PING BALL WIZARD

Pass master Wharton gives Edwards' woeful Wolves a gulf lesson

- BY TIM NASH

AFTER 58 minutes, one swing of Adam Wharton's trusty left boot was all it took to remind us of the gulf between Wolves and Crystal Palace.

From just outside the right corner of his own penalty area, the midfielder looked up and coolly pinged a 60-yard pass to the feet of Yeremy Pino with laser-like precision.

On this occasion, Wolves were spared as Ismaila Sarr ballooned the ball over the bar from Pino's pullback.

But Wharton's quality was a sobering glimpse of the chasm-like distance Wolves have to make up. They simply have no one of the quality to do what came so naturally to him.

A pumped-up Molineux rose to acclaim Rob Edwards before the start, but by the end the new head coach was left applauding empty seats.