Wolves thriving on their nerves

Wolves, the only football club to issue all their followers with beta-blockers, again brought their fans to a state of near nervous seizure before finally gaining a narrow advantage. One suspects, though, that they will be hard-pressed to preserve it in Wednesday's second leg, although Reading's evening, which began so optimistically, ended with their leading Nicky Forster scorer suffering an ankle injury and his replacement, Nathan Tyson, dismissed for a reckless challenge on Paul Butler.

For a contest of this nature, when caution tends to dictate, it was a splendid advertisement for the First Division. The home side, frequently outplayed, are a touch fortunate to have secured two late goals. Yet, their tenacity can only be admired. Should they prevail and win the final at the Milennium Stadium it will mean the difference between nearly £10m of Premiership bounty next season, or £600,000 of TV revenue in the Nationwide. But for Wolves, and their chairman, Sir Jack Hayward, who has made patience such a virtue, you could not put a price on it.

In the early minutes, with the atmosphere frenetic, Denis Irwin drove a free-kick high and Colin Cameron produced a snap shot that found goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann well placed. But Wolves have been in this situation too frequently, and when an early goal failed to arrive, the expectation of the faithful began to become a burden.

Certainly, the tension was appearing to afflict Dave Jones's side, and too much of their passing was going astray, with even Irwin, a veteran of the big stage, a culprit.

Meanwhile, Alan Pardew's side, adopting a 4-5-1 formation, with Forster the lone raider, played a waiting game, probing for the break, with the ex-Arsenal pair, Steve Sidwell and James Harper, beginning to exert a significant influence in midfield.

When Reading's goal arrived in the 25th minute it was fashioned by the impressive left-back, Nicky Shorey, whose cross eluded the defence but fell kindly at the far post for Foster. He brought the ball under control superbly before shooting high into the net.

Wolves rallied, with Kenny Miller testing Hahnemann, but, at that stage, they had disappointingly little to show for their build-up play, though that was partly because of the solid defending of the former Wanderers centre-back Adrian Williams and Steve Brown.

One former Manchester United man, Ince, was cautioned for felling a current member of Sir Alex Ferguson's squad, Luke Chadwick, who is on loan with Reading. The challenge was probably born out of frustration with the one-time England man, playing in his final home game before retirement, recognising that the chances of him helping Wolves to promotion were receding by the minute.

Just after the interval, Forster nearly produced another goal for the visitors, with a turn and cross-cum-shot just out of reach of the incoming Chadwick.

Reading appeared to be in control, but George Ndah had other ideas, unleashing a meaty long-range drive which Hahnemann tipped aside. The American goalkeeper did equally well to deny Kenny Miller as Wolves began to apply sustained pressure. They had been aided by the fact that Forster, who had been giving the home defence a difficult evening, turned an ankle in a challenge just after the hour, and had to be replaced by Tyson.

Jones, for his part, brought on Shaun Newton for Ndah. It was a wise move. With 16 minutes remaining the former Charlton winger volleyed home off the Reading defender Graeme Murty. The Wolves' heart was still beating and Miller forced a diving save from Hahnemann. From the resulting corner, Paul Butler volleyed narrowly wide.

Six minutes was left when Brown fouled Ince on the edge of the area, and Lee Naylor cracked home a low free-kick. It was more than Wolves merited, but Reading brought it upon themselves by failing to capitalise when in control.

Their chagrin was compounded when Tyson was dismissed in added time for his foul on Butler, who was taken off on a stretcher. But this tie is a long way from over yet.

Wolverhampton 2 Reading 1
Murty og 75, Naylor 84; Forster 25

Half-time: 0-1 Attendance: 27,678