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Ten-man Tangerines punished
Wolves lifted themselves out of the bottom three of the Barclays Premier League for only the second time in five months following a comprehensive defeat of 10-man Blackpool.
Matt Jarvis gave boss Mick McCarthy’s men the perfect start with a second-minute opener before a moment of madness from Blackpool leading scorer DJ Campbell saw him sent off in the 43rd minute.
Wolves then made their numerical advantage count after the break as Jamie O’Hara and then substitute Sylvan Ebanks-Blake with a brace eased their club off the foot of the table into 17th.
The first half was one that started and ended in nightmare fashion for Blackpool boss Ian Holloway as his side proved you are only as good as your last game.
That had been a sensational 3-1 victory over Spurs in midweek, one that had eased the Seasiders clear of the relegation zone, sending belief soaring they can survive in the top flight this season.
But after just 116 seconds Blackpool were swiftly brought crashing back down to earth as a four-man move culminated in Jarvis scoring his fourth goal of the season.
From deep inside Wolves territory, Ronald Zubar played a ball down the right wing into David Edwards, fit again after missing the 1-1 draw at West Brom last Sunday with a groin injury.
Edwards’ short run was incisive as he cut inside his marker prior to feeding Adam Hammill, also restored to the starting line-up, just inside the Blackpool area.
Although Hammill’s pass to his left was scuffed, it had enough pace on it to find Jarvis who brilliantly curled beyond Richard Kingson a 12-yard right-effort that had the majority of the crowd on their feet.
Then just over two minutes from the interval, with Blackpool having failed to seriously test goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey, any hope of a comeback suffered a crucial setback.
Directly in front of Holloway, on the edge of his technical area, Campbell stupidly over-reacted to a slight shove in his back from Richard Stearman as the duo faced onto a long ball downfield.
The red mist descended as the much-shorter Campbell then turned on Stearman, and with both hands, shoved the centre-back in the face.
Making arguably his easiest decision all afternoon, referee Neil Swarbrick swiftly brandished the red card.
Turning on his heels, Campbell made the short walk to the dressing room, with not so much as an apologetic acknowledgement towards Holloway just yards from him.
The act of rage, from a player who had previously only been booked just once all season, will now see him miss the next three matches.
In between those two horror moments for Holloway, it was Wolves who had the better of the half, with Kingson pulling off one stunning save to deny Edwards from a 12-yard, left-foot half volley.
The home side did have the ball in the back of the net on a second occasion, only for Swarbrick to adjudge George Elokobi had fouled Kingson as he nodded the ball home.
As for a typically workmanlike Blackpool, their best opportunity was inadvertently set up by a stunning sliding challenge from Wolves captain Karl Henry on Keith Southern deep in his own half.
But it was a tackle made facing his own goal as the ball flew into the path of Luke Varney, who had minutes earlier replaced Sergei Kornilenko, only for the striker to slice his shot wide.
That was as good as it got for Blackpool for within 10 minutes of the restart the 10 men caved in, and with it went the last remaining hope of salvaging a point.
After Kingson had denied substitute Kevin Foley and O’Hara in the two minutes immediately prior to Wolves doubling their advantage, the latter was not to be denied.
Thanks primarily to a defence that stood off him, O’Hara rifled in a 22-yard, left-foot shot that bounced over the outstretched left hand of Kingson into the corner of his net for his second goal in a week.
With the spirit and stuffing knocked out of Blackpool, and as one-way traffic developed, they duly conceded a third 12 minutes from time.
Ebanks-Blake, who had replaced Zubar just after O’Hara’s strike, tapped home from a yard courtesy of a precision cross from Kevin Foley.
In front of a record crowd for the new Molineux of 29,086, Ebanks-Blake then took his tally to six for the season with an angled left-foot drive beyond Kingson on the stroke of full time.
# Holloway fumes at Campbell
Blackpool boss Ian Holloway described DJ Campbell’s moment of madness as “unacceptable” after “a stinking day in the office.”
Assessing Campbell’s red mist, Holloway said: “It probably seemed pretty innocent, but he has scrapes down the back of his Achilles, and it was Stearman who kicked him however many times before that. But it’s still unacceptable. That’s part and parcel of your job, but it’s just out of character, so something was not quite right with him today, and it really cost us.
“You’ve got to pick yourself up, dust yourself down and get on with it. But goals are vital. Luke Varney missed our only chance, and if he had scored then who knows what would have happened? Maybe DJ would not have been frustrated.”
Asked if he was shattered by the defeat, Holloway added: “Not really. I don’t get shattered – I’m made not made of glass or crystal. I’m bruised, it hurts, but I’m not shattered. I’m a football manager and unfortunately we were beaten by the better team.
“You need things to go for you, and we had spoken about doing things right and doing them better, but we were one down inside two minutes. That changed the whole complexion of the crowd and their players, of our crowd and our players. Such is life.
“But that was a stinking day in the office for me, although I’m pleased for Mick, who has carried himself with dignity all the time I’ve known him. My lot will have to come up with something a bit better than that to try to get a result against Chelsea.
“But this is no disgraceful result because Manchester United and Chelsea have already been beaten here. It’s a tough place to come.”
Wolves boss Mick McCarthy believes his side’s luck might finally be beginning to turn as he feels they’ve not had an ounce of good fortune this season.
“I’ve not come away from a game this season and thought we were lucky or were jammy. I’ve not said that once this season,” said McCarthy. “But after (Blackpool captain) Charlie Adam was booked on Tuesday night (his 10th of the season leading to a two-game ban which began today), I thought then that maybe our luck was changing.
“We then scored a fabulous first goal here, then DJ Campbell gets himself sent off, and that caused them all sorts of problems. I said last week before we drew at West Brom that I wanted four points from the two games. We should have had all six, but I think four from the two is a good haul.”
Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com
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