Tristan Lewis, co-caretaker Welling United manager, was delighted that the Wings claimed the three points that helped to move them further clear of the drop zone.

He said “We were all disappointed last week (Whitehawk away) but I think that Tuesday night (beating Bromley in the Kent Senior Cup) probably got us a bit of confidence back.

“We’ve been excellent at home. It’s easy to be critical but we’ve lost one home league game since the twelfth of November and we’ve lost two games in the last eight. I know the supporters get frustrated but it’s so easy to panic in football. At times you’ve got to keep playing through it and, fair play to the lads, I thought that until the last ten minutes we were thoroughly in control of the game.”

Centre forward, Alex Cathline, has been brought into the squad to see if he is able to make the step up, and he impressed Lewis. “He was on my radar earlier in the season. He actually scored a goal for Dunstable against us at Hayes and was a real threat. I’ve got a good relationship with his agent and he said that he’s available, so we got him in. It was a gamble as such, because he knew we were in for a centre forward, but he’s got better in every game.

“First half, last week, he was good but second half he wasn’t great. He was a handful for them on Tuesday night and we gave him a little more freedom today and I thought in the first half he was outstanding.”

In the second half, visitors Poole Town came a little more into the game and goalkeeper Chris Lewington made three excellent saves, the third of which was a stunner. Lewis said “The lads just gave him a little ripple of applause in the changing room. He made some fantastic saves. I was surprised how direct they are. They were a threat but our back four have been outstanding.”

Had it not been for a dubious award for a spot kick, the defence would have been celebrating another home clean sheet. “For me, that’s never a penalty,” said Lewis. “I’d like to see it again but I think that’s made the last ten minutes of the game a bit squeaky bum, if you like, but I thought that the back four were outstanding again.”

He also gave praise to Ali Fuseini, in central midfield. “Ali’s been in for some criticism from me and Harry, and I think we’ve got to give him some credit. All you can  ask from players, you can be critical of them but if they react and give us what Ali gave us today. He was good today. He’s a good player. He’s got that bit of quality and composure and he’s got skills that can help us manage games.”

Rhys Murrell-Williamson was another player that Lewis mentioned. “He’s a confidence player. He’s hit it (the shot the crashed back off the bar) I didn’t even see the ball, he’s hit it so well. I’ve known Rhys for three or four years. He could be a Premier League player or a Sunday League player on his day, but you’ve got to believe in him. Players like that need to know that you believe in him and we do. He’s exciting to watch and we had a void in the team when we lost Christian (Nanetti). Rhys is something different but he’s certainly shown he’s capable of filling that void.”

Returning to the game as a whole Poole switched to a 4-2-4 formation in the second half causing Lewis and Harry Wheeler, the other co-caretaker manager, to consider a tactical change of their own. He said “We’d already lost Fishy (Matt Fish) and had to move them around. We contemplated going three at the back so that we had a five there but we were in control. The referee just changed the game for us.

“Dean (Leacock) was really struggling today (following his first 90 minutes for several weeks in midweek) so putting him on would have been a gamble anyway but he certainly would have given us experience. In hindsight it was the right decision not to change it.

“We were desperate for three points. Hopefully, that’s put a few more smiles on the players’, supporters’ and staff’s faces.”

Now they can prepare for the trip to Maidenhead United next Saturday full of confidence.

Picture supplied by David Brown.