Wolves 'get the job done' against Sheffield United
Let's get one thing clear. Wolves were at least as bad in the first half as they were good in the second. But it's churlish to knock a team that keeps winning.
A seventh victory in nine not only kept Kenny Jackett's side among the pacesetters, but reminded us just how little room for error there is at the top of League One.
Three more points for Wolves closed the gap to three on leaders Leyton Orient, whose 100 per cent record finally fell at the ninth attempt as Walsall did their neighbours a favour by earning a 1-1 draw at Brisbane Road.
But after another game where they left fans exasperated and exhilarated in equal measures, supporters must now be wondering if it's possible for Wolves to go through the season without actually clicking.
Apart from the 4-0 win against Gillingham, Wolves have yet to dominate a game or play well for 90 minutes.
This was the starkest example of a Jekyll and Hyde-type display we have seen so far this season.
Yet the wins keep coming.
"Worst we have seen in a long time", "how can we cheer a team that can't play?", "worst half of the season by far...slowly getting worse and worse as the season goes – absolutely useless performance. Echoes of last year."
Those were a selection of the tweets that appeared at half-time.
And yes, there was no way of getting away from the evidence that it probably was the worst 45 minutes we have seen from Wolves under Jackett.
Sheffield United went into the game on the back of five successive defeats, but it was Wolves who looked as if they were in that form as the Blades cut through the hosts at times, out-passing, out-playing and creating several chances.
But what Wolves lack in passing and an ability to keep the ball at times, they are making up for in determination, commitment and defensive solidity.
That was why Jackett chose to highlight his goalkeeper and back four after they helped keep Wolves in the game, and ultimately gave them the platform to go on and win it.
There was also a more than tidy full League debut from Jack Price in midfield that suggested he could have a big part to play in the club's revival.
This was maybe the match where Wolves knew if they could stay in the game, the points were their's for the taking.
And so it proved.
At this point, it's also worth mentioning the fans.
Wolves supporters sometimes get a raw deal by being criticised for the expectations they place on their team.
But the way the Molineux masses recognised the players needed their help and refused to get on their backs on Saturday was to their huge credit.
The only noticeable booing came after the referee's whistle sounded the half-time interval.
The team repaid that faith by improving considerably after the break and earning a victory that was also down to the supporters' backing as Wolves made club history by recording back-to-back home crowds of 20,000-plus for the first time at this level.
They endured a one-sided first half during which keeper Carl Ikeme made three saves to blunt the Blades.
Former Walsall loan midfielder Florent Cuvelier was first to try his luck when his 22-yard drive was parried.
Ryan Hall went closer with a shot tipped aside for a corner after cutting inside from the left.
The United wideman was a constant danger in the first half and he was put clean through only for Ikeme to block his finish with his legs.
Cuvelier – put off by former Blades midfielder Kevin McDonald – then slid the ball wide from Hall's cross.
Wolves were struggling to get out of their own box, let alone half, at times as every player seemed a yard off the pace.
It wasn't until the 32nd minute that they made any sort of threat and when it came, Matt Doherty's towering header from Bakary Sako's corner that was cleared off the line wouldn't have counted anyway as the right-back fouled his marker.
The feebleness of Wolves' efforts were summed up a minute before the break when there were loud ironic cheers after Leigh Griffiths's mis-hit volley – the hosts' first shot – trickled to keeper George Long.
The half-time arrival of Kevin Doyle for Bjorn Sigurdarson helped tip the scales in Wolves' favour, however.
Doyle provided a vital link between midfield and Griffiths that hadn't been there in the first half, and Wolves were on their way.
With the tempo of their play lifted, Doyle and Doherty fired straight at Long from distance before the breakthrough came in the 66th minute.
There was some good fortune about it as the ball hit Griffiths on the thigh and went in after Long blocked his first shot from a superb, raking cross from Sako.
Immediately, there was a feeling that United's belief was wilting as they sensed the game slipping away from them.
Four minutes after the goal, Dave Edwards saw a glancing header ruled out for offside from a cross by Griffiths, who had slalomed through three tackles.
In a late surge, Doyle sent a looping header over and McDonald was inches away with a rising effort before he teed up Sako for a first-time, blistering finish from 30 yards on the stroke of 90 minutes that no keeper in the world would have saved.
It was, perhaps, fitting that Sako, who now has six goals this season, scored the winner as no-one summed Wolves' performance up more than the inconsistent winger.
But if he and his team-mates keep doing enough to stay on the winning trail, no-one will complain.
