In form Welling United’s good run was ended by defeat at Maidstone United leaving manager Bradley Quintion disappointed.

Quinton gave his thoughts saying “A bit lack lustre at times. We didn’t move the ball as quickly as I would have liked us to do, especially through the channels and through the lines. We were a bit slow going from side to side and backwards albeit I didn’t think it was a three-one.

The third goal they got at the end, we were going for it having got a penalty back but we should have taken a few chances early on.”

Preparation for the game was not ideal as Welling couldn’t train as Quinton explained. “The facilities were flooded and they didn’t tell me until fifteen minutes before we were supposed to be there so we couldn’t rally round to try and get anywhere. It was hard for us to try and set up our pattern and shape for playing on a 4G pitch. I’m not making excuses but the tempo was not what my players normally do and we’ll look at that.

There was some good news concerning Romoney Crichlow-Noble’s return from injury. “He won’t be long. He won’t be long.” enthused Quinton. “We’re working as hard as we can to get him back. He’s had his surgery done, we’ll patch him up, if not next week, probably the week after, looking like Batman. He wants to get back and we want him back as well. He’s a player that we need and a player that wants to play for us.”

However, Quinton has recruited another player to add further competition. “Daniel Boateng is a centre half / holding midfield player, strong and competitive. He’s been in the pro game. He was at Arsenal as a pro and has been training with us for some weeks now.”

He was not involved in the Maidstone game due to illness. Quinton explained “He’s just getting over the flu, Greeny (Nathan Green) as well. Greeