Fulham finally, at the fourth attempt, got their first win of the season but at a terrible prize.
Bobby Zamora, who only put pen to paper on a new contract in midweek, was carried away with a broken leg and will be out of action until January 2011, at the earliest.
With David Stockdale declared unfit, Mark Hughes chose to recall want-away Mark Schwarzer in goal. Damien Duff was another who failed to shake off an injury. As for Wolves, Mancienne came in for Jones whilst loan signing, Marcus Bent, was on the bench.
The game got off to a thrilling start with Fulham having justifiable claims for a penalty, when Craddock clearly fouled Simon Davies, turned down by the referee, Phil Dowd.
Only ten minutes into the action, Wolves were ahead. Kevin Doyle, the man we warned you to watch in our match preview, chipped a great ball over the top and Jelle Van Damme was waiting at the back-stick to hit a first time shot past Schwarzer.
Twenty minutes later came the sickening incident whereby Zamora needed oxygen after breaking his leg in a tackle with Karl Henry, a tackle the Wolves star didn`t even receive a yellow card for.
With Zamora departing the scene, Zoltan Gera was introduced but the incident had visibly shocked the team and all we had to cheer about was a John Pantsil shot that flew well over the bar.
In summary Fulham had played well in the first half but hadn`t created enough clear cut chances to trouble Marcus Hahnemann in the Wolves goal.
Hughes introduced Chris Baird, for Pantsil, after the break and we were soon level courtesy of our new scoring sensation Moussa Dembele with the Belgian international reacting smartly to see his shot deflected into the bottom corner of the net.
Pushing forward, Hughes, from a corner, headed down for Gera but the replacement for Zamora couldn`t swivel enough to take advantage of what was really ever only a half chance.
Another penalty claim was waved away when Davies was brought down by the keeper, much to the annoyance of Mark Hughes. Davies and Dembele created further chances whilst Doyle had a header cleared at the last moment.
With time running out Barra, the Wolvesdefnder was shown a red card and Craven Cottage rocked, with delight, when Dembele scored his second of the game with a free kick that flew through the Wolves wall.
Three points doubled our season total but it could be a long wait for Bobby Zamora to appear in a Fulham shirt again.
Get well soon Bobby!
Vital Fulham on:
Vital Fulham on:
Share this article
