Having led 5-1 in the second half against Truro City, Welling United were forced into hanging on to claim the three points.

Had manager, Steve King have been offered a victory by two clear goals before the game, he would probably have been happy to take it but the manner in which Welling won the game led to mixed emotions.

At times during the first half hour, Welling opened up Truro with some great passing movements. King purred “Brilliant football. I thought the football that we played was fantastic. I’m just gutted that we didn’t see the game out properly.”

At five-one up, King made substitutions and he explained “People might point and say we made changes but we had to. They were forced upon us. JP (John Paul Kissock) was ill. Thierry (Audel) has played every game, We needed to rest his legs. David Ijaha’s groin was killing him. If you’ve got a squad like we’ve got, you’ve got to be able to do that and for it not to reflect too much, not to the extent of nearly losing the game.

“We should be able to take people out and put people in and there be no difference and that’s what we have been able to do (previously) but today I’m disappointed. That, today, should have been a clean sheet. We didn’t manage the game in the last fifteen minutes of the first half, and we didn’t manage the game in the last twenty minutes of the second half.”

However, he was delighted with the front three, Danny Mills and Matt Paterson with Bradley Goldberg in the space behind. They all hit the target with Mills notching a brace. King said “That was the good thing. I had a meeting with them before the game and I said to them ‘We need more from you’ and they all stood up and I think they had an extra spring in their step.

“They (Truro) couldn’t deal with Brad in the hole. In the pocket, he’s clever. He scored his goal and could have had another one. Millsy’s scored two, could have had a hat-trick, and Patto scored. The forwards have scored and got the defenders out of it today.

Talking about personnel issues, King first gave an update on the injury issues. “Nassim (L’Ghoul)’s out, probably for another three weeks.” he said. “Julien (Anau)’s out now. We’ll have to assess that one. It’s a groin so it could be three weeks plus. Jordan (Gibbons)’s still out, that’s another three weeks for Jordan. (Luke) Rooney, his knee swelled up so that’s a game by game scenario. Zack (Newton) has a dead leg too.

He also confirmed that along with Richard Orlu on loan at Hampton and Richmond Borough, Yannis Amroisine has been sent out to Whitehawk. He explained “We had to get people out to get games and balance the books. There may be one or two more going which is going to be tough because we’re stretched but you always have to keep balancing the books.”

Images courtesy of Dave Budden