WOLVES INDEBTED TO HERO HELDER
WOLVES gave themselves valuable breathing space in their battle to move away from the Championship drop zone with a late, late show at Brentford last Tuesday.
Paul Lambert’s men had been trailing to Maxime Colin’s first-half goal for the Bees until the closing stages, when the game turned on its head.
First, Matt Doherty levelled in the 86th minute and then, three minutes later, Helder Costa fired home the winner.
The dramatic victory lifted the Midlanders to 18th place in the table, four points above the relegation zone.
Lambert insisted he always remained confident his side would be able to turn the tables.
“I never felt severe stress or pressure at all, even though we were a goal down, because we were creating,” he said.
“It was just a matter of time before we got one. In the second half, we looked great.”
If that was one dramatic finish in the capital, there was another at Fulham.
Sone Aluko gave them the lead against Blackburn on the stroke of half-time, but the game really came to life in the closing stages. Firstly, Craig Conway levelled from the penalty spot after Whites defender Tomas Kalas had felled Marvin Emnes.
Yet it looked as though Fulham were going to snaffle all three points – and leapfrog Sheffield Wednesday into the play-off places – when substitute Gohi Cyriac, on loan from Belgian club Oostende, netted his first goal for the club in the 86th minute, converting Ryan Fredericks’ cross.
Precious
However, there was a further sting in the tail. In the fourth minute of injury time, Blackburn striker Lucas Joao – ironically on loan from Sheffield Wednesday – bundled the ball home to earn his side a precious point and move themselves out of the relegation zone at Bristol City’s expense.
It also extended manager Tony Mowbray’s fine start as Blackburn boss to six games unbeaten.
“The players showed great effort and had that desire not to lose the match against a really good football team who can press you back with their passing,” said a proud Mowbray. In League One, relentless
Sheffield United pressed on at the top of the table, though relegation-haunted Swindon made them work hard at the County Ground.
Caolan Lavery and Keiron Freeman gave the Blades a 2-0 lead at the break, but Swindon levelled things up early in the second half courtesy of Charlie Colkett and Ben Gladwin. However, Jay O’Shea restored United’s lead in the 58th minute and Paul Coutts sealed their 4-2 victory with a last-minute penalty, leaving the Blades eight points clear of the chasers.
Stunning
Second-placed Fleetwood put last Saturday’s 4-2 home defeat by Bolton behind them with a fine 1-0 win at Walsall, Cian Bolger heading home. Bolton, meanwhile, made it eight goals in two away games with a stunning 4-0 success at Gillingham. The Trotters shared the goals around with David Wheater, Adam Le Fondre, Mark Beevers and Josh Vela all netting. Scunthorpe climbed to fourth place and ended a run of nine games without a win with a nail-biting victory against Rochdale.
Ian Henderson gave Dale a first half lead, but the Iron showed their character to bounce back in the second half.
Paddy Madden netted the equaliser before Matt Crooks, on loan from Rangers, rifled in a stoppage-time winner.
Bradford City slipped back to fifth place after being held 1-1 by Charlton.
Jorge Teixeira gave the Addicks the lead in the 35th minute, but Bradford picked up a point on their travels thanks to Timothee Dieng’s goal two minutes before the break.