Albion res 3 Wolves res 3

Wolves staged a storming fightback from three goals down to draw last night's reserve Black Country derby against Albion – without Freddy Eastwood.

The Molineux men were trailing 3-1 when the enigmatic Eastwood was withdrawn five minutes after the break having made little impact as the Baggies threatened to cruise to victory.

But that substitution proved the turning point as the Welsh international's replacement Mark Davies marked his return to action with a goal to reduce the arrears.

And with time running out Denes Rosa continued his prolific form for the Wolves second string by scoring his ninth goal in six games to earn his side a point with an equaliser three minutes from time.

Yet such a result never looked likely after only 24 minutes as the Baggies raced into the three goal lead . Bartosz Slusarski, Roman Bednar and Sherjill MacDonald were all on target for Albion as they tore through the youthful visiting defence.

MacDonald's pace had already caused Wolves problems before Slusarski sprang the offside trap to race on to Bednar's pass and beat Billy Lumley with a cool left foot finish to give Albion a seventh minute lead.

Bednar doubled their advantage only two minutes later with a near identical goal - his sixth in three reserve games - timing his run to perfection to latch on to Craig Beattie's pass and fire an angled drive across Lumley.

And Beattie was the provider again when Albion made it three in the 24th minute, this time sending the lightning-quick MacDonald clear to lift the ball over the advancing Lumley.

Martin Riley had a header from Matt Jarvis corner cleared off the line by Tininho before Wolves pulled one back in the 27th minute when Liam Hughes bundled another flag kick over the line from close range.

Eastwood's one real impact was to intercept an Adrian Manchester pass and force a flying save out of Luke Steele with a stinging right foot drive from 25 yards just before half-time.

Pele saw a sweet left foot drive ruled out after it took a deflection off the offside Slusarski 20 seconds after the restart.

But moments after Eastwood's withdrawal Albion captain Jared Hodgkiss almost handed Wolves a lifeline by slicing Mark Little's centre against his own post.

It was game on, though, when Davies slotted home through a crowded penalty areas in the 62nd minute after Hughes had seen a close range effort blocked following a jinking run and cross from the lively Jarvis.

Both sides had chances in a frenetic finale, but Wolves' hopes of a draw appeared to have gone when Hughes smashed a 20 yard drive against the post.

But only minutes later the young striker fed Rosa, who made no mistake with an angled drive across Luke Steele to cap an enthralling evening's entertainment.

Albion (4-4-2): Steele; Hodgkiss, Martis, Manchester, Tininho; Beattie (Worrall, 71), Pele, Chaplow (Compton, 71), MacDonald; Slusarski (Morrison, 82) , Bednar. Subs not used: Lake-Gaskin, Mason

Wolves (4-4-2): Lumley; Little, Riley, Collins, Mulgrew; Rosa, Potter, Salmon, Jarvis; Hughes, Eastwood (Davies, 50) Subs not used: Wooley, Melbourne, Spalding, Hemmings.