'Thrilled, proud and knackered' Wolves survive

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2 Blackburn Rovers 3

Seldom if ever in the often glorious, occasionally grim 134-year history of Wolverhampton Wanderers can a home defeat have been so rapturously acclaimed by the Molineux faithful.

On an afternoon of changing fortune Wolves were on their way back to the Championship when they trailed Blackburn 3-0 at half-time; they came out of the drop zone as goals went in elsewhere, but slipped in again after Craig Gardner and Hugo Rodallega struck for Birmingham and Wigan respectively.

A late recovery, led by a Jamie O'Hara goal and capped by Stephen Hunt's exquisite effort, looked set to preserve Wolves' status by virtue of their having scored more goals than Birmingham. In the event, Roman Pavlyuchenko's winner at White Hart Lane ensured Mick McCarthy's side survived with the luxury of a point to spare.

It was fitting that Hunt should effectively seal Wolves' continued presence among the elite. The winger, a feisty figure on a day when too many colleagues froze, was striving to avoid a third relegation from the Premier League after falling with both Reading and Hull.

After a pitch invasion both teams celebrated their escape with a lap of honour, or lap of appreciation as the Wolves PA announcer was careful to call theirs. Having started the game knowing victory would guarantee a third consecutive season in the Premier League they put their fans through a maelstrom of emotions, mostly of the darker variety.

McCarthy, who cut a static, arms-folded figure for most of the afternoon, had his head in his hands in first-half stoppage time when Junior Hoillet added to goals by ex-Wolves striker Jason Roberts and Brett Emerton. Steve Morgan, his owner-chairman, looked sickened when news of Birmingham's second-half equaliser filtered through and briefly returned his club to the bottom three.

Afterwards McCarthy prefaced his remarks by declaring, tongue heavily in cheek: "Never in doubt, piece of piss." He knew the reality was very different. How did he really feel? "Thrilled and proud, and knackered. I was never going to come in here dancing up and down with my drawers in the air. But it was my job to keep us in the Premier League and I've done it."

Asked whether he read the riot act at half-time, the Wolves manager insisted he was actually calm. "They were down on their knees. It was a case of encouraging them. I told them, 'Listen lads, we're going down the plughole if we don't do better'."

Steve Kean, who replaced Sam Allardyce as Blackburn manager in December after the takeover by Indian poultry company Venkys, hailed their "best 45 minutes of the season". The Scot added: "It's been a bumpy ride but in the last nine games we managed to get seven positive results. I'm delighted for the owners and for the 3,000 supporters who backed us today because the financial implications of going down are horrific."

In the first half Wolves were outfought and out-thought by a Blackburn team who played with none of the apprehension one would have expected of players who were themselves threatened by relegation after just one win in 13 games.

Blackburn were not flattered by their half-time lead. Emerton initiated the opening goal with a fine diagonal pass to Hoillett, who cut the ball back for Michel Salgado to shoot from the edge of the penalty area. Roberts cleverly diverted the ball past Wayne Hennessey from eight yards.

It was a measure of Wolves' fragility that Paul Robinson turned play-maker for the next two goals. Seven minutes before the break, after the former England keeper launched a free-kick from inside Blackburn's half, Jody Craddock headed clear. The ball flew to Emerton, 20 yards out, who volleyed it straight back beyond Hennessey.

On the stroke of half-time Robinson's goal-kick saw Michael Mancienne miss a header, allowing Roberts to flick the ball to Hoillet. The Canada international, 20 years old and with talent to burn, left Craddock and George Elokobi on their backsides before finishing with an aplomb that made nonsense of his tally of only six goals for the campaign.

The fightback was late coming. Wolves' first came straight from the practice pitch, a neat free-kick between Hunt and O'Hara which resulted in the on-loan Tottenham midfielder sidefooting in from 15 yards.

"We only need one goal," roared the massed ear-piece wearers, aware of the news from White Hart Lane, and as Hennessey had emulated Robinson with a long free-kick which Steven Fletcher headed down, Hunt provided it with an angled, curling shot. A second Tottenham goal slapped an extra dollop of icing on a wobbly cake.

Substitutes: Wolves Ebanks-Blake (Mancienne, h-t), Guedioura (Henry, 85), Berra (Fletcher, 90). Unused Hahnemann (gk), Stearman,

Milijas, Vokes. Blackburn Pedersen (Hoilett, 79). Unused Bunn (gk), Dunn, Andrews, Santa Cruz, Benjani, Diouf. Booked: Wolves Henry, Craddock, Hunt. Blackburn Samba.

Man of the match Hoillet. Match rating 6/10.

Possession Wolves 53% Blackburn 47%. Attempts on target Wolves 5 Blackburn 10. Referee H Webb (S Yorkshire). Att 29,009.