Defeat at home to Havant and Waterlooville ended Welling United’s hopes at the first hurdle in the F.A. Trophy.
Rod Stringer’s team could not have asked for more than a home tie against a team from a lower division but, having already been knocked out of the F.A. Cup at home to Isthmian League Chatham Town at the first time of asking, they suffered the same fate against the Southern League Hawks. It also consigned the struggling Wings to their fifth consecutive league and cup defeat.
All had looked good in the early stages when they looked in control, albeit without creating clear cut chances. They had one shot on goal, a Gene Kennedy strike that Havant goalkeeper Ben Dudzinski saved, however, most of the action was in the Hawks’ half and it appeared to be just a matter of time before Welling took advantage.
That all changed when Havant scored against the run of play in the twenty-seventh minute. Keane Anderson got in behind the Welling defence and, although his shot was well kept out by Daniel Jinadu, Callum Kealy was the first to the rebound and he bundled it home.
Suddenly, the momentum changed and Havant, whose last game had been a five-one defeat, started to believe while Welling’s confidence drained away. As half time approached, the visitors were kept at bay by an excellent double save by Jinadu, first saving Brendan Willson’s header then recovering quickly to stop Kealy’s follow up.
After the half time break, Leon Maloney was well off target for Havant before Dudzinski did well to hold on to a shot from Welling captain Garrett Kelly. Kealy headed wide before Willson got on the end of an intricate free kick move but Jinadu was alert to save at his feet.
Just after the hour mark, Zain Walker replaced Elliot Long however, before he had a chance to make an impact, Havant scored again. Harry Sidwell hit a shot that looked tame but it deceived Jinadu and found its way into the net.
Kelly came close to reducing the lead when he met Paul Osew’s pull back with a shot that needed a stunning save by Dudzinski to push it onto the post and out then Josh Redfearn’s first time lob went over.
Jinadu saved a low shot from Kealy before Walker went down injured to be replaced by Anthony Grant.
Anointed Chukwu had a header blocked on the line by Willson from Kelly’s clever clipped cross before Welling pulled one back with seven minutes remaining. Dudzinski was only able to push a cross out and Alex Lankshear headed above the man on the line and under the bar.
Although Welling kept pushing, they were unable to take the tie to penalties, the closest they came was in the last minute of stoppage time when Dudzinski made a one handed wonder save from Chukwu’s low close range shot.
Welling United: Jinadu, Donkor (Osew 52), Johnson, Statham, Burchell, Lankshear, Kennedy (Redfearn 46), Cornish, Chukwu, Long (Walker 61 (Grant 80)), Kelly. Sub not used: Perkins.
