“Football is all about moments,” said Tommy Doyle, reflecting on Wolverhampton Wanderers’ second draw of the Premier League season.
True. And sometimes, football is about moments of sheer, unfettered madness.
Too often in Gary O’Neil’s eventful tenure as Wolves head coach, he has been left lamenting his own side’s propensity to inflict crazy setbacks on themselves. On Saturday — and not before time — his team were the beneficiaries of a mad five minutes and 27 seconds that have transformed the mood around the club.
The frantic late spell at Brighton’s Amex Stadium may still count for little. Right now, it is worth nothing more than a single point. But the momentum such events can generate could end up counting for a hell of a lot more.
Seasons have turned on less.
And for the scores of joyous Wolves fans who poured forward to celebrate with their equally elated players, it felt like more than a solitary point in a season that has failed to deliver a victory in its first nine games. It was something upon which to cling.
“This group can be tough to stop when they get some positive momentum and energy,” O’Neil said in the aftermath. “I think of Tottenham last year, when we equalised at home (in the 90th minute) and everyone was probably thinking: ‘What a great point’. But we saw the boys, when they do get something going, can use that emotion that they have to to create things, and we went on and won.”
For O’Neil and his players, the challenge is now to capture the momentum they generated at Brighton and carry it into a two-month period that will define their season and probably the next phase of the O’Neil’s management career.
If the next eight games — tough in the context of their Premier League status, but less daunting than those which have gone before — go well then the bizarre ending to events on the south coast will be remembered as the unlikely catalyst for the turnaround.
The period of madness started with Tommy Doyle hammering the turf with 84 minutes and 50 seconds on the clock and ended with Mats Wieffer doing the same on the 92 minute and 17 seconds mark.
It began with Carlos Forbs encapsulating his own sloppy display as a second-half substitute by gifting possession to Brighton when his side had five of their outfield players ahead of the ball.
Tariq Lamptey raced away and squared for Evan Ferguson to score through Doyle’s legs to prompt the Wolves midfielder’s show of frustration. Shoulders briefly slouched, but Wolves checked themselves and summoned one last effort.
A few seconds later, Craig Dawson was engaged in a heated conversation with referee Michael Oliver to complain about grappling by Brighton’s Jan Paul van Hecke at a Pablo Sarabia corner.
Whether or not the chat had an impact, Dawson spurred himself to beat Van Hecke when the corner was delivered and, after his desperate prod, the loose ball was converted emphatically by Rayan Ait-Nouri amid the chaos in the penalty area.
When the ball struck the net and bounced straight into the hands of Wolves striker Jorgen Strand Larsen to allow a quick restart, it felt like the football gods were finally on Wolves’ side.
And then came the tumultuous denouement in which Doyle, confronting the on-rushing tide of Brighton players, took on the starring role in a manner that had users on social media comparing him to Game of Thrones hero Jon Snow in the ‘Battle of the Bastards’.
Tommy Doyle 🐐#wolves #wwfc pic.twitter.com/p8uFsOiQLY
— عالم الذئاب 🐺 (@wwfc_AR) October 26, 2024
With Wolves going for broke with a front five that was supplemented by centre-backs Dawson and Santiago Bueno remaining forward after a corner, Doyle found himself as Wolves’ lone line of defence against a four-man Brighton break.
But Wieffer picked the wrong pass, Doyle pounced, flighted a pass to Matheus Cunha and the Brazilian netted Wolves’ equaliser with the aid of a deflection off Van Hecke.
“I know it sounds a little bit silly, but I kind of knew what he (Wieffer) was going to do,” Doyle told reporters after the game. “It can be just as difficult for the guy with four players than it is for one because you’re expected to make a pass.
“There’s an element of guessing. It was what I felt he was going to do, I gambled and it paid off.
”I’ve come out the other end with an assist and I’m really happy.”
For O’Neil, his players’ approach felt significant. At 2-0 down in the dying moments of their ninth game of the season and without a win in their previous eight, they could have been forgiven for accepting defeat and turning their attentions to the crucial challenges ahead.
Instead, they lifted their chins off the floor and found a way to salvage a point, changing the mood at the club in the process.
It may not be enough to save their season or O’Neil. They were, after all, a couple of minutes from a record of one point from nine games from which no Premier League side has ever recovered to survive. But it did say something about the spirit in the side and the enduring loyalty to their manager.
Wolves remain down but not quite out. Those five minutes of breathless chaos just may prove to be the launchpad to better things.
(Top photo: Shaun Brooks – CameraSport via Getty Images)
