*Wolves claimed their first win at Villa Park for over three decades to boost their survival hopes and add to Aston Villa’s relegation concerns.*

The visitors had already seen two first-half efforts disallowed when Matt Jarvis drove home emphatically from a Christophe Berra knock-down.

Ashley Young shuddered the bar late on from Jean Makoun’s slotted pass but Villa were otherwise poor.

Jarvis might have doubled Wolves’ lead but Jamie O’Hara failed to feed him.

Even so, nothing could take the gloss off a victory that ended 31 years of Villa Park hurt for Wolves, who remain third from bottom but move to within a point of their local rivals with this result.

The Villa support were quick to voice their disapproval at Gerard Houllier, the club’s embattled manager, and the chorus of derision that greeted the final whistle threatened to drown out the triumphant roar from the away section.

But nothing could dull the joy of a Wolves side who made light of their tag as the Premier League’s worst travellers.

This was only the second time Mick McCarthy’s side had won on the road all season, but they began the afternoon on a wave of momentum created by a three-game unbeaten streak and rode it beautifully to extend that encouraging run.

There were mitigating circumstances for Villa, who - with Richard Dunne, James Collins and Luke Young ruled out by injury, and Ciaran Clark serving a two-match ban - were missing a quartet of senior defensive personnel.

Chris Herd, a 21-year-old Australian making his first Premier League start, was deployed at right-back and the makeshift look of the home defence clearly encouraged Wolves to believe that a first victory at Villa Park since March 1980 was within their grasp.

In the initial stages, no one embodied that conviction more than Adam Hammill.

The livewire winger caused left-back Nathan Baker all manner of problems for the first half hour, setting up Nenad Milijas for an early strike on goal before himself testing keeper Brad Friedel.

Further warning shots were fired across the Villa bows when Wolves had two goals disallowed in quick succession.

The first came when Berra headed home from an offside position, the second when a Jarvis cross was somewhat contentiously adjudged to have gone out of play before Kevin Doyle headed home at the far post.

Houllier, who has presided over just six league wins since his appointment last September, clearly did not like what he was seeing, and with 33 minutes gone Baker was withdrawn in favour of Fabian Delph.

However, as Jarvis demonstrated in clinical fashion, the Villa defence was in need of more wholesale remedial work.

O’Hara floated a right-wing free-kick into the box and when Berra beat Carlos Cuellar to the header, Jarvis gleefully thumped the ball beyond Friedel and in off the post for his fourth league goal of the season.

Villa’s best work came along the flanks, from where Young and Marc Albrighton sent in several teasing deliveries, but a Wolves defence superbly marshalled by Richard Stearman was equal to whatever came its way.

On one of the few occasions when the home side did create a clear first-half opening, the returning Makoun made a complete dog’s breakfast of Stewart Downing’s clipped centre, heading wide from six yards out.

The home support were unimpressed when Houllier sent on Robert Pires and Gabriel Agbonlahor on the hour, and their misgivings proved well-founded.

The double substitution had little impact beyond a cushioned header from Pires from which Cuellar sent a fine opportunity blazing over.

Nevertheless, the home side came within a whisker of equalising through Young, whose high, driven shot from Makoun’s precise through-ball left the crossbar shuddering.

A draw, however, would have been harsh on a Wolves side who carried the fight to their opponents and fully deserved local bragging rights.