Welling United venture to Essex for a Skrill Premier League match at Braintree Town on Tuesday evening.
The last time the Wings visited Cressing Road (now the Amlin Stadium) was in Jamie Day’s first full season in charge at Park View Road. On that Easter Monday they witnessed the Irons celebrations having been crowned Conference South Champions.
Since being promoted, Braintree have taken to the demands of the top level of non league football in their stride. In many ways, they may present a model for Welling United to follow. Neither club can hope to emulate the financial clout of the likes of the former league clubs, but like Day, Irons manager Alan Devonshire puts together sides who have a strong team ethos.
During Braintree’s championship winning season, the two clubs also met at Cressing Road in the F.A. Cup. This was also the season that Welling were in a dire financial state and were bailed out by loans from 40+ supporters. Irons Chairman Lee Harding did his bit to help by arranging a half time blanket collection, carried by two replica shirt wearing supporters of each club, to raise funds. Unfortunately for the Wings, defeat ended any hope of a cash boosting F.A. Cup run but the gesture of Braintree Town has not been forgotten.
As expected, Baily Cargill made his Wings debut against Barnet on Saturday and fitted in immediately. Considering he will have known little about the way the team plays, or the players around him, he and man of the match Fraser Franks, combined exceptionally well.
Despite having a one man advantage for 74 minutes, Welling were unable to hold on to the lead given to them by Joe Healy’s 29th minute goal and had to settle for a point when Keanu Marsh-Brown slotted home a penalty after 71 minutes.
Meanwhile, Braintree’s Charlie Strutton’s brace, led his team to a comfortable 3-0 win at Hyde to put the in-form Irons up into 3rd place, and they have now gone five league games undefeated since going down 1-0 at Grimsby Town.