Crewe Alexandra 0
Wolves 1 (Malone 37)
A goal from skipper Scott Malone gave Wolves victory over Crewe in a lively friendly at Gresty Road.
With manager Mick McCarthy looking on from the stands, Wolves included two trialists in their 16 man squad.
In defence was Zoltan Szeiesi, formerly of Ujpest and currently with RC Srasbourg in the French Second Division. He has been capped 28 times by Hungary. And on the Wolves' bench was Jimmy Keohane, a midfielder from Wexford.
Clayton Donaldson fired into the side netting from the edge of the area as Crewe posed the first threat, and for Wolves Malone took the ball to the by-line but then overhit his centre.
Neill Collins, playing in central midfield, ran past two defenders before finding Ashley Hemmings with a forward pass. The young striker's shot was blocked and the ball bounced behind Collins whose momentum had carried him into the box.
Hemmings' shot on the turn drifted wide of the far post and then Crewe keeper David Button made a fine flying save from Collins who had run onto a return pass from Kyle Bennett.
With the game a little over half-an-hour old, Dave Jones, who was playing his first game of the season following a knee problem, was replaced by David Davis.
Billy Jones was only just too high with a 25-yard free-kick and Wolves responded with a Bobo Balde header that, again, just cleared the bar.
But the deadlock was broken in the 37th minute when Scott Malone lashed the ball into the roof of the net from just inside the area after he had met a flick on from Hemmings.
Half-Time: Crewe 0 Wolves 1
Hemmings shot over with a first time effort before Darren Ward thwarted Calvin Zola who had beaten the offside trap and skipped past Marcus Hahnemann before rolling the ball towards the empty net. Ward raced in and booted the ball behind just as it was about to cross the line.
Hemmings presented Malone with the chance of a second goal with a well weighted pass. Malone was clean through but Button raced from his line to narrow the angle and block with the ball bouncing clear.
Collins drove over the bar from 20-yards after Hemmings had squared a pass to him before Crewe three times went close to an equaliser.
Jones's deep free-kick was flicked into a congested area by Danny O'Donnell and the ball took a wicked deflection forcing a reflex save from Marcus Hahnemann.
Then from a John Brayford centre, Zola's bouncing header hit the bar before going over. And, after the Wanderers defence had failed to clear, Donaldson blazed over from a good position.
Alex: Button, Brayford, B. Jones, Mitchel-King (Bailey 73), O'Donnell, Ada (Chanot 64), Donaldson, Westwood (Schumacher 45), Grant, Zola, Moore (Miller 73).
Unused subs: Legzdins, Murphy, Tootle.
Wolves: Hahnemann, Szeiesi, Shackell, D. Jones (Davis 32), Balde, D. Ward, Mendez-Laing (Keohane 84), Collins, Hemmings, K. Bennett (Rooney 77), Malone (capt).
Unused subs: Ikeme, Batth.
Referee: A. Taylor.
Attendance: 1,741 (126 away supporters).
