Wolverhampton 3 Southampton 0:Wolves re-established their five-point lead at the top of the Coca-Cola Championship with a clinical victory over Southampton at Molineux.
Mick McCarthy's side made the perfect response after Monday's defeat at second-placed Birmingham, taking advantage of some shambolic defending to race into a 3-0 lead within the first 20 minutes.
Teenage striker Sam Vokes, only in the side because of injuries to top scorers Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Chris Iwelumo, opened the scoring after just 39 seconds when he rose to head David Jones' corner past a floundering Kelvin Davis.
The Saints' backline was even more suspect when the hosts doubled their lead with a similar move five minutes later, veteran Jody Craddock finding himself completely unmarked to nod home Jones' cross for his first goal in two years.
And things got even worse for Mark Wotte's side in the 18th minute when they gave away a penalty after failing to clear a well-worked free-kick, Marek Saganowski clumsily tripping David Edwards and Jones getting his name on the scoresheet by lashing the spot-kick into the roof of the net.
Southampton improved after the break, but the defeat leaves them marooned in the bottom three, two points from safety with only four games left to play.
