Sinton swapped passes with Akinbiyi before Branch took over tucking an angled shot out of Weaver's reach

Sinton swapped passes with Akinbiyi before Branch took over, tucking an angled shot out of Weaver's reach. City hauled themselves back into contention when Shaun Goater slid into the six-yard box to convert Mark Kennedy's low cross, but Wolves confirmed their early supremacy when Branch added his second five minutes before half-time. The match intensified after the break and the referee Steve Bennett's patience ran out with the entry of Jamie Pollock, whose first contribution after replacing Danny Granville in the 56th minute was to bring down Emblen from behind, earning a yellow card. With Kennedy posing a repeated threat along the left, one sensed City might yet mount a recovery but their chance was dealt a terminal blow when, having conceded three goals for the first time this season, they let in a fourth on 68 minutes. Pushing forward, their defence was caught hopelessly out of position and outnumbered as Simon Osborn released Darren Bazeley on the right. It spun kindly for Akinbiyi, who stooped to head home his ninth goal in 16 matches since his transfer from Bristol City. Taylor, the burly former Gillingham striker, hit back by rattling Michael Oakes' woodwork with a snap shot but Wolves had their tails up and the 18th minute saw Branch open his account. Branch spent a month with City last season but Walter Smith, the Everton manager, could not be persuaded to sell. City, unbeaten in 10 matches before Huddersfield's win at Maine Road last Saturday, had forgotten how it feels to suffer the kind of nightmare start that Wolves inflicted on them inside the opening 20 minutes. The home side, in need of a confidence-restorer themselves after two consecutive defeats, announced their positive mood by winning a corner from their first attack and were in front after five minutes when Ade Akinbiyi scrambled the ball past Nicky Weaver. Much of the credit was due to Neil Emblen, whose powerful header from Andy Sinton's cross was only pushed on to the crossbar by Nicky Weaver. Joe Royle paraded the £1.5m centre-forward Robert Taylor for a debut at Molineux but saw his new capture upstaged by a striker he wanted to sign a year ago, as First Division leaders Manchester City slumped to a second defeat in seven days. Seizing an early grip, Wolves condemned City to their heaviest defeat for two seasons, inspired by a two-goal home debut by the 21-year-old Michael Branch, on loan to Colin Lee's team after being transfer-listed. We'll just have to make up for all the hard work at Christmas.. Joe Royle paraded the £1.5m centre-forward Robert Taylor for a debut at Molineux but saw his new capture upstaged by a striker he wanted to sign a year ago, as First Division leaders Manchester City slumped to a second defeat in seven days.

It's time for me to look out my trainers and tracksuit - last seen under a pile of newspapers in the front room - check the opening times of the local swimming pool and reset the controls for Planet Exercise. It was an impressive tableau of multi-cultural harmony, a vision of the future of exercise in an increasingly urbanised society And, yes, another rebuke.There is nothing else for it. To her left, pink knees rose and fell as others exercised in prone position, while on her other side, a woman in a yashmak conducted her own exercise regime at steady walking pace. A black woman in a shocking pink leotard maintained a steady run on an unseen treadmill. But it is.For the rising generation of the 1990s, supervised exercise within circumscribed areas is becoming the norm - playbarns, swimming pools, fenced-off recreation areas and, in time, gyms.Passing through Birmingham city centre earlier this week, I glanced upwards at a crossroads and found my gaze being drawn to a gym overlooking the busy streets which offered its occupants an opportunity to see and be seen through wide windows. But even in this environment, if my children go careering off beyond the nearest copse to play, I am uneasy.

And pretty soon I will feel constrained to put down my tuna and lettuce sandwich, find all the relevant parties and lecture them about playing within suitable range.The fear is not so much that they might injure themselves, or get lost or even fall in the lake The fear is of other people who might wish to do them harm It didn't used to be this way It shouldn't be this way. It's National Trust territory, naturally enough, with ice creams and toilets available beside the lake. Exercise isn't a part of children's lives in the way it once was.During the summer, a number of families from our children's school meet up for picnics in a large and ancient local forest. Responsible parents can't allow that sort of freedom to their children these days - or at least, they don't believe they can, which amounts to the same thing.I can, I should - I do now - vow that I will accompany him to that park as soon as maybe and never mind the Christmas shopping But the point is, it's always an effort all round. And unless we change, they will pay a heavy, an obese, price.Such swirling feelings of guilt were given another stir this week by the emergence of a report pointing out how much healthier were the generation brought up in the austere, post-war years, when rationing denied them the range of empty calories now so readily available to the young (and old).But for all the superiority of their diet, it was the superior level of exercise undertaken by the baby-boomers which was said to make the crucial difference.As I write this, I am looking at another standing rebuke to my parenthood - a pair of football boots belonging to my seven-year-old son which he has not worn in earnest since they were purchased a month ago.Unlike me at that age, he can't simply sling his boots over his shoulder and walk to the nearest park, put them on, play all day and wander back for tea. As we middle classes unload our pampered offspring from the padded interiors of our Volvos, Audis and Renaults, here is a warning made flesh for our children We are corrupting them with comfort.

When was the last time I exercised? And yet look at this man, disciplined, trim, regular... what kind of a shambles will I be at his age?Thought process two: What a telling contrast. And for all I know, the old boy may collapse in a puffing heap after he has rounded the corner. But I strongly doubt it. This man represents, to me and I suspect many other mothers and fathers milling in the school zone, a daily rebuke.Thought process one: I am not getting enough exercise I am not getting any exercise. This sprightly figure in tracksuit top and shorts looks neither to left nor right as he cleaves through the mayhem like a tracking camera on the set of Apocalypse Now Vanity, perhaps, sets his schedule. That would, at least, explain some of his line-out throwing..