Tony Pulis was frustrated in the transfer market right up to the last moment and so no surprises were sprung in today's starting line-up. Ed De Goey was given the nod in goal ahead of Steve Simonsen whilst Pulis once again decided to start with the forward line of Gifton Noel-Williams and Ade Akinbiyi, who was facing one of his former clubs.
Clive Clarke continued in his centre midfield role alongside new signing Dave Brammer who was making his competitive debut, with Darel Russell and Lewis Neal operating down the flanks. On a red hot Sunday afternoon, both sets of fans were making some good noise inside the stadium and the two sides were greeted with a rapturous round of applause upon leaving the tunnel for the opening match of the newly named 'Coca Cola Championship'.
The Potters started at a good pace with Akinbiyi in particular racing around the pitch in his normal style, and they could and probably should have taken the lead after four minutes. A deep cross from the left wing fell to Russell who volleyed from around six yards out but cleared the bar comfortably in disappointing fashion.
Wolves had a number of players ruled out in the run up to the match and it was showing as they looked jaded and unorganised with the defence in particular nothing short of a mess. They were finding it hard to deal with corners into the box and gifted City two free headers in a short space of time.
First of all Noel-Williams managed to find space at the near post to meet Neal's corner but he could not direct his header goalwards from a difficult angle. Wayne Thomas was next to be left free in the box again from a Neal corner but he somehow managed to completely miss the ball when he surely would have scored if he had made contact.
This sparked some pushing and shoving amongst the Wolves defence as fingers were pointed and some harsh words were quite obviously spoken. It was clear that they were rattled and the Potters sensed an opportunity as they began to push forward time and time again.
Akinbiyi had two reasonable chances from which we have seen him score from before. The first came from another cross into the box but the ball was played slightly behind him and he was unable to trouble the Wolves 'keeper as the ball drifted wide of the right-hand post.
Minutes later Russell played a ball across the box for Akinbiyi but once again he failed to make good contact before the ball fell back out to Neal who struck a fierce shot that was well saved by Paul Jones. The interval saw the sides go in at 0-0 but City really should have been leading at this stage.
It was obvious that Wolves were going to come out sharper in the second half and City had to survive a ten minute onslaught that could have yielded a goal through Colin Cameron but for a wonderful save from De Goey. The Scotsman played a neat one-two and found himself clear in front of goal but he could not capitalise on some poor defending from Stoke.
Wolves would rue that miss as it was City who took the lead in the 56th minute. Akinbiyi gave chase to a long ball up the field and when the ball fell loose some 20 yards from goal, Russell struck a fierce shot towards goal that flew in via the foot of the far post. The goal could not have come at a better time as City were undoubtedly on the back foot at the time. We could have been left to look back to the missed chances in the first half had we let Wolves take control but this goal but the Potters firmly back in charge.It must be said that the rendition of 'Delilah' that followed was the best heard in the Brit for quite some time as three sides of the ground were in unison.
This spurred City on and they pushed forward for a second killer goal rather than sit back on their one goal lead as we have seen so often in the past. The hard work was rewarded in the 70th minute once again largely down to the runnng of Akinbiyi. He managed to get into the box but was pulled to the ground by Mark Clyde and the referee awarded a penalty that skipper Clarke stepped up to take.
The ball squeezed in the corner of the net despite the outstretched hand of Jones and this would prove to be the winning goal. Pulis did decide that now was the time to play a little more defensively and Karl Henry was brought on to replace Lewis Neal who worked hard to good effect at times.
However, the 86th minute finally saw a lapse in the City defence as a penalty was awarded for Noel-Williams' hand ball in the box. Kenny Miller struck a sweet penalty into the top corner but City managed to hang on without any real worrying moments.
This was an impressive three points,albeit against an under-strength Wolves side and Pulis could not have asked for a better start to the season. I also feel that City fans deserve recognition for the part they played. It has been reprted that perhaps the atmosphere did not come across very well on the TV but the atmosphere was electric at times and certainly as good as anything we witnessed last season. The Boothen end was packed with the new season tickets and it produced more noise than has been heard for some time, whilst the John Smiths and Sentinel Stand in particular, also joined in.
MATCH RATINGS:
ED DE GOEY: 8 (Very commanding today,came for and claimed a number of crosses and made one brilliant save to stop a certain goal)
JOHN HALLS: 8 (A dubious man of the match award is going home with John tonight but he did defend well and got forward when he needed to)
MARCUS HALL: 8 (Extremely steady,not much got past him today and he also got up the field more often than we have been seeing of him in pre-season)
GERRY TAGGART: 8 (Looked happy to be in a Stoke shirt and was as dependable as ever. Never troubled by the forwards and even found time for a laugh when his shirt was ripped!)
WAYNE THOMAS: 8 (Very solid today, Wayne won all of his aerial battles and was doing plenty of good covering as well)
DAREL RUSSELL: 8 (Has been question marks on him playing on the right wing but he was very effective today and the goal was a screamer)
LEWIS NEAL: 7 (Tends to have long ineffective periods but his crosses created a number of chances today and he was unlucky not to get on the score-sheet)
DAVE BRAMMER: 7 (Not his best performance but still controlled the midfield with Clarke and it is good to see a midfielder who likes to shoot again!)
