Winner

By Tom Bason
November 19 2011

I leave Goodison with a wry smile on my face. For the first time this season, defeat clutched from the jaws of victory, the first time we've taken the lead and not clung onto three points.

The game, was a mixture of emotions. Yet, sat in the Bullens Road, surrounded by a sea of blue, these had to be kept in check. A penalty, smashed in by Stephen Hunt resulted in jubilation for those wearing Gold to my left. I allowed myself a smile. To contrast this with later in the match is easy. A loner, sat on my wooden seat while those around me celebrated goals from Phil Jagielka and Leighton Baines.

Yet, at times the thoughts were combined. See the round of applause for the fine work by Seamus Coleman resulting in Tim Cahill shooting from within the 6-yard box. But my applause went to Stephen Ward as he appeared from nowhere to block the goal bound shot. Thoughts must also be with Richard Stearman whose face was rearranged by an onrushing Cahill. Stearman, already our third choice right back, saw his position filled by Ward, ticking off yet another position on his checklist.

The match itself was a turgid affair, with more hoofs than on the horses outside the ground. The main culprit, England's Jagielka. Hoof, hoof, hoof. Despite sending Xavi, Iniesta and Alonso packing last week, there are still lessons to be learnt. The central midfield was a battlefield, Everton's legendary Dogs of War being taken on by a new generation of battlers.

The exception was the majestic Marouane Fellaini. The Belgian marauderer strode around like he owned the pitch, and with his new 5-year £70,000 contract, this is perhaps no longer a pipe dream. Maybe he can now afford a haircut, although given the amount of black floppy haired wigs, it is obviously a money spinner. His touch was a class above everything else on the pitch, the flicks demonstrating the disdain that he felt for the scrap going on around him. Is there a midfield in the country he would not grace?

Of course, there were two sides playing and aside from the 5 minutes following the Hunt penalty, Everton dominated. Dave Edwards, not a winger spent much of the first half in the centre of the park, allowing Everton's best player, Leighton Baines the freedom of the left flank. In tangent with the impressive Royston Drenthe, they gave Stearman a torrid time.

In the centre of the defence, the much improved Roger Johnson is finally starting to fit into his Wolves shirt. It took one of those long spindly legs to deny Apostolos 'EasyJet' Vellios finishing the match long before referee Jon Moss finally blew his whistle for the final time and the Wolves fans were able to trudge out the stadium, ready to make the journey home.

Everton 2-1 Wolves

Discussion started by Wolves , 19/11/2011 18:46

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19/11/2011 18:46

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toomb
19/11/2011 18:54

Apologies for the lack of formatting, but I've written this on my phone and it doesn't appear to like paragraphs. If I remember, I'll format it a little better when I arrive home tomorrow



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