Hemel Hempstead Town 0 Welling United 2 – Wings revival continues

By Mark Doig

Bradley Quinton’s Welling United revival continued with a second consecutive victory to pull them away from the bottom two.

Victory was achieved at Hemel Hempstead Town despite the Wings playing the entire second half with ten men after the dismissal of Bradley Rolt two minutes before the half time break.

It was tough on the eighteen year old who was making his full Welling debut as it was a genuine attempt to play the ball but it was not dissimilar to the sending off of Hemel’s Sam Ashford when the two teams met at Park View Road in December. Should Welling not mount a successful appeal, that will mean Rolt’s one month loan from Peterborough United will end without a further appearance, although the two clubs may choose to extend it.

In the early stages, Nathan Green and Cameron James both fired over before the Wings went ahead. Rolt sent Dipo Akinyemi away and he cut back to open up the angle before firing home.

Looking for a quick response, Dan Wilks was tested by a James Dobson free kick that he saved well and Isaac Galliford’s follow up was cleared off the line superbly by Connor Dymond.

After Jack Midson had a header saved, Welling assumed control again and James twice came close, first having a shot blocked by the foot of goalkeeper Danny Boness and then having a header cleared off the line by Luke Howell.

Anthony Cook drew a great save from Boness from a free kick destined for the top corner before Romoney Crichlow-Noble fired narrowly over from well out with Boness struggling.

Then came the two big talking points. Midson forearm smashed Crichlow-Noble in the face drawing blood and was very fortunate to escape with a yellow card then two minutes later, Rolt was shown no mercy and was sent off for his challenge on Tyrone Sterling.

Early in the second half, Boness saved well from Cook’s free kick as Welling showed that they were not going to sit back and protect their lead. However, the Tudors had a golden opportunity to level but substitute Deon Moore blasted over from six yards out.

Galliford shot wide at the end of a goalmouth scramble as Hemel were reduced to feeding from scraps and Welling scored the crucial second with twelve minutes to go. Having only been on the field for a few minutes, Korrey Henry could hardly believe his luck when Boness dropped James’ corner at his feet and he made no mistake from close range.

Wilks was called into making one more save from Moore’s header before Welling saw out the game in relative comfort to claim a well deserved three points.

Welling United: Wilks, Dymond, Green, Crichlow-Noble, Joseph, Wright, James, Rolt, Akinyemi (Henry 71), Roberts (Johnson 43) (Cosgrave 90+), Cook. Subs not used: Goldberg, McCallum.

PICTURES BY DAVE BUDDEN