CLIVE CLARKE: 7 (Didn't start off too well but had a great second half and really looks the part in the middle)
GIFTON NOEL-WILLIAMS: 9 (Doesn't always get the credit he deserves but gets the man of the match today for me. Won every ball in the air and was a real handful for the Wolves defence)
ADE AKINBIYI: 8 (Didn't have his shooting boots on today but caused problems with his constant runnning and was involved in both goals)
SUBS- Karl Henry, Carl Asaba, Chris Greenacre: 6 (No time for impact)
Clive Clarke continued in his centre midfield role alongside new signing Dave Brammer who was making his competitive debut, with Darel Russell and Lewis Neal operating down the flanks. On a red hot Sunday afternoon, both sets of fans were making some good noise inside the stadium and the two sides were greeted with a rapturous round of applause upon leaving the tunnel for the opening match of the newly named 'Coca Cola Championship'.
The Potters started at a good pace with Akinbiyi in particular racing around the pitch in his normal style, and they could and probably should have taken the lead after four minutes. A deep cross from the left wing fell to Russell who volleyed from around six yards out but cleared the bar comfortably in disappointing fashion.
Wolves had a number of players ruled out in the run up to the match and it was showing as they looked jaded and unorganised with the defence in particular nothing short of a mess. They were finding it hard to deal with corners into the box and gifted City two free headers in a short space of time.
First of all Noel-Williams managed to find space at the near post to meet Neal's corner but he could not direct his header goalwards from a difficult angle. Wayne Thomas was next to be left free in the box again from a Neal corner but he somehow managed to completely miss the ball when he surely would have scored if he had made contact.
This sparked some pushing and shoving amongst the Wolves defence as fingers were pointed and some harsh words were quite obviously spoken. It was clear that they were rattled and the Potters sensed an opportunity as they began to push forward time and time again.
Akinbiyi had two reasonable chances from which we have seen him score from before. The first came from another cross into the box but the ball was played slightly behind him and he was unable to trouble the Wolves 'keeper as the ball drifted wide of the right-hand post.
Minutes later Russell played a ball across the box for Akinbiyi but once again he failed to make good contact before the ball fell back out to Neal who struck a fierce shot that was well saved by Paul Jones. The interval saw the sides go in at 0-0 but City really should have been leading at this stage.
It was obvious that Wolves were going to come out sharper in the second half and City had to survive a ten minute onslaught that could have yielded a goal through Colin Cameron but for a wonderful save from De Goey. The Scotsman played a neat one-two and found himself clear in front of goal but he could not capitalise on some poor defending from Stoke.
Wolves would rue that miss as it was City who took the lead in the 56th minute. Akinbiyi gave chase to a long ball up the field and when the ball fell loose some 20 yards from goal, Russell struck a fierce shot towards goal that flew in via the foot of the far post. The goal could not have come at a better time as City were undoubtedly on the back foot at the time. We could have been left to look back to the missed chances in the first half had we let Wolves take control but this goal but the Potters firmly back in charge.It must be said that the rendition of 'Delilah' that followed was the best heard in the Brit for quite some time as three sides of the ground were in unison.
This spurred City on and they pushed forward for a second killer goal rather than sit back on their one goal lead as we have seen so often in the past. The hard work was rewarded in the 70th minute once again largely down to the runnng of Akinbiyi. He managed to get into the box but was pulled to the ground by Mark Clyde and the referee awarded a penalty that skipper Clarke stepped up to take.
The ball squeezed in the corner of the net despite the outstretched hand of Jones and this would prove to be the winning goal. Pulis did decide that now was the time to play a little more defensively and Karl Henry was brought on to replace Lewis Neal who worked hard to good effect at times.
However, the 86th minute finally saw a lapse in the City defence as a penalty was awarded for Noel-Williams' hand ball in the box. Kenny Miller struck a sweet penalty into the top corner but City managed to hang on without any real worrying moments.
This was an impressive three points,albeit against an under-strength Wolves side and Pulis could not have asked for a better start to the season. I also feel that City fans deserve recognition for the part they played. It has been reprted that perhaps the atmosphere did not come across very well on the TV but the atmosphere was electric at times and certainly as good as anything we witnessed last season. The Boothen end was packed with the new season tickets and it produced more noise than has been heard for some time, whilst the John Smiths and Sentinel Stand in particular, also joined in.
MATCH RATINGS:
ED DE GOEY: 8 (Very commanding today,came for and claimed a number of crosses and made one brilliant save to stop a certain goal)
JOHN HALLS: 8 (A dubious man of the match award is going home with John tonight but he did defend well and got forward when he needed to)
MARCUS HALL: 8 (Extremely steady,not much got past him today and he also got up the field more often than we have been seeing of him in pre-season)
GERRY TAGGART: 8 (Looked happy to be in a Stoke shirt and was as dependable as ever. Never troubled by the forwards and even found time for a laugh when his shirt was ripped!)
WAYNE THOMAS: 8 (Very solid today, Wayne won all of his aerial battles and was doing plenty of good covering as well)
DAREL RUSSELL: 8 (Has been question marks on him playing on the right wing but he was very effective today and the goal was a screamer)
LEWIS NEAL: 7 (Tends to have long ineffective periods but his crosses created a number of chances today and he was unlucky not to get on the score-sheet)
DAVE BRAMMER: 7 (Not his best performance but still controlled the midfield with Clarke and it is good to see a midfielder who likes to shoot again!)
CLIVE CLARKE: 7 (Didn't start off too well but had a great second half and really looks the part in the middle)
GIFTON NOEL-WILLIAMS: 9 (Doesn't always get the credit he deserves but gets the man of the match today for me. Won every ball in the air and was a real handful for the Wolves defence)
ADE AKINBIYI: 8 (Didn't have his shooting boots on today but caused problems with his constant runnning and was involved in both goals)
SUBS- Karl Henry, Carl Asaba, Chris Greenacre: 6 (No time for impact)