In a swirling icy wind Welling United showed their mettle to claim three important points at Concord Rangers.

Due to the conditions, the game was never going to be a classic as Welling manager Jamie Coyle admitted. “These are the games you look back on at the end of the season.” he admitted. “It wasn’t a pretty game for both sides or the spectators.

“It was like a wind turbine out there but the boys have really stuck at it again, and worked hard. There were one or two individuals who weren’t fantastic on the ball but they gave us one hundred and ten per cent in terms of when we were out of possession and that’s all you can ask for. The fact that we’ve come away with a clean sheet and a couple of goals, I’m really pleased.”

Although Concord are just above the relegation zone, their home form is good so Coyle knew that the game was going to be a battle. He confirmed “The easiest things to do coming into these games is to underestimate them. I’ve played against Flan’s (Concord manager Adam Flanagan) sides so many times, you just know what you are going to get.

“They work so hard and they never give up, irrelevant of the score-line, they’ll continue going. We knew that you have to be focussed and you have to keep working as much as they do. If you do that, we’ve got the quality to break them down and we did it.

Coyle continued “I’m really, really pleased today. It was a test. It was great last week. We had a great performance and a great result against a side (St. Albans City) that are really flying and today it’s a team that are struggling at the other end of the table and the boys have replicated what we asked from them. I’m over the moon.”

Even after this game, seven of Welling’s remaining twelve league games are away but Coyle is not too concerned about that. He said “Our away form is better than our home form this year so I’ve got no concern whether it’s home or away.”

Combative Welling captain Connor Dymond had to play the majority of the game under the handicap of an early yellow card, awarded for a reckless challenge. Coyle was delighted with the way he reacted and said “For someone like Connor, who’s very aggressive, it’s his game to have a bit of bite in midfield, to get through the game, and not only get through the game, I thought he was fantastic today.”

Naming a man of the match was not straight-forward. Coyle admitted “It was difficult to pick out individuals as I thought that Callum Driver was really good at full back, defending one on ones as well as going forward. The work-rate from Ryan (Hall) and Jebby (Jack Jebb), and Joe Healy grew into the game, his second half was much better.

“Parky’s (Jack Parkinson) and Ach’s (Anthony Acheampong) defending second half, it’s hard to break down individuals, and the work-rate of the front two again, it was a team effort, it really was. If we carry on doing what we’re doing and we show that desire, work-rate and the work ethic, we’ll see where it takes us.”

“Everyone today has really stuck to the job in terms of when we haven’t got the ball, making sure that we’re compact.” continued Coyle. “There’s been games this season when you look back and say ‘we’ve carried that player’ and ‘we’ve carried that player’.

“Today every single player has really stuck to the task and done their individual jobs as well collectively defended well when we’re out of possession and that’s all you can ask for. I keep saying the same thing. With the quality we’ve got, we’re always going to create opportunities.”

He also had praise for goalkeeper Bailey Vose and said “I’m pleased for him. He’s still very, very young. He needs a little bit on confidence. The two one on ones he saved keep you in the game. If you go in at two-nil down, or two-one, it’s a completely different game. I think every game he’s played he’s looked more and more confident in his performance.”

For left-back Ben Jefford, it was not a happy afternoon as Khale Da Costa threw him into the perimeter fencing resulting in him being stretchered off and taken to hospital for stitches in his forehead and elbow. Coyle was unimpressed with the challenge and said “It was a bit of a pointless foul really. I think the ball was already off and the guy decided to launch him into the side.

“It was unfortunate because he did really well last week and he did really well at the start of the game so fingers crossed, he’s had a couple of stitches and will be back at training on Thursday.”

Before next Saturday’s crunch game with Hemel Hempstead Town, Coyle would like to get an additional game in. He said “We’re trying to get a friendly for Tuesday night because we’ve got a number of players who have been on the bench.

“We’ve got three or four trialists who have been training that look quite good so we need to see them in a game. I’m going to try and get a half decent pitch and an opposition for Tuesday night then we’ll train on Thursday.”