Wolves stumble across the line

Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 v Preston North End 2

This was a strange game. With just under half an hour of the match remaining and three to the good Wolves were cruising to a comfortable home win. Goals by Ivan Cavaleiro and a Leo Bonatini brace had put them in the ascendancy against a Preston North End unit whose raison d’etre had been to spoil. In an effort to upset Wolves’ flow, the visitors had spent two thirds of the game tripping and pulling their opponents and for most of the first half it had worked.

But a deficit of three forced a change in approach and barely a minute after Leo Bonatini had bundled the ball into the Preston net a low cross from the right wing was headed in by Jordan Hugill. Ten minutes later Alan Browne collected the ball beyond the Wolves back line. Pulling it back from the byeline it was met by a retreating Conor Coady who could do no more than divert it into his own net.

That set up a tense last quarter during which there were numerous spats, the most incendiary of which occurred in the 90th minute and resulted in the dismissal of the aforementioned Browne. The ill feeling had been simmering for some time, weak refereeing allowing numerous challenges to go unpunished. Thus did referee Steve Martin only have himself to blame when things got out of hand.

Eventually calm was restored and Wolves held on through the six minutes of time added on. It had been far from elegant. But this, afterall, is the Championship where winning ugly is an occasional necessity.

Wolves: Ruddy 7, Batth 6, Coady 6, Miranda 6, Doherty 6, Saiss 7, Neves 7, Jota 6 Sub Costa, Douglas 6, Cavaliero 6 Sub Enobakhare, Bonatini 7 Sub N’Daiye

Preston North End: Maxwell 6, Fisher 7, Huntington 6, Davies 6, Earl 6, Pearson 6, Johnson 6, Barkhuizen 6, Browne 7 (Sent off 90mins), Harrop 6 Sub Mavididi, Hugill 7

Referee; Steve Martin 6

Attendance; 27,352

©Mark Brennand