After a keenly contested drawn local derby between Welling United and Dartford, Wings’ manager Warren Feeney shared his thoughts.

“We’ve a very, very disappointed changing room in there.” he said. “I’m a big believer in you start with a point and, worst scenario, you finish with a point but probably for the first time this season I’ve thought we were in control of the game, a couple of chances that we could probably have put away.”

“I thought that it was a great game, two good teams going for it and, at the end of the day it’s a point closer to where we want to go.”

Welling’s recent record against Dartford is poor so Feeney felt that a point against them was a step in the right direction. “We’ve struggled against them (two wins in the last nineteen matches) and we needed to be competitive.”

“It’s not going to be turned around quickly with a huge turnover of players. I can’t knock the players. As a fan you want competitiveness, energy, and I’m really pleased with the boys today.”

“That’s the standard that we want. When you’re drawing with a team (who are) second in the league and you’re disappointed, it shows you how far we’ve come.”

They had particular joy with turning the two centre backs and making them defend facing their own goal. Feeney confirmed: “You’ve got to look at what you’ve got in your squad and how you can hurt the opposition and we looked at putting balls in behind them and I thought we did it very well.”

“The boys up top smell blood and they kept going and going and I said to the boys don’t stop what you’re doing as you’re getting joy out of it.”

Recent signings have been loanees and hungry young players rather than free agents who have come in for a few games and then departed again and that is making a difference.

“I’m getting my own players with my contacts for the loanees and I’m really pleased with what we’ve done on the recruitment side.” Feeney confirmed.

One of his new players, George Alexander, marked his excellent debut with a goal. Feeney said: “It’s a great debut for George. His father was a good player and the kid runs the channels and he’s got in and I thought he took his goal very well. He’s full of enthusiasm, a little bit of a tight hamstring but you can’t ask more than a debut in a home derby and getting on the scoresheet. It’s fantastic.”

His start meant that another loanee, Dylan Gavin, had to take a seat on the bench. Feeney added: “It’s been tough because we’ve got the boy Dylan as well and it’s a difficult one, but this is what I want. I want a strong bench. I want a squad that’s competitive. We’re going to have a chat with Charlton (about extending his loan) as he’s a lovely kid. You can see he wears his heart on his sleeve.”

Feeney had hoped to get Kyrell Lisbie on with his father and twin brother in the stand but felt it wasn’t the right time. He said: “It was a big decision and we looked at it, but it was just one of those games. He’s a joy to work with. He comes from a great family and he will get his chance.”

Picture supplied by Dave Budden.