrewsbury, Sheffield Utd and again last night raise questions about his ability to handle the weight of expectation.
His physicality is certainly an asset, as we saw with the brute strength that led to James Henry’s goal, but he will ultimately be judged on goal return.
Fortunately in Jacobs, Henry and the fit-again-for-the-moment Dave Edwards, the scoresheet continues to have pleasing variety.
A comprehensive victory this wasn’t, but dropped points from Orient and Brentford mean that momentum in the promotion race remains all ours.
A wins a win that’s all that matters at this stage up take 4.2 every game from now till the end of the season the good thing is were creating chances and plenty of them.
Now got my overnight bag packed for MK going down Friday night Holiday Inn forty one quid for the night, me my brother and his lad.
COME ON ME BABIES………!
It sounds like a repeat of the Swindon game.
When things come so easily, so quickly, we tend to switch to auto pilot and then have difficulty in getting back control of the game.
It shows a weakness in the team that needs to be rectified. It will surely be punished by better sides than Colchester.
But the substitutions also show a strength in tactical management which has just got better and better.
In the end it was just about a perfect night to be a Wolves fan.
Three more points, Brentfords’s game in hand nullified and Orient dropping further behind.
We’re into the home straight and the winning post is in sight.
Come on me bostin’ babbies!!!
I said in the preview ‘first half game for me’ and 3-0 up at half time was everything we could of wished for..
I can’t criticise our team for cruising with such a margin in the 2nd but the teams genes shows currently at least that without the ‘first team” plan A’ we just do not deliver when it matters and Sako / Dicko proved that extremely late..
Clarke is in a big shadow at the moment..
Great result though…Particularly as we have gained points on the London mobs..
Good result but performance not the best. Isn’t that a sign of a good team?
That said it would be nice to pull off the demolition job we’ve been promising more than once this season.
Clarke is an odd one like you say his physicality adds an element that was missing from both griffiths and dicko game but at the moment he looks like he couldn’t score in a brothel. I fully expect dicko and sako to make their return to starting lineup shortly.
Credit to the opposition who scored two cracking goals, but by then we should have been out of sight. I feel sorry for Leon, the weight of expectation must be very hard to bear, but I agree with the manager the goals will come I`m sure, and he wasn`t alone in squandering good chances.
We got three very valuable points while our competitors didn`t, so all in all a very satisfactory evening all round, if the A5 hadn`t been shut on the way home, with a diversion through Lichfield, then I`d have been even happier. And I see the baggies chairman gets £1.9m salary, he won`t get that if we paly them in the championship next season me thinks !!
16600 fans and 10 teammates were willing Clarke on every step of the way, we can’t fault the lad. His passing, ball control and his teamwork is excellent but his luck in front of the goal is a thing you have to witness to believe. Like all strikers he will find that touch, he will start knocking them in and we have to be patient with him. Lady luck is his enemy at the moment, but whilst all around him are knocking goals in for fun we can afford his presence. It will come, (fingers and toes all crossed.)
Great result, put’s us play offs at the very minimum, life is good
Wow, what a roller-coaster that was.
We won the first minute .
We won the last minute.
We drew the bit in the middle.
On another day it could easily have been 6-0 (or 3-3)
That’s all!
Route down was on M1, A 38, A5, 460. Traffic lights and road reapirs everywhere. 3 hrs 15 mins.
First half was brilliant, other than we should have been AT LEAST 5 up not 3 when we went in for the break. Second half was again a nail biting affair where we were going to hold on, or draw. The final push that lead to the 4th was a relief. I can’t wait for us to demolish a side very soon, as we have the ability. I ask everyone playing, not to make us so nervous and play both halves with the same commitment and drive and score shedloads.
Due to the route down, I decided to take the M6, M62, M1 back home – Wrong decision ….. road works and fog everywhere…. Got home at 1.25 am ….. Drove with a smile on my face though.
UTW/FOWB
What we have to remember and keep in mind is that it is squeaky bum time for the players as well as us.
If one had turned on the ‘puter and seen a 4 – 2 result, then the thought would be another good day at the office.
I said at the early stages of the season that the wins we had which were against the run of play would be invaluable come the business end of the campaign, and so it is proving.
If not for those fortunate victories, we would be in Orient’s position, looking up and seeing our automatic promotion dreams disappearing as surely as a shit relegation.
Give some thought to the players, surely as nervous as us.
Results are what matter, and 4 – 2, however many times our posts are hit, is a thank-you-very-much score.
Three more precious points, Brentford and Orient dropping points faster than the shit, I’ll take that any day.
The obese woman is gargling and clearing her throat………………….
Love it mate. I was fortunate to be at the game, and yes, we did play well, but a tad nervous when they scored and certainly a tad more nervous when they scored again, and even a tad much moe nervous when they hit the post. But it was the post that was hit, not the net and Kenny changed things around and the rest is history. 3 magnificent points and Brentford’s game in hand has become irrespective! 4 wins and 2 draws (or 5 wins) and we are there!!
UTW/FOWB
Great 3 points which see us clear at the top now, regardless of games in hand. Best team won yesterday. Hope someone from the club hospitality team sent Rottherham a gift basket 😉
Need to keep winning I’m afraid. Such is the league this year. But in such a great position. 3 more points Saturday please.
Go Wolves!
Great result but I had to stop checking my phone when Colchester put the 2nd goal is as my nerves wouldn’t take it!! Handy that other results went in our favour as well but as GoWolves says we need to keep winning!
Lets go for the same again on Saturday, preferable minus the effects on fans nerves.
