Wolves 5 Doncaster 0: Mick McCarthy's men ease into fourth round
Steven Fletcher, Mujangi Bia, Kevin Doyle, Matt Jarvis and David Jones were on target for Mick McCarthy's men.Doncaster's challenge proved to be a relatively feeble one.
Five star: David Jones celebrates after scoring a fifth goal for WolvesFletcher set Wolves on their way inthe fifth minute with his sixth goal of the season, and although Roversremained in the hunt up until the hour mark, they fell apart from thatpoint.In front of a sparse 10,031 Molineux crowd, those in attendance were at least warmed on a chilly night.It could have been so very different if Doncaster had taken the one gilt-edged chance that came their way in the third minute.In tinkering with his back four, as Wolves boss Mick McCarthy opted to do, there was scope for trouble. Inresting Stephen Ward and with George Elokobi suspended from the initialtie at the Keepmoat Stadium following his red card in that 2-2 draw,McCarthy was effectively without a recognised left-back.It resulted in him switching RonaldZubar from right-back to left and bringing in Stephen Mouyokolo to fillthe vacancy, with both men playing in their new positions for the firsttime.After 16 matches on the sidelineswith a hip injury, Jody Craddock was restored to the centre of defence,leaving Christophe Berra on the bench.
Happy days: Geoffrey Mujangi Bia celebrates with team-mates after scoring a second gaol for WolvesSo it was with a degree ofconsternation for a few fleeting moments that Wolves' untried backlinewas tested so early in the game. Dean Shiels, a late replacement forMartin Woods who suffered a groin strain in the warm-up, delivered adelightful low cross in behind the new-look Wolves rearguard for! BillySh arp to run onto. With only Marcus Hahnemann to beat, the 11-goalforward could only rifle his drive against the advancing American.The importance of such a save andSharp's effective miss became all too apparent just two minutes lateras Wolves scored the only goal of the first half. Doyle initiallycombined with Stephen Hunt down the left, with the latter then whippingin a piercing delivery for Fletcher to glance home from eight yardsbeyond Neil Sullivan.The remainder of the half thenbelonged to Wolves who were far more the imposing side, save for oneheader from James Hayter in the 11th minute that was narrowly wide.Instead, it was the Barclays Premier League side who should have headedinto the break with a more comfortable advantage against their npowerChampionship opponents.Zubar and Mujangi Bia, a 21-year-oldBelgian-born midfielder making only his third start, initially wentclose with edge-of-the-area drives either side of Hayter's effort.Mujangi Bia followed that up with a right-foot curler from 25 yardsthat was inches beyond Sullivan's left-hand post before missing asitter 11 minutes from the interval.
There's two sides to every story: Wolves boss Mick McCarthy gives a thumbs up (left) but there's only dejection at the final whistle for Doncaster's James Hayter (right)
Breaking from deep via a movesparked by Doyle, Mujangi Bia played an incisive one-two with Fletcher,but with the goal at his mercy from 12 yards he could only blaze hischance over the bar.
Recognising it was a golden opportunity for Wolves to carve out a 2-0lead, Mujangi Bia was given a playful kick up the backside from Hunt asretribution.Mercifully for Wolves it did notprove costly as Mujangi Bia gained his just reward for his industry byfinishing off a 61st-minute move with a powerful 12-yard driv! e for hi sfirst goal for the club.Doyle had been the supplier on thatoccasion with a low cross from the left, and five minutes later heagain shaped as if to play the role of provider from a similar positionafter turning James Chambers inside out. But instead, arguably catchingSullivan by surprise, the Republic of Ireland striker squeezed anacutely-angled shot in off the right post for what was also his sixthgoal of the season.The comfortable scoreline allowedMcCarthy to make the first of his substitutions, with Hunt replaced byJarvis in the 69th minute, and five minutes later the midfielder addedfurther emphasis to the scoreline.Centre-back Richard Stearman playedJarvis into space and he finished expertly with a sidefoot shot beyondSullivan for his first goal since mid-October.Wolves were not finished, though,and in the third minute of injury time Jones swept home a Jarvis cornerfrom 16 yards to give the midlands club their biggest win since a 6-0victory over Gillingham in March 2003.
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