Oldham Athletic 1 (Eaves 37)

Wolves 3 (Hemmings 34, 45, Hughes 71)

A brace from Ashley Hemmings and a strike from substitute Liam Hughes secured victory for Wolves' reserves against a determined Oldham side at Boundary Park.

And there was further good news with the return of Michael Kightly and Stephen Ward who both made trouble free returns to the action.

There was a chance for the home side after just 50 seconds when Ryan Brooke found himself in the clear after an attempted clearance rebounded into his path but the striker fired over from the edge of the area.

Then Mark Little had to be at his best to dispossess 15-year-old Tom Eaves who was leading the line for the Latics. Eaves figured again shortly afterwards when he took the ball to the by-line and hit a fierce, low cross that Carl Ikeme did well to beat away.

Kightly and Ward were both heavily involved and showing little signs of their lengthy injury lay-offs. The duo combined with Kightly running onto a slide rule pass from Ward before hitting a curling centre that the Oldham defence struggled to clear.

A Kightly free-kick 20-yards out bounced off the wall and fell to David Ijaha who drilled his shot over the bar and then Kightly forced a good save from home keeper Josh Ollerenshaw after a smart turn and shot from 20-yards.

Wolves took the lead in the 34^th minute when Ashley Hemmings took a short pass from Denes Rosa and held off a challenge before lashing a close range shot into the roof of the net.

Kightly almost made it two after he had exchanged passes with Ward but he was challenged as he shot and the ball ran through to the keeper.

Oldham drew level in the 37^th minute when Eaves, an undoubted name for the future, held off the challenges of John Dunleavy and Little before firing home an angled shot from the edge of the area.

Hemmings almost restored Wanderers' advantage when he ran onto Rosa's backheel but the angle was tight and he succeeded only in shooting into the side netting.

But the youngster wasn't to be denied and, in first-half stoppage time he converted from close range after Josh Rose had blocked Dunleavy's header on the line following a Kightly corner.

Half-Time: Oldham 1 Wolves 2

Kightly was replaced by Liam Hughes at start of the second-half.

Brooke went into the book for a heavy challenge on Ward and, on 63 minutes, Hemmings forced the ball home after Ijaha's shot had been blocked but the centre-forward was denied his hat-trick by the linesman who was flagging for offside.

Rosa was close with a shot that flashed across the face of goal but Wolves stretched their lead in the 71^st minute after substitutes Alex Melbourne and Liam Hughes combined - Melbourne picking out Hughes with an excellent through ball and the striker confidently converting past Ollerenshaw.

Ward was replaced by David Davis for the final 15 minutes. The tempo of the game remained high but chances at either end were of a premium as the game neared its conclusion.

However, shortly before the end both keepers made good saves with Ollerenshaw turning over a 20-yard free-kick from Rosa and Ikeme getting down low to block Brooke's drive.

Oldham: Ollerenshaw, Winters, Rose, Chalmers, Knight, Diaz, Liddell (capt) (Bembo-Leta 57), Rothery (Kilcourse 74), Eaves, Brooke, Kelly.

Unused subs: Rowney, White, Walsh.

Wolves: Ikeme, Bailey, Malone, Salmon (capt), Little, Dunleavy, Kightly (Hughes 45), Ijaha (Melbourne 69), Hemmings, Rosa, S. Ward (D. Davis 76).

Unused subs: Lumley, K. Bennett.

Referee: R. Wigglesworth.

Attendance: 70 (estimated).