UTW
Another step towards promotion now onto Mk Dons. First beer of the day will be about 8.15 down the butlers bell in stafford before the train. Im getting thirsty thinking about it. Come on you wolves
Some people are talking about the players becoming complacent when we re in front , and last nights game could justify that , but equally the fans are sort of guilty too . Me included .. We seem to think we should be killing these teams with lesser names than ourselves, but king kenny said something very important a few weeks ago , which has stuck with me and that was that every player in this league has a championship or even a premier league game in them , they just can’t produce it all the time , which is why they play in this league . So I agree with the likes of mark Davies above, when he praised the opposition , well done wolves for overcoming a terrific fight back
I was wondering about this earlier, while doing the washing up. Will KJ’s respectful demeanour rub off on the Wolves fans, and have us all waxing magnanimous?
Although I greatly admire his humble rhetoric, I do hope he doesn’t start saying nice things about notlob, or dirty leeds, or even (heaven forbid) the unmentionables!
This is why I don’t really mind doing the dishes, gives you a chance to really ponder life’s mysteries.
I thought we were that comfortable with our first half performance that I said to Scooped that “I couldn’t see us losing this one.” Holy smoke what a second half effort from the U’s. I was puzzled why Edwards went off .. presumably to be rested .. and also bemused that from this point our shape seemed to go completely to pot. Price , who is normally in the thick of things just couldn’t get going and in the end I was squeezing my arse as much as possible to avoid the follow thro’ that seemed very likely after Sears hit the post.
All that said we are a further TWO points ahead of Leyton Orient and still have a game in hand .. HAPPY DAYS
I just love this team! It’s a new team & it’s a young team so it’s far from the finished article but I love their flair, love their enthusiasm, love their pride in wearing that famous shirt and yes, I love them for losing their way sometimes.
Whatever our final position in the league, this squad & this manager have given me more pride in my team than I’ve felt for many years.
We could have thrown away a lead and points last night but I don’t care because, even if we’d blown it (and we didn’t) I’d trust these lads to do their damnedest to put it right, to be better next time, to learn, to keep their heads up and not to hide because such is their character.
KJ and the squad he has assembled have given our wonderful, wonderful club back it’s focus and identity as a football club and me my mojo back as a fan.
I just love this team!
I predicted a bollocking and they should have had one,
but in the end happy for the three points and that’s all that matters.
Rolling down the M1 Saturday morning with the wolf hoard to MK Dons,
hoping for a similar points tally to move us ever closer to our GOAL
out of this league and back at least to some normality of higher class football.UTW.
Ok the U’s had a stab at there15 mins of fame do i look bothered. We played well had a reverse in fortunes and still came out on top scoring 4 – whats not to like. Interesting to see Edwards blossoming in the 4-5-1. The freedom
he gets in this more flexible formation allows him to make his forward runs and play to his strenghts. Reminds me a little of Dave Jones when ** briefly flirted with this formation in the Prem. Downside is he is now long over due injury. Ps is C**** becomming the new J***.
Who’s C**** and who’s J***?
cryptic comment harking back to the wars of happy clappy (1455) best forgotten.
Well that clears that up then
Listened in live as usual, and like most, thinking it was game over, job done at 3-0.
A nervous second half however just to remind us all that nothing is a given in this game and team we love.
I think Leon’s goals will come in time, but it took the prolific French connection to finally allow me off the edge of my seat.
In it’s self, being able to make such a deadly substitution when needed, in a team that seems full of goals anyway, is testament to just what Kenny has built.
I’m sure he is not stopping there however, and already has is eyes and mind planning for at least six months ahead.
In Kenny we must trust, as he has done little or nothing wrong so far to worry even the most doubtful
I’ve had to take a job working in a pub for a bit to make ends meet, so couldn’t follow the game last night with my usual intensity. In fact, I hadn’t had time to even check the score until about half 9 when 2 guys came to the bar to settle up their tab, and started checking the football scores at the bar.
They mentioned the score in the Manchester derby, so I asked them what was going on in the big game of the evening. “Arsenal?” the guy asked. “No” I scoffed, “Wolves Colchester”.
A look of glee spreads across this man’s face, in this pub in deep suburban Bristol.
“Are you a Wolves fan?” he beams. “All day every day” say I. Turns out he’s from Stourbridge, and saw Pete Knowles score in his first match. This is one of the many reasons I love being a Wolves fan – we’re everywhere!
So we excitedly check his phone, and are pleased to see we’re winning but concerned with the goals against. He left before full time, but I checked a bit later and was jubilant with both our result and those of our cockney rivals.
I’m very pleased we’ve got players like Sako and Dicko on the bench to bring on at times like this. Hope they both start again with devastating effect very soon.
The Milton Keynes game would be a good place to start, especially with this kind of billing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk6gMOPgcfM&feature=c4-overview&list=UUCuo5VY346080kg6D3Fz3-Q
If times were more affluent for me, and I didn’t have a bloody pub shift on Saturday, I’d love to be there for that. What an away day that will be. Hope anyone who’s going has a great day out, sing your hearts out for those of us elsewhere in the world.
Ahhh! Mate!
Which pub are you pulling pints in?
It’s a bit too far to come from Melksham for a quickie but I used to work in Ad agencies in Bristol, way back, and would be interested to know where you are.
Another thing.
What are you doing posting on the blog at three in the morning?
The Wellington, Horfield, top of Gloucester Rd.
Got in from work about 1, watched MOTD on iplayer, commented on the blog, went to sleep. Didn’t realised there was a time limit…
Just googled it and you ay that far away at all, am yer?
Should have my finances in order by next season, you can give us a lift to the mol if you’re gooin!