Blues 2 Wolves 0 - The Swain Game

Now they must prove it has not left their promotion momentum washed up.

This 2-0 defeat sprang from a 37th minute turning point at St Andrew's which, in normal circumstances, Wolves might have expected to work in their favour.

Instead, the appalling tackle by Lee Carsley which scythed into Chris Iwelumo's knee proved to be the tipping point of this vital Championship promotion confrontation which cut Wolves' lead at the top to two points with five games to play.

Carsley, never a malicious player but one certainly guilty here of a challenge every bit as clumsy as Martin Taylor's infamously ill-timed lunge at Eduardo, was rightly shown a red card by referee Mark Halsey. But rarely can such a handicap have worked to the advantage of the penalised team.

Stealing a lead in added time before the break through a combination of weak defending and Cameron Jerome's brute force, Blues relished the opportunity to ensnare Wolves in a gameplan of brutal simplicity which eventually drew a second blunder from Mick McCarthy's back-line.

This gave troublesome substitute Garry O'Connor a result-clinching second goal in the 69th minute.

Outmuscled and unable to make any headway on a wretched St Andrew's surface which makes a virtue of limited footballing ambition, Wolves were simply powerless to turn the game back in their favour, especially in the absence of a Iwelumo, the one man who had been capable of trumping the physical challenge presented by Alex McLeish's team.

So where do we stand at the end of a night of such confusing signals?

Wolves will be grateful that having fallen off their high horse they have the chance to climb straight back on with Good Friday's visit of Southampton. And how Molineux will be hoping it is good on Friday.

Blues? Well, they can make Stoke City look positively Dutch with their rudimentary football but, like the much-maligned Potteries club, are close to an end which will justify the means.

It is a long time since St Andrew's was moved to such fervent support as the home side enjoyed last night, partly because the football has been so dire that officials had to introduce a "kids for a quid" scheme to help sell tickets for this game despite its glaring importance.

It was difficult to share McLeish's verdict that his team's performance had been "brilliant" but he could be forgiven for over-stating the quality of their football after a result of such immense value to his cause.

But they were undoubtedly pragmatic and energised, chasing Wolves into one cul-de-sac after another in ensuring the visitors could make nothing of their numerical advantage.

Perhaps the result was of even greater concern to Reading and Sheffield United, who would have much preferred a Wolves victory to leave Blues within immediate striking distance.

But now the St Andrew's club must feel they have the impetus to see off the competition beneath them as well as continue the challenge to the leaders.

McCarthy will hope that the defensive aberrations by which Wolves rushed to their own downfall were a temporary blip and not a worrying indicator of nerves infecting their closing programme.

They had looked quite settled and in control when the match remained 11 v 11, even if there was the occasional whiff of foot-shooting which marred their previous test of nerve and character in the visit to Reading at the end of January.

That night will be remembered for the Neill Collins own goal and Wolves only difficulties in the first half hour last night came when, similarly, they played themselves into trouble.

The most alarming moment came from Stephen Ward's over-hit backpass, too strong for Christophe Berra, on 22 minutes which played in Jerome for a clear run at goal.

Thankfully for Wolves, the striker was guilty of a heavy first touch which helped Wayne Hennessey make a saving challenge before the Blues man fired the loose ball wide.

But Wolves, having come into this game not only without Michael Kightly but also an injured Sylvan Ebanks-Blake, were nudging ahead on points from open play.

Two early half chances from David Edwards, arriving late from his right-side berth, had been narrowly off target but encouraging before the move of the match after half an hour finished with Iwelumo mis-timing a headed opportunity from which he would have backed himself to do better.

Still, all was well for McCarthy's men – until that dreadful Carsley challenge was followed by his team's failure to defend a Stephen Carr free-kick from halfway.

Flicked on first by Radhi Jaidi and then Liam Ridgewell – key men for for Blues throughout – Hennessey was guilty of hesitancy and perhaps good old-fashioned muscle as he claimed one hand on the ball against Jerome's body.

But the striker just kept on rolling towards the net, eventually bundling the Wolves keeper over the line with the ball, to claim part-goal, part-pushover try – but crucially giving Blues their favourite gameplan which a St Andrew's crowd that had been softened before this turn of events responded to noisily.

Deny, frustrate, defend, hassle and harangue - these were the by-words of their high-energy second-half while Wolves, introducing Matt Jarvis from the bench to add width, attempted to work the ball around them.

It was a plan flawed by several factors, not least their own muted individual performances along with the parks pitch surface which made passing perilous.

Amid this chain of events, it was a difficult night to judge Marlon Harewood on his debut, save for obvious conclusion that he will be much the better for only his second game in four months.

But no, this would be a night for the hunters and chasers and so it was with 21 minutes remaining, and Wolves already grateful for a Hennessey save which denied O'Connor, that Berra was caught like his keeper before him, hesitant and unsure, enabling the Blues striker to seize possession.

He rounded Hennessey and squeezed home a fine finish which crushed the already fading conviction Wolves had about saving this ill-starred game.

Jarvis, stranded out wide for too long, cut inside to force a leaping stop from Maik Taylor but never did Wolves suggest they could escape what had become a perfectly-executed ambush.