Kevin Doyle scored 18 Championship goals for Reading last season

By Mike Henson

A tenacious display earned Wolves their first Premier League home win of the season as they held off a Fulham side given hope by Danny Murphy's penalty.

Wolves striker Kevin Doyle nodded in from close range to open the scoring and claim his first goal for the club.

Dave Edwards smashed home a second from Andy Keogh's pass as the hosts started the second half at a canter.

A foul by Michael Mancienne on Bobby Zamora allowed Murphy to slot home but Wolves deservedly held on.

With Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Michael Kightly, two of the attacking stars of their Championship title run, named as substitutes Wolves manager Mick McCarthy may have been hoping that his bench might provide a cutting edge for his goal-shy side.

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But the home side's early pressure came from a more direct source as Greg Halford's long throws posed problems for the Fulham defence.

His first, eagerly anticipated by the crowd, was met by Brede Hangeland's forehead but his next effort from the sidelines proved better directed.

Christophe Berra's brave flick-on flew straight to Doyle who redirected it into the corner of the net.

A club record signing from Reading in the summer, the striker had already seen Schwarzer comfortably let two wayward efforts snake wide of the goal, but his predatory instincts took him into the perfect position to net his first for the club.

Another new arrival Segundo Castillo, making his debut after agreeing a loan spell from Red Star Belgrade, tried his luck from 35 yards, but his dipping effort found only the advertising hoardings.

Spurred on by demands to keep the tempo high from the home dugout, Wolves' workrate appeared to have Fulham dazed, and the visitors struggled to muster a response beyond a surge into the box by Bobby Zamora.

A shuddering challenge on John Pantsil by Berra that left the full-back floored, but fairly dispossessed, epitomised the hosts' honest endeavour.

They came within a linesman's flag of being rewarded with second just before the break when Andy Keogh swept home an inviting cross only to be adjudged marginally offside.

There was no let-up after the break and Edwards' pressure prompted Clint Dempsey to carelessly give the ball away to Keogh before the midfielder continued his run and found the roof of Schwarzer's net from his colleague's return pass.

With the home support baying for more and Fulham rocked, McCarthy's side pushed forward in search of a knockout blow to end the contest.

Edwards almost tackled Schwarzer as he dealt with a tricky back-pass and the goalkeeper was again put under pressure from his defence as he pushed away an Aaron Hughes header bound for his own net.

But a well-struck shot from Dickson Etuhu and a half-chance for Zamora suggested there was still life in the visitors.

And their revival suddenly gained pace as a tussle between Mancienne and Zamora in the six-yard box convinced referee Kevin Friend to point to the spot in his first Premier League appearance.

Murphy stroked home to pull his side back into the game, but the goal seemed to concentrate Wolves' minds rather than fuel a comeback.

The introduction of two strikers, former West Brom player Diomansy Kamara for Fulham and Wolves' top-scorer from last season Ebanks-Blake, provoked contrasting responses from the Molineux faithful with 12 minutes left.

But they were stunned into silence almost immediately when a catastrophic failure of their rearguard's offside trap left Hennessey hopelessly unprotected and almost gifted Kamara a goal.

Fulham ratcheted up the pressure as they threw men forward in the final stages, but it failed to produce any clear-cut chances and Friend eventually bowed to the crowd's demands for the final whistle.

Wolves' boss Mick McCarthy:
"We won't win anything if we don't work hard.

"I thought it was a really good performance. We were energetic, we closed them down and pressed the ball really well.

"There have to be a lot of good performances for us to have won that game but I thought Christophe Berra was a difference class.

"In the last 10 minutes when they were throwing balls into the box he headed everything."

Fulham manager Roy Hodgson:
"We left it late to start playing the football we should be playing.

"All credit to Wolves, their pressurising and controlled aggression made life difficult.

"We didn't deal with that very well at all, it's as simple as that. I don't think there was anything about our play as such, it was more we didn't do well against them.

"But I thought it was a performance, for 60 minutes, most unlike us. I've not seen us give the ball away or miss as many passes as much as we did in that game."

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