Struggling Wednesday at foot of table after star performance by Romany Eastwood

The impish striker, recruited from Southend last month, netted in the 14th minute of his first Coca-Cola Championship appearance for the Molineux club.

And after Wade Small equalised on the stroke of half-time, Eastwood produced a delightful pass which allowed Michael Kightly to restore the visitors’ advantage in the 48th minute.

Wolves substitute Jay Bothroyd applied the coup de grace with a late third in the 90th minute after replacing the impressive Eastwood.

Eastwood, a Romany gypsy who lived in a mobile home in Essex during his time at Southend, had also found the net on his debut in Tuesday’s Carling Cup first-round win over Bradford.

The former Grays striker, aged 23, looks to be another astute capture by Wolves boss Mick McCarthy, who has reason to be believe his men can improve on last season’s fifth-placed with Eastwood in their ranks.

This victory kick-started their campaign after an opening-day defeat.

But while Eastwood’s display oozed class, Wednesday striker Francis Jeffers’ fortunes took another turn for the worse.

Jeffers, making his home debut for the Owls following a 700,000 switch fro Blackburn, lasted just 20 minutes before succumbing to injury and being replaced by Leon Clarke.

He looked to have suffered a recurrence of the calf strain which kept him out of Thursday’s Carling Cup victory at Rotherham.

In truth Jeffers looked out of touch from the outset in a game delayed by 15 minutes due to traffic congestion on the M1 motorway.

Jeffers’ first contribution was to surrender possession with a careless pass to Seyi Olofinjana in the third minute.

His mistake was indicative of Wednesday’s early sloppiness and it came as no surprise to anyone when Wolves forged ahead in the 14th minute.

This time it was an error from Owls forward Deon Burton, who gifted the ball to Kightly on halfway.

Kightly’s swift pass sent Andy Keogh racing clear down the right flank and he burst into the box and hit a low shot towards goal.

Owls goalkeeper Lee Grant was unfortunate to see his fine save fall straight to Eastwood, who took a touch before firing the ball into the corner of the net.

Wednesday gradually woke up and a delightful pass from Kenny Lunt gave Small a clear shooting chance 14 yards from goal.

Small’s left-foot strike was fierce enough but Wolves goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey made a fine parry to avert the danger.

However, Wednesday drew level on the stroke of half-time when Glenn Whelan’s left-wing corner reached Jermaine Johnson at the far post.

He thrashed a shot goalwards and although Wolves defender Michael Gray used his hand to prevent a certain, Small was on hand to blast the ball into the back of the net.

That saved a certain dismissal for Gray, who was instead booked, but three minutes after the break Wolves struck again to seal the points - with Eastwood again providing the inspiration.

Keogh’s pass found the former Southend man lurking menacingly on the edge of Wednesday’s 18-yard box.

Eastwood showed outstanding awareness and no little skill to turn his marker and spot Kightly advancing forward at pace.

Eastwood’s perfectly-weighted pass gave Kightly the opportunity to march forward unmarked and fire a low right-foot shot past Hennessey.

Wednesday sought another riposte but Kevin Foley made a crucial block from

Small’s shot in the 71 st minute and Johnson’s mishit cross smacked the crossbar moments later.

But Wolves had the final say when Bothroyd tucked home a late third to seal a win which which leaves Wednesday pointless and joint bottom of the Championship.