Despite being the better team for the first hour, Welling United ended up going down to their joint highest defeat of 2023. It was harsh on the Wings and left Warren Feeney scratching his head after his team were beaten by play-off bound St. Albans City.

He said: “I can take getting beaten and if we try doing the right things and playing the right way I can accept that but I’m more disappointed today than probably I have been all season.”

“We’ve played worse and won games but to play how we did, at times, against a team that’s going for promotion, and I said that to the boys, that’s the consistency you need. But if you’re not ruthless, you’re going to find that as the game goes on, you’re going to be in a sticky position.

“It wasn’t a three-nil. If a couple of our chances had gone in it would have been a different ball game. They took their chances and we didn’t and that’s all that people worry about, the three points and the clean sheet. We’ve got to take this one on the chin and make sure that we’re ready for Tuesday.”

In the first half , Welling missed great opportunities, but Feeney was happy that they were created in the first instance. He said: “I said to the boys in there, I’m never going to shout at them for missing chances, you’ve got to be there but it’s just that little bit of confidence but we’re creating them.”

“He’s hit the bar, Payney (Stefan Payne), the header that he should have scored, Dan (Nkrumah)’s one was a big chance as well. We got into positions where, at times, we could have had a little more quality but I can’t knock them.”

“To come here with no fear. We took the game to them and fair play to St Albans as well. They put the ball in the back of the net and they won the game.”

Feeney also wanted to praise the supporters who clapped the team off despite what looks on paper like a heavy defeat.

“I thought the fans today were outstanding, even after the game. You could tell that the boys put in a performance. They just didn’t get the result.” he said.

Although not guaranteed safety, Feeney knows that it would take a series of unfortunate events for them to be relegated, although he’s taking nothing for granted.

“We’re in a very good position at this moment. We’ve got a good goal difference, I know that Cheshunt’s got one more game to play (than us) but all that we can do is focus on us. I’m one of them that doesn’t think that anything’s done until it’s certain. We’ve got a job to do.

“Some results went our way today and we’re coming towards the end of the season but we’ve just got to worry about ourselves. We’ve got a difficult game next week against the champions (Ebbsfleet United). I texted Damian (Irvine, CEO) this week to congratulate them but we want to finish as high as we can.”

Many players are carrying knocks in games but Feeney was keen not to use that as an excuse.

“We’ve got a big injury treatment table at this moment in time but that’s part and parcel of football.” he said.

“We’ve just got to make sure that we try and get them ready for the end of the season. You’ve seen the left back situation and what we’re missing, we’re juggling around, and I think the players have been outstanding, but if we can get the players onto the pitch it will make things easier for us.”

Picture supplied by Michael Brown.