Wolves prey on their betters

Wolverhampton...3 Newcastle United...2Somewhere amid the frenetic glory of this blistering tie, Newcastle United's FA Cup hopes died an inglorious death in the chill of the Black Country last night.

With their soft underbelly ripped to shreds, a first-half comeback wrecked by shoddy defending and their second-half revival frustrated by late home defiance, the side perched a lofty fourth in the English Premiership will awaken battered, bruised and beaten this morning.

Wolves, apparently a fading force in the first division as they free-fall away from the play-off positions, will still be pinching themselves.

George Ndah's close-range finish five minutes after the interval ultimately earned those clad in gold a deserved place in the fourth round, though quite how only five goals were conjured from this rip-roaring match - a relentless blur of energy and incident - remains a mystery.

After 94 minutes of breathless entertainment, the vociferous home support erupted in celebration. Newcastle's players, crestfallen and bewildered in defeat, trudged from the field as Molineux bounced in unbridled joy.

Progress was no more than Wolves deserved. Dave Jones's side may be labouring in the bottleneck of the English League, without a victory in five increasingly desperate league games, but they were irrepressible here.

As men possessed, they tore into dithering opponents to establish a two-goal lead they more than warranted, only to implode in three minutes of madness with the interval within sight.

In normal circumstances, that would have punctured the mood; in the incredible context of this contest, it merely set up the knock-out punch.

In truth, the visitors should have been swept away by the time Ndah scored the goal his performance deserved. Newcastle were anaemic before the break, their defending an embarrassment to leave Bobby Robson livid on the touchline.

He had risen to his feet in exasperation while his defenders dillied and dallied after conceding a corner in the sixth minute. Mark Kennedy and Shaun Newton exchanged quick-fire passes and Newcastle never recovered their composure as the Irishman's cross was nodded back by Paul Butler for Paul Ince, neglected by Clarence Acuna, to half-volley only his second Wolves goal beyond a static Shay Given.

Newcastle may be ensconced in the Champions League, but they have conceded as many goals away from home this season as the Premiership's bottom club, West Ham. Even against lower-league opponents, those deficiencies were plain and painful to see.

Andy O'Brien and Aaron Hughes began in the centre, the former replaced by Nicos Dabizas at half-time, though the lack of defensive nous bordered on the embarrassing at times as Ndah and Kenny Miller, bundles of biting energy throughout, ran riot.

Colin Cameron might have added a second before Matt Murray's long throw found Newton charging down the right. His clever pass for the marauding Scot cut out the back-tracking Hughes before Cameron's pass eluded Miller.

Yet the former Rangers striker succeeded in dragging Andrew Griffin from the centre-spot and the loose ball was viciously hammered home by the unmarked Kennedy.

Had Kennedy not wastefully nodded Newton's centre into the side-netting two minutes later, the home side's ascendancy would most likely never have been checked, yet Newcastle survived, took stock and - ruthlessly if ridiculously - drew level.

First Craig Bellamy sprinted beyond Lee Naylor and crossed. Alan Shearer's shot was blocked by Paul Butler only for Jermaine Jenas to nod instinctively in.

That changed the mood. Wolves's traditional fragility was exposed horribly yet again and Joleon Lescott's tug on Bellamy in the area - bizarrely after he had already succeeded in clearing the ball - was rightly penalised. Shearer duly hammered the equaliser beyond Murray.

It says much for Lescott, not to mention his manager's calming half-time influence, that the defender had recovered his composure sufficiently immediately on the resumption to block first Shearer's free-kick then Acuna's follow-up on the goal-line.

But the frenzy had been whipped up again and Wolves charged down the other end to re-establish the advantage lost in the bedlam before the break. Kennedy's cross was perfect for Newton, benefiting from Olivier Bernard's slip, to nod back across the goalmouth where Ndah bundled in from close range.

Solano's goal-line block from Hughes and Given's throw-out straight to a startled Ndah, whose attempt was choked, merely added to the sense of comedy thereafter, though few home fans saw the funny side when Miller's volley was harshly disallowed for a shove on Bernard.

That chance punctured the frantic late pressure from Newcastle, with Naylor clearing Lomana Lua-Lua's first touch from the goalmouth with an outstretched left foot - television replays later suggested the ball had crossed the line - and Murray denying Bellamy after he had been slipped through by Laurent Robert.

But the home side's luck held through to the delirious din which greeted the final whistle and, after all their recent league under-achievement, here was real progress for those in gold to celebrate.

WOLVERHAMPTON: Murray, Irwin, Lescott, Butler (Clyde 50), Naylor, Newton (Cooper 83), Ince, Cameron, Kennedy, Miller, Ndah. Subs Not Used: Oakes, Rae, Andrews. Booked: Butler, Irwin. Goals: Ince 6, Kennedy 28, Ndah 49.

NEWCASTLE: Given, Griffin, O'Brien (Dabizas 45), Hughes, Bernard, Solano (LuaLua 76), Acuna (Ameobi 84), Jenas, Robert, Shearer, Bellamy. Subs Not Used: Harper, Kerr. Booked: Bernard. Goals: Jenas 40, Shearer 43 pen.

Referee: R Styles (Hampshire).