By Mark Doig at Park View Road
THERE was late heartbreak for Welling United in their Isthmian League Premier Division Kent derby with Dartford as the hosts conceded a 95th-minute goal at Park View Road.
Despite having not beaten Dartford in a league match since Boxing Day 2018, Welling manager Ryan Maxwell still came into the game brimming with confidence. Although the Darts are pushing for a play-off place, their away form has been sketchy and the hosts were hopeful of easing their fears of back-to-back relegations.
However, it wasn’t to be when they conceded the only goal of the game as substitute Rohan Vaughan won it for the visitors.
Ade Azeez had a great opportunity to put the Wings ahead in the early stages when he lost his marker and met Lewis Gard’s free-kick with a header that floated over.
Waspish Ayman El-Mogharbel then made space for himself on the edge of the penalty area but a deflection took the sting out of his shot and Dartford goalkeeper Jonny Henly was able to adjust his footing and get across to make the save.
Clear-cut openings were few and far between in the first period, but Welling had the better of them and Azeez had another chance approaching half-time. Although Azeez didn’t strike his shot as sweetly as he would have liked, Henly could only claw it out and centre-back Dave Winfield was relieved to see his hoof miss the post and go out for a corner rather than it flying into his own net. Gard delivered and it fell for Vladimir Paternoster on his debut. He chose not to hit it first-time and could only hook it well over after it had bounced.
After the break, and with the slope in their favour, Dartford posed more of a threat. Dan Carter should have done better when scuffing wide before Welling’s Troy Howard helped his defensive colleagues out by timing his last-ditch tackle brilliantly to deny Callum Jones as he was about to pull the trigger.
It wasn’t all one-way traffic, though, and Jack Thomas did superbly to nick the ball from two hesitant defenders to give him a one-on-one with Henly. The midfielder struck his shot sweetly, but the visitors’ stopper reacted brilliantly to block it with his right forearm.
Mackenzie Foley, Welling’s goalkeeper, then made a great save from Jones and when it came back to Olly Box, his shot was cleared off the line by Chris Arthurs.
Howard headed wide from a John Ufuah cross before Dartford pushed the Wings back for the closing fifteen minutes. Sammie McLeod sliced an effort horribly wide and Foley saved from Denzelle Olopade.
Just as it appeared that Welling were going to earn a crucial point, their resolve was broken in the fifth minute of stoppage-time. They switched off momentarily when believing that they should have been awarded a throw-in, allowing Jones to drive it across goal and Vaughan bundled it home.
As a result of their defeat, Welling dropped back to second-last in the league table. On Tuesday, they travel to Cray Valley (PM), who are one place above the relegation zone, aiming to cut the six-point gap to their rivals. Kick-off is 7.45pm.
Welling United: Foley; O’Keefe, Paternoster, Gunner, Arthur; Thomas; Howard (Crichlow 75), El-Mogharbel (Oluwatimilehin 53), Gard (Reynolds 69), Ufuah (Vukoje 90+1); Azeez (Akanbi 83).
Substitutes not used: None.
