Paul Ince scored a spectacular first goal of the season to crank up the
pressure on Luton boss Mike Newell as Wolves won a real game of two halves at
Molineux.
Following a dire first 45 minutes, 17-year-old Mark Davies scored his first
professional goal to put Wanderers ahead before Steve Howard looked to have
claimed a point for the Hatters.
But Ince, two decades Davies' senior, stole the headlines with a brilliant
winner with barely five minutes remaining.
Carl Cort started his first game for Wolves since October, with Jody Craddock
and Rob Edwards also drafted into the side that beat Plymouth in the FA Cup last
week.
New signing David Bell was on the bench for Luton, who made only one change
from their extraordinary cup tie with Liverpool, bringing in Enoch Showunmi for
Steve Robinson.
Cort was involved in Wolves' first opportunity, cleverly bending his run onto
Tom Huddlestone's clipped through ball before feeding Davies, whose cross was
fired over by Leon Clarke.
Long straight balls were getting Cort and Clarke in behind Luton's defence but
Wolves were too slow getting numbers in support.
He was through again when Wolves went to sleep on a bouncing punt forward, but
they recovered to pressure him into mis-hitting his finish.
Wolves put only their second decent move together moments before the break,
but Mark Kennedy's near-post strike was plucked from the air by the diving
Marlon Beresford to ironic cheers from the home support.
These quickly turned too jeers in the second half, with a truly dire game in
desperate need of one of the sides to take a gamble - and Wolves duly obliged.
They began committing more men forward and it paid off on the hour as first
Davies, then Ince burst through.
The skipper fed Kennedy out wide and his cross found the head of Clarke, with
Beresford only able to parry his effort to a grateful Davies.
Wolves suddenly exploded to life and Kennedy cut inside before firing a shot
which was again too hot for the Hatters keeper to handle.
Encouraged by his foray infield, the Irish winger repeated the trick minutes
later, this time finishing with a low right-foot finish that brushed the outside
of the post.
The home side went close again when Maurice Ross pumped the ball forward and
Ince caused enough havoc in the box for the ball to run loose to Cort, who
blazed over.
Luton were inches from equalising when Carlos Edwards drove an angled drive
wide and Cort narrowly failed to make contact with Ross' centre moments later.
But a rash decision from Stefan Postma soon had the visitors level, when Kevin
Nicholls' free-kick rebounded back to the Hatters skipper off the wall and
Howard beat the flapping keeper to the resulting cross.
However, there was a further twist in the tale as, with barely five minutes
remaining, Ince rifled an unstoppable low shot past Beresford from 25 yards.
Teams:
Wolverhampton Postma, Ross, Edwards, Craddock, Lescott,
Kennedy, Davies, Huddlestone, Ince, Cort, Clarke (Ganea 78).
Subs Not Used: Oakes, Anderton, Seol, Ricketts.
Booked: Ross.
Goals: Davies 57, Ince 88.
Luton Beresford, Edwards, Coyne, Heikkinen, Underwood,
Brkovic, Nicholls, Foley, Showunmi, Howard, Vine (Feeney 64).
Subs Not Used: Brill, Barnett, Morgan, Bell.
Goals: Howard 80.
Ref: M Dean (Wirral).
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