Southampton blown away as Vokes leads Wolves' aerial attack

Wolves 3 Southampton

An early, irresistible flurry of goals swept Wolverhampton Wanderers into an impregnable lead yesterday, plumping up a five-point cushion at the top of the Championship while pushing Southampton closer to the third tier for the first time in 49 years.

Even without their 48-goal trio of leading scorers – the injured Sylvain Ebanks-Blake, Chris Iwelumo and Michael Kightly – Wolves carried too much firepower and could be promoted to the Premier League next weekend after a five-year absence. They move on to Derby County on Monday before receiving managerless QPR a week today, when Ebanks-Blake is expected to return.

Southampton, having succumbed at home last week to the bottom club, Charlton Athletic, but shown spirit and style in the ensuing draw at Watford, restored a modicum of pride in the second half.

Yet they had begun the game as if intent on proving they could make sure of relegation without any 10-point deduction the club may incur for their parent company entering administration.

Two corner kicks, two headed goals; the contest was all but decided during the first five minutes. Mick McCarthy admitted that he and his coach, Terry Connor, had been "having a bitch" about the dearth of goals from that route. "It was great to see people attacking the ball," the Wolves manager added, "but the delivery was excellent, too."

His Southampton counterpart, Mark Wotte, did not mince his words either. "We did a shit job in the first few minutes," the Dutchman complained. "We knew Wolves would be on fire after losing at Birmingham so expected an aggressive performance. But if you don't win your headers, you make things difficult for yourselves."

Sam Vokes, who is a boyhood Southampton fan, exposed their aerial fallibility inside 40 seconds, rising to convert a David Jones corner after pressuring Chris Perry into conceding the kick. Vokes, standing in for Iwelumo as target man, put in a powerful shift in his first start for nine matches.

A short-corner routine between Jones and Matt Jarvis resulted in the former swinging in a cross which was met by Jody Craddock, who came off his marker with contemptuous ease to glance the ball beyond the Southampton goalkeeper Kelvin Davis.

Jones, having created two goals, scored the third with an emphatic penalty after Marek Saganowski cut down David Edwards.

Southampton, to their credit, strove hard to reduce the arrears, but it was difficult to resist the impression of clubs moving in opposite directions.

Wolverhampton Wanderers (4-4-2): Hennessey; Foley (Stearman, 83), Craddock, Berra, Hill; Edwards, Henry, Jones, Jarvis (Harewood, 60); Vokes (S Ward, 67), Keogh. Substitutes not used: Higgs (gk), Reid.

Southampton (4-4-1-1): Davis; James, Saeijs, Skacel (Wright-Phillips, h-t); Smith, Schneiderlin (Lallana, 72), Wotton, Surman; McGoldrick (Euell, h-t); Saganowski. Substitutes not used: Forecast (gk), Liptak.

Referee: A Taylor (Greater Manchester).