Strikes from Harvey Griffiths and Nathan Fraser, his second goal in four days, guided Wolves under-23s to a comfortable victory over Birmingham City at Aggborough to continue their unbeaten start to 2022.
Dexter Lembikia, who has been one of the breakthrough players for James Collins’ side this season having come up from the under-18s following injury to Hugo Bueno and Lewis Richards, created the first real chance of the game brilliantly as he used his pace and trickery to skip in between three Birmingham defenders and get to the byline, but his cross was cut out by the blue shirts in the box as they were able to crowd out Lee Harkin.
Wolves were almost caught out in the early stages as Kieran Wakefield was played in between the gold and black’s back three, but goalkeeper Andreas Sondergaard – who was featuring between the sticks despite his deadline day loan to Hereford – came up with the goods to block his effort as he closed down the space quickly and made himself big.
Having put pressure on the Birmingham defence, with Harkin and Harry Birtwistle driving the hosts forward with their quick feet, Wolves broke the deadlock as a Jack Hodnett free-kick from near the corner flag was met by the head of Christian Marques, and although the defender was thwarted by a good save from Blues keeper Zach Jeacock, Griffiths was quick to pounce on the rebound and fire the ball high into the net.
Wolves could have doubled their lead with just over five minutes of the first-half remaining, but Harkin fired straight at Jeacock from the edge of the penalty area having found space in between the lines.
Griffiths was a commanding presence in the centre of midfield throughout the game, and it was his tenacity in the tackle which almost created the opportunity for another goal for the hosts after the break, as he robbed the ball back and fizzed a cross into the box, but nobody in a gold shirt could get on the end of it.
Moments later, Taylor Perry let fly from the edge of the box, but his effort was well over the crossbar, while Hodnett was also unable to test Jeacock after cutting inside from the left.
The second-half lacked much of the intensity of the first period, with neither side able to get into a flow of possession, with attacks regularly breaking down in the final third, although Griffiths had an opportunity with the clock ticking down, after substitute Fraser found the midfielder on the edge of the box and he shot narrowly wide of the post.
The hosts got their second goal just as the game was to enter added time after Hugo Bueno’s driving run through the heart of Birmingham saw the Spaniard lay the ball into the feet of Fraser and he cut inside and curled the ball inside the far corner of the goal. Wolves could have added a third in the final moments as Hodnett’s effort was palmed over the crossbar by Jeacock.
The two goals were enough for Wolves to secure a successive win in Premier League 2 and move up to seventh in the Division 2 table, just a point outside the play-off positions.
COMING UP
James Collins’ side are back in Premier League 2 action next Friday as they travel to Middlesbrough, while many of the under-23s will be part of the FA Youth Cup side which take on Tottenham Hotspur at Molineux on Saturday.
NEXT FIVE
14/02 Exeter City (H) PLC
18/02 Middlesbrough (A)
28/02 Reading (H)
14/03 West Bromwich Albion (A)
18/03 Aston Villa (H)
TEAMS
Wolves: Sondergaard, Lembikisa, Tipton, Marques, Hubner, Bueno, Griffiths, Perry (Kandola 67), Birtwistle (Fraser 75), Hodnett, Harkin (Farmer 75).
Unused subs: Estrada, Barnett.
Birmingham: Jeacock, Oakley (Patterson 61), Browne, Khela, Thompson-Sommers, Gordon (Fogarty 46), Walker, Williams, Soldevilla, Lewis (Lewis 57), Wakefield.
Unused subs: Bassey, Simmonds.
