Football: Bull leads the charge for Wolves

Watford 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2

THE COUNTRY'S most productive goal scoring partnership, Steve Bull and Robbie Keane, sustained Wolves' best start to a season since 1969 by taking them to the top of the First Division table last night.

Bull's satisfaction at scoring his fifth goal of the campaign, and, in leading the line with a guile which belies his reputation as an up-and- at-'em striker, earned extra poignancy from the identity of last night's opposing manager at Vicarage Road. After all, was it not Graham Taylor who brought the curtain down on Bull's international career and did his darnest to repeat the fete at club level?

Taylor has been pilloried enough for his disenchanting spell in charge of England and Wolves to loose no sleep over this aspect of his team's set-back. But, as his old club maintain a 100 per cent start, the last few days have given Watford a short sharp blast of the reality of life at this level.

Last season's Second Division champions sprinted out of the blocks with three league wins out of three but, after a 4-1 defeat at Sunderland on Tuesday, they were also outclassed by Mark McGhee's team last night. Watford seldom looked like breaching Wolves' currently impenetrable defence, who have not conceded a league goal this term.

In first-half injury time, Bull's pace enabled him to race on to Steve Froggatt's sharp pass and drill a low shot into the far corner of the net. Within 18 seconds of the restart, Froggatt, whom Taylor knew as an apprentice at Aston Villa and later took to Molineux, dashed away on to Keane's pass and crossed for the Republic of Ireland international to tap the ball over the line. Only Sunderland's Kevin Phillips and Daniele Dichio can match the Wolves strike force's nine-goal start top the season.

Watford: Chamberlain; Palmer, Page, Yates, Bazeley; Hyde, Johnson, Easton; Smart (Rosenthal, 77), Ngonge (Noel-Williams, 77), Kennedy. Substitute not used: Hazan.

Wolverhampton Wanderers: Stowell; Muscat, Curle, Sedgley, Richards, Naylor; Fernando, Osborn, Froggatt; Bull, Keane (Connolly, 88). Substitutes not used: Paatelainen, Ferguson.

Referee: K Lynch (Kirk Hammerton).