English League Division One play-off : Reading 0 - Wolves 1(Wolves win 3-1 on aggregate)After more years in the wilderness than they would care to remember, Wolverhampton Wanderers stand on the brink of a return to the top flight.
Having survived a difficult night at Reading, they progress to a meeting with Sheffield United or Nottingham Forest which will decide the final place in next season's Premiership.
A neat strike by the substitute Alex Rae from inside the area in the final 10 minutes did not reflect the flow of a match dominated by Reading, but it gave Wolves an unassailable advantage after their 2-1 first-leg win.
Reading were the neater side and put Wolves under considerable pressure, but their hopes of a second successive promotion are over.
Wolves's success owed much to their defensive strength, epitomised by Joleon Lescott and Denis Irwin, a couple of good saves by Matt Murray and Reading's failure to take two chances.
Inevitably the greater pressure had been on Wolves, where the chairman, Jack Hayward, has poured millions of pounds into the club in the hope of pushing them back into the top flight, a level they last played at 19 years ago.
Having thrown away automatic promotion last season and then lost in the play-offs, this was a significant test of Wolves's mettle, and they had a raucous crowd as well as fired-up opponents to contend with. The sight of Murray spilling a shot inside the first 90 seconds hardly inspired confidence.
Yet much as Reading pressed in the period that followed, with James Harper busy in midfield, there were few serious scares for Wolves. Their centre-backs were dealing with most of the longer balls and Reading tended to look most dangerous when they moved the ball wide right.
READING: Hahnemann, Murty, Shorey, Brown, Williams, Little (Chadwick 85), Harper, Sidwell (Watson 70), Hughes, Henderson (Rougier 64), Cureton. Subs Not Used: Ashdown, Mackie. Booked: Brown, Sidwell.
WOLVERHAMPTON: Murray, Irwin, Naylor, Lescott, Butler, Newton (Cooper 90), Cameron, Ince, Kennedy, Blake (Sturridge 85), Miller (Rae 75). Subs Not Used: Oakes, Pollet. Booked: Newton. Goals: Rae 81.
Referee: H Webb (S Yorkshire).
