Leon Clarke's strike midway through the first half at Molineux was enough to
secure Glenn Hoddle's side a place in the fourth round of the FA Cup at the
expense of Plymouth.
The 20-year-old struck only his second goal of the season, planting a shot
from 12 yards into the bottom corner following Colin Cameron's cross in the 26th
minute.
Wolves dominated the first period and although they fell away, Plymouth rarely
looked like forcing a replay in a lacklustre second half devoid of goalmouth
action.
Wolves skipper Paul Ince returned to the starting line-up as did teenage
midfield partner Mark Davies, while striker Carl Cort was back on the bench
following a two-month absence due to knee surgery.
Plymouth welcomed midfielder David Norris back from suspension and defender
Hasney Aljofree stepped in for on-loan centre-back Elliott Ward - who West Ham
do not want cup-tied - but striker Lee Chadwick remained sidelined by a
hamstring injury.
Davies, 17, proved a key figure for Wolves early on, flashing a right-foot
shot from the edge of the penalty area wide and being involved in most of their
better work.
Ince saw his thundering 30-yard shot turned away in fine style by Plymouth
goalkeeper Romain Larrieu before Kenny Miller's goalbound header from the
resulting corner was cleared by Mathias Doumbe.
Wolves were rewarded for their pressure in the 26th minute when Cameron
crossed from the right and Clarke converted right-footed from 12 yards, low into
the bottom corner.
Miller then shot straight at Larrieu, but Plymouth responded and Wolves
goalkeeper Stefan Postma, signed until the end of the season 24 hours earlier,
did well to hold Paul Wotton's long-range drive.
Clarke curled a right-foot effort from 25 yards just wide and Cameron forced
Larrieu into action again before Hungarian Akos Buzsaky shot straight at Postma
just before the half-time whistle.
Plymouth resumed with more vigour after the break and were unlucky not to
force an equaliser early in the second half.
Wotton's shot from a well-worked set-piece was deflected wide by Joleon
Lescott, and from the resulting corner Buzsaky's 25-yard volley whistled over
the crossbar.
Wolves lacked their first-half cohesion and struggled to carve out further
chances until Davies stung Larrieu's hands from 20 yards.
Tony Pulis sent on striker Scott Taylor for Buzsaky and midfielder Bojan
Djordjic for Lee Hodges with 20 minutes left, while soon after Wolves striker
Cort replaced Ki-Hyeon Seol for his first appearance since mid-October.
Hoddle handed new Hungarian signing Denes Rosa a second run out following his
New Year's Day arrival from Ferencvaros, Cameron making way, but apart from
Miller's long-range volley chances at either end dried up.
Teams:
Wolverhampton Postma, Ross, Lescott, Gyepes, Kennedy,
Seol (Cort 73), Ince, Cameron (Rosa 80), Davies, Miller, Clarke.
Subs Not Used: Edwards, Anderton, Ganea.
Goals: Clarke 26.
Plymouth Larrieu, Connolly, Doumbe, Aljofree, Norris, Barness,
Buzsaky (Taylor 69), Capaldi, Wotton, Hodges (Djordjic 69),
Evans.
Subs Not Used: McCormick, Lasley, Zebroski.
Att: 11,041
Ref: M Thorpe (Suffolk).
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