Wolves 3 Norwich 3 - analysis

A hat-trick from the Wolves striker, taking his tally for the season to 20, was the result of a destructive display of finishing amid a performance which may have been uneven but did not want for goalscoring opportunities.

However, Wolves were as bad defending their own penalty area as they were good at invading Norwich City's. The visitors' first and third goals were embarrassing to the league leaders and left a Molineux public still to be convinced this is all going to turn out right in the end pinning much on the newly-acquired central defender Christophe Berra, who was watching from the stands.

This was a game loaded with a potential for familiar faces to return and haunt Wolves. Norwich included ex-Academy graduate Sammy Clingan and one time striker Carl Cort while Alan Gow, whom Wolves deferred from signing in January because of worries about a hamstring weakness, was among their substitutes.

Sure enough, Cort struck a peach of a goal to briefly put his team in front early in the second half but this was a night when Wolves were placed in even greater jeopardy by their own personnel.

With Jody Craddock spending so much of this season fighting to overcome injury and Richard Stearman only arriving in the summer, it was only right to expect Wolves' central defensive partners to be a little unfamiliar with each other.

But last night they were operating in different post codes and Cort and Jamie Cureton had all sorts of fun exploiting the duo's positional discomfort and uncertainty. With keeper Wayne Hennessey seemingly affected by the insecurity in front of him, Wolves handed Norwich gift-wrapped goals either side of their old striker's effort leaving manager Mick McCarthy to furiously hurl his water bottle to the turf in frustration at the final whistle.

Thank goodness, then, for Ebanks-Blake. Sir Alex Ferguson calls this stage of the season "squeaky bum time" and that is not exclusively reserved for the Premier League title battle.

The nerves and tension around Molineux are unmistakable and asking questions now of the ability of McCarthy's relatively inexperienced players to handle the pressure. Having chosen the Paula Radcliffe method of racing – get out in front and stay there – Wolves need to show more than ever that they can handle their own marathon's demands and in their leading scorer there can be no doubt they have one young player relishing the challenge.

In both words and deeds, Ebanks-Blake is precisely what McCarthy is now looking for – determined to make things happen, determined to succeed. He did both against Norwich.

Apart from his hat-trick, each goal set up by an equally uninhibited Matt Jarvis, he smashed another effort against the bar and so nearly stole a winner in added time with a jabbed, far-post volley which was unluckily deflected wide.

The striker is a 'go to' player every bit as important as Michael Kightly, whose quality of delivery was unhinging Norwich before a shoulder injury took him out of the game before the first half was over, while at left-back, there cannot be enough praise for the way Stephen Ward continues to carry the fight to the opposition.

Ward has fought a popularity battle with the Molineux fans in the past but is displaying the benefits of a flourishing confidence and conviction about his role in the team; oh that the same could be said for Andy Keogh.

His 80th minute substitution was greeted by ironic cheers after he had failed to deliver on the last of four positions of goalscoring possibilities. At each moment, Keogh's uncertain body language betrayed his fragmenting confidence in the face of Molineux's critical glare and McCarthy has a real problem on his hands restoring this player to full working order in the weeks ahead.

For all Keogh's difficulties, and a missing fluency not helped by a 'dead' surface, Wolves remain full of goal threat. Norwich played out the first 20 minutes exactly as they would have planned it, keeping possession, frustrating Wolves and silencing the crowd so effectively McCarthy's urgent bawling could be clearly heard.

But get Wolves forward in those wide areas and they immediately become a problem. Kightly signalled what was to come when he slipped in a pass for Ebanks-Blake which was hammered against the bar on 20 minutes, the rebound falling to Keogh who deferred a finish with his weaker left-foot to feed Jarvis for a more difficult and unsuccessful chance.

No matter. In the 25th minute, another Kightly cross drew a handling error from David Marshall which Jarvis devoured to give Ebanks-Blake a routine first goal.

There was time for poor Keogh to miss completely another sumptuous service from Kightly before Norwich were level when the unease clearly detectable in Wolves' back-line was summed up by Stearman opting to try to head the ball back to his goalkeeper from from far too deep. Lee Croft easily took the chance.

But the half would close with Wolves, never dominant but frequently menacing, promising more goals and Norwich grateful to a double save from Marshall which thwarted Ebanks-Blake and then Jarvis's at point-blank.

However, the visitors shifted the tone when they again engineered enough space around the edge of Wolves' area for Cort to place a wonderfully precise drive into the bottom corner from 18 yards.

The home side's response was typically furious and inspired by Jarvis and Ebanks-Blake. Twice in the space of as many minutes, the winger cut through Norwich's right flank to tee-up his colleague as Wolves threatened to run riot. But once more they were undermined by feeble defending, this time from a 65th minute Clingan corner.

Hennessey allowed it to drop at the far post – it is difficult to believe the keeper of last season would not have snaffled it – where Gary Doherty bundled the ball over the line – and this time not even Ebanks-Blake could rescue Wolves from their recklessness.

By Martin Swain.