Wolves 2 Bolton 2 - analysis and pictures
It had to be Mark Davies, didn't it?
A midfielder of whom so much was expected at Molineux duly delivered. Unfortunately, once again it was in the shirt of Bolton.
Eight months after he earned a dubious penalty which helped usher Wolves to defeat, Davies lashed home a 90th minute equaliser to spoil his 'birth' club's night.
It was, in truth, no more than Bolton deserved and it was hardly Davies's fault that the previous regime didn't see a role for him.
But that it was one of their former Academy stars, born in the city, who provided the final, decisive act of a better-than-average Championship clash added to the ache of a Wolves performance of many different shades.
We saw signs in the first half of a centre-forward rediscovering his goalscoring touch and a Wolves team genuinely revelling in their re-branding under Stale Solbakken.
Kevin Doyle scored twice in as many minutes as his team, mixing up their game to often leave a Premier League squad which has been surprisingly marooned in the Championship disconcerted, thrived and flowed.
In the final seconds of that opening half, Molineux was drooling in appreciation of a closing sequence of passes which came within a whisker of supplying a hat-trick for Doyle leaving the home fans to spend the interval expecting and relishing more of the same.
But it never materialised. Wolves faded alarmingly, becoming disjointed and fractured where earlier there had been fluency – and while some splendid defending protected Carl Ikeme for much of their back-pedalling, it couldn't last.
Much, then, for Solbakken to absorb. Ultimately, this may well prove a useful point because with the added impetus of new management beckoning Bolton, it's a fair bet they will engage the Championship's top six eventually.
On the evidence of the first half, the manager will surely relish the smoother passing and control of possession, and the increasing effectiveness of his team's attacking play. Jermaine Pennant looks precisely what he is – a Premier League footballer playing in the second tier – and a sound acquisition; Tongo Doumbia's driving runs were forceful, Doyle and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake an effective if not perfectly balanced spearhead.
He's got Kevin Foley now fully restored and Roger Johnson and Christophe Berra at home as a defensive unit. Karl Henry, back from suspension, has rarely used the ball as efficiently or fluently. And, when moments of goal-scoring inspiration are needed, there is always Bakary Sako. Yes, there was much to enjoy.
But equally he will have to dissect why Wolves were unable to re-establish any kind of grip after their momentum had been broken by the break and why Doyle and Ebanks-Blake became so cut off from the supply lines. Amid so many six and seven out of 10 individual performances, how did Wolves end up clinging on for dear life?
Their only blemish early on had been the placid resistance to a 21st minute corner, whipped in by Martin Petrov, which landed at the feet of an unmarked Benik Afobe who scored far too easily.
But the response was impressive. Johnson's downwards header from a Pennant corner bounced up and on to the bar three minutes later but Bolton's respite was only too brief.
A perfectly-timed pass down the side of Bolton's right defence played in Doyle who produced as accomplished a finish as many will remember in a long while with the certain touch, acceleration and left-footed execution wide of Adam Bogdan.
Two minutes later, a game that has been cruel to the Irish forward shows it can be kind just as quickly. Sako, rising to the challenge from Petrov as to which of them possessed the most telling left foot in the contest, stretched Bogdan all the way to his right with a 25yd free-kick. The 'keeper palmed down the ball but could do no more – and it was the turn of the Bolton defence to remain static while Doyle headed home.
But the memory of some of the team's most enjoyable football so far began to fade quickly and while Johnson and Berra performed stoutly to repel Bolton's gathering control, eventually the visitors began to get through.
As the game entered the final 15 minutes, by which time Solbakken had drawn in his horns with defensive reinforcements from the bench, Ikeme saved superbly from Petrov and Chris Eagles twice.
But there was fatalistic sense about Davies's equaliser when Bolton swung the ball into the box one time too many and Wolves' old boy pounced on a half-clearance to whack a punishing half-volley into the top corner.
By Martin Swain