Chelmsford 0 Welling United 0 – Second away clean sheet is a positive for Wings

BY MARK DOIG

Although Welling United had to settle for a point at Chelmsford City, there was much for the noisy travelling supporters to have enjoyed.

A second consecutive away clean sheet was a positive, and it was the third game in a row where the performance has been an improvement on their defeat at Maidstone United at the end of December.

There was a little South London sub plot in this match in which a Charlton Athletic loanee forward, Hady Ghandour, was up against a defender on loan to Welling from Millwall, Arthur Penney. They may well have come up against each other when playing academy football for their parent clubs but it was Penney who left with the bragging rights.

Ghandour had opportunities early on before Penney’s new partnership with debutant Tommy Davis blossomed. Tom Blackwell chested down a through ball and it sat up kindly for Ghandour but he blasted over. Then he found space on the edge of the area and tried a left foot curler, but again he couldn’t keep it down.

Danny Parish headed wide of the near post from a corner for Welling before Jack Sims saved a Cameron James long-range effort after Penney had done well to usher Louis Dunn away from a better shooting range.

After that the Wings settled and started moving it around a little more but neither team was able to create too much before the interval.

Almost immediately after the break, Welling had a chance when Dipo Akinyemi got up to loop a header over Jacob Marsden but Ade Oluwu got back well to hook it off the line. Parish drew a save out of Marsden from a tight angle.

Chelmsford won a series of corners and loaded the six-yard box but Sims and his defenders dealt with them well in the main, although one was cleared as far as James who let fly but Penney was the right man in the right place and he blocked it off the line.

That was as close as Chelmsford got and Welling looked stronger as the game went on. Mason Saunders-Henry, having just come on, was given a sight of goal but was unable to get a clean connection on his shot and the chance was gone.

Maxwell Statham then came even closer when a long-range effort had Marsden beaten all ends up but it smashed against the crossbar and bounced clear. Soon after Ade Shokunbi shot into the side netting.

Shokunbi was cautioned for dissent over the award of a throw-in to Chelmsford but the referee showed great leniency when Chelmsford’s already booked Christian Frimpong argued far more demonstratively with the official, but escaped a second yellow. He didn’t make the most of his good fortune though, and moments later he committed a silly foul and was shown the card he might have seen before, and was sent off.

It had no effect on the outcome as all that remained was three minutes of stoppage time and Chelmsford held firm with only a Bradley Stevenson shot, deflected over, giving them any cause for concern.

PICTURES: DAVE BUDDEN

Main Pic: Loanees Arthur Penny and Tommy Davis applaud the travelling supporters