Chris Iwelumo and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake took advantage of poor defending by Dave Jones' men to leave them 2-0 up after just eight minutes.

Bluebirds' Ross McCormack pulled a goal back but their search for an equaliser was in vain as Wolves' rearguard stood firm.

Both sides had half-chances to add to their tallies in the second half but the contest lacked the ferocious pace of the opening 45 minutes.

Elsewhere, under-pressure Charlton boss Alan Pardew saw his team drop into the bottom three as they lost 3-1 to Barnsley.

The Addicks fell behind after just three minutes at The Valley as Jon Macken struck before adding a second 14 minutes later.

Darren Moore piled on the misery for Pardew six minutes before the break and Mark Hudson's 75th-minute reply proved too little, too late for the hosts.

Reading made up ground at the top with a 4-1 win at Bristol City as Kevin Doyle helped himself to two more goals.

Doyle opened the scoring after 14 minutes and saw Noel Hunt add a second before netting again two minutes after the break.

Kalifa Cisse made it 4-0 after 54 minutes and the Royals' afternoon was spoilt only by Stern John's last-minute consolation.

Chris Eagles struck twice as Burnley also enjoyed a good afternoon by beating Norwich 2-0 at Turf Moor.

The Clarets were frustrated in the the first half but former Manchester United winger Eagles changed the game with a quickfire double in the 55th and 60th minutes.

Blackpool claimed a dramatic win as Gary Taylor-Fletcher and Alan Gow scored in the last five minutes to secure a 4-3 success at Watford.

Gow's last-gasp effort, two minutes into injury-time, gave the Seasiders the lead for the first time at Vicarage Road.

Watford had led three times through Will Hoskins, Grzegorz Rasiak and Tommy Smith but Blackpool equalised each time with Keith Southern, Ben Burgess and Taylor-Fletcher scoring before Gow won it.

In another thriller, Southampton completed a stunning comeback from 2-0 down to beat Preston 3-2 with a late David McGoldrick goal.

Billy Jones and Stephen Elliott put Preston in front late in the first half but Saints rallied through Alex Pearce and Andrew Surman before McGoldrick snatched victory.

James Beattie tucked home a 49th-minute penalty and then doubled his tally eight minutes later as Sheffield United beat Plymouth 2-0.

A Jon Stead double saw Ipswich beat QPR by the same scoreline while bottom side Doncaster claimed a point by holding Swansea to a goalless draw, though they could have won had Paul Heffernan converted a late penalty.

Ben Watson's 54th-minute spot-kick for Crystal Palace ensured a 1-1 draw with Sheffield Wednesday, who had led since Leon Clarke's seventh-minute effort.

Wolves later opened up a four-point lead at the top of the Championship after stunning Cardiff in the opening stages to triumph 2-1 at Ninian Park.

Chris Iwelumo and Sylvan Ebanks-Blake took advantage of poor defending by Dave Jones' men to leave them 2-0 up after just eight minutes.

Bluebirds' Ross McCormack pulled a goal back but their search for an equaliser was in vain as Wolves' rearguard stood firm.