Sam Surridge’s late winner meant that Welling returned home from Dorset empty handed.Visiting Poole Town was always going to be a challenge but Welling looked good for at least a point until the succumbed to their late heartbreak.

In truth, they struggled to contain their hosts for large parts of the game but were in top for the latter stages making the late goal that much harder to take.

Steve Devlin fired over early on after Lee Wort’s shot was blocked but Welling came close when Dean Morgan was just off target with a free kick.

Corners gave Welling problems and two blocks on the line kept the scores level.

Lewis Lindsay clipped the post with a shot before Welling broke the deadlock. Danny Waldren was felled in the penalty area by Lindsay and Dean Morgan sent Nick Hutchings the wrong way from the spot.

Chris Lewington made a brilliant reaction save from Richard Gillespie before the lively Poole striker chipped beyond the far post from a tight angle.

Nine minutes after the break, the Dolphins equalised. Taking advantage of a soft free kick, Devlin fired his shot into the wall. It came out to where Poole had players queuing up to have a pot. Lewington did well to keep out the first effort but a static Welling defence stood and watched Jamie Whisken head the rebound home.

The introduction of Dan Walker for Lyle Della-Verde made a difference and Welling enjoyed more of the game.

Ali Fuseini had a shot saved a Walker fired over from a tight angle.

Welling had a great shout for another penalty when Fuseini appeared to have been brought down but referee Gary Parsons wanted nothing to do with it and almost immediately Poole scored the winner. Surridge broke clear and poked beyond Lewington.

Not surprisingly, Wings manager Mark Goldberg was not happy,“Bitterly disappointed” was his immediate comment before he went on to say “First twenty minutes of the second half, they had the momentum rather than us. We were too casual. Not sharp enough and we gave away silly free kicks on the edge of the box.

“We told them very clearly, the boys, that they were most dangerous with set pieces and it’s very disappointing that having saved the initial shot, and then the second, we didn’t clear the ball and they got the third ball.

“Then, when we bought Dan Walker on, I felt that we needed some pace in behind. We needed to start stretching them. Once Dan came on, everything changed for about twenty minutes and we had the momentum again and we started creating goal scoring opportunities but for some reason we weren’t clinical.

“I think there were two or three further penalty decisions, certainly Ali’s one definitely was another penalty but the referee was never going to give it following the first one.”

He continued “Then the game was quite open and we were a little bit too cavalier going forward potentially looking for the three points rather than maybe protecting the point. We felt we had the momentum. I thought that if any side was going to nick one, I thought we were going to. To be honest, I would have taken a point.”

Goldberg finished by saying “I’m very sorry for the fans. They were great, in good voice again. We’ve got to stop making these long trips and going home disappointed.”

Poole Town: Hutchings, Case, Spetch, Walker, Whisken, Lindsay, Burbidge, Devlin, Gillespie (Bailey 88), Wort (Surridge 66), Roberts (Baggie.73). Unused substitutes: Rees, Kelly..

Welling United: Lewington, Nelson, Brown, Fuseini, Hayles, Leacock, Joseph-Dubois, Waldren, Morgan, Coombes (Slabber 81), Della-Verde (Walker 59). Unused Substitutes: Young, Johnson, Hatton.

Referee: Gary Parsons

Assistants: Ryan Lewis-Smith and Lewis Sandoe

Attendance: 418

Welling Star Player: Chris Lewington

Images courtesy of Dave Budden