Henri Camara continued his red hot run of goalscoring form to keep alive Wolves' slim hopes of winning their uphill battle for Premiership survival.
The Senegal international striker scored for the fifth time in five games with an acrobatic 62nd minute volley to seal their victory against Carling Cup winners Middlesbrough.
Camara should have helped himself to a second only to see his last minute penalty saved by goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.
Carl Cort had laid the foundations for Wolves' first win in eight games with his third goal of the season after 28 minutes.
Wolves are still reliant on other results going their way to have any chance of surviving but while there is hope, manager Dave Jones will continue to believe that his side can pull off their own Great Escape.
Jones said: "It is not impossible and that is what you have to hold on to.
"You never know what can happen and you have to keep plugging away.
"We are a little bit closer and the gap is not as big and we just have to keep chipping away and try and win our last four games.
"While there is a chance there is hope. I hate negativity and until it is done and dusted you keep going and you have to give the players credit for doing that." Middlesbrough only had themselves to blame for the defeat as they wasted a number of chances - most notably through Szilard Nemeth and Massimo Maccarone.
Manager Steve McClaren was bitterly disappointed by the outcome - blaming his side's poor finishing for the defeat.
He said: "I felt that our football was good and that we controlled the game for long spells.
"But we were let down by our finishing and I don't think we would have scored if we had played until Sunday.
"Wolves got in some good blocks and their keeper made some good saves.
"There was just a little bit missing and we lacked that ruthlessness in front of goal." The defeat also capped a dismal day for the Middlesbrough right-back Danny Mills who was jeered by the Wolves fans every time he touched the ball following his actions in the stormy clash between the sides at the Riverside Stadium last November.
Had Middlesbrough been more clinical in front of goal the result could have been very different but Ugo Ehiogu steered a header over the bar in the 21st minute before McClaren's side conspired to produce one of the misses of the season four minutes later.
Wolves central defender Isaac Okoronkwo let in Maccarone who was faced with an open goal only to slice his shot wide.
His effort flew straight to Nemeth but his finishing was also poor as he headed wide.
It proved a costly miss as Wolves broke the deadlock three minutes later.
Mark Clyde whipped in a centre from the right wing that Cort rose above Mills to head home from six yards.
Middlesbrough did make a determined bid to claw their way back on to level terms.
But once again they were undone by their finishing – Juninho having his close-range drive blocked and Maccarone again failing when he only had goalkeeper Paul Jones to beat.
Their hopes of a comeback were then dashed by a piece of impressive finishing from Camara who volleyed home from 14 yards after Cort had flicked on a throw-in from Lee Naylor.
Jones then denied Maccarone again before Camara fluffed the chance to help himself to a second in the 89th minute when Schwarzer dived low to his right to save his penalty.
Referee Andy D'Urso had pointed to the spot after Alex Rae had been fouled by George Boateng.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Henri Camara – The in-form striker was a constant menace to the Boro defence and was rewarded for a fine display with a beautifully-executed goal.