Norwich produced a stirring display to take a point against Wolves after a six-goal thriller at Molineux.
Wolves held at home in six-goal thriller
Norwich produced a stirring display to take a point against Wolves after a six-goal thriller at Molineux.
Slyvan Ebanks-Blake grabbed a hat-trick for the hosts with Matt Jarvis the creator on each occasion, but it was not enough against the relegation-threatened Canaries.
Lee Croft and Carl Cort had already found the net for Bryan Gunn's side before Gary Doherty's 65th-minute goal took much of the gloss off Ebanks-Blake's efforts.
It was two dropped points for a Wolves side who were punished for their poor defending and wasteful finishing.
Nevertheless, Mick McCarthy's side now stand five points clear of Reading and seven ahead of Birmingham, although their rivals each have a game in hand.
Neither side started with their deadline-day signings - Christophe Berra failing to make Wolves' matchday 16 while Chris Killen and Alan Gow, who would have joined the hosts earlier in January had he not failed a medical, were named on the bench for Norwich.
Shadows
And it was the visitors who enjoyed the better of the opening 10 minutes, passing the ball around with ease while Wolves struggled to enjoy any kind of possession.
Ebanks-Blake fired the first shot straight at David Marshall in the 13th minute but Wolves were chasing shadows during the opening quarter.
However, Norwich had failed to test Wayne Hennessey and they were almost made to pay in the 21st minute when Michael Kightly threaded through to Ebanks-Blake but his drilled effort rebounded off the bar.
The hosts, though, had to wait only four minutes for the opener as Marshall failed to deal with Kightly's cross-shot from the right and palmed the ball into the path of Jarvis who squared for Ebanks-Blake to fire into an empty net.
But the Canaries were level just after the half-hour mark as Sammy Clingan put a ball over the top of the Wolves defence and Richard Stearman made a mess of clearing the danger, leaving Croft to round Hennessey and fire home the equaliser.
Marshall was then on hand to produce two good saves to keep out a pressing Wolves side in the closing stages of the half.
Punished
Cort handed Norwich a dream start to the second half with just two minutes gone, connecting perfectly with Croft's lay-off to fire into the bottom corner from 25 yards.
Jamie Cureton wasted a great chance to make it 3-1 shortly after as he failed to connect with substitute David Carney's cross, and Norwich were to pay in the 54th minute.
Stephen Ward played the ball through to Jarvis on the left-hand side of the penalty area and his low cross was only half cleared to Ebanks-Blake who punished the visiting defence.
And within two minutes Wolves were ahead as the former Manchester United trainee again converted Jarvis's cut-back in almost identical circumstances.
Cureton then diverted the ball wide at the other end with the goal at his mercy but, with both sides looking like scoring every time they ventured forward, Doherty scrambled the ball home to level matters from Clingan's corner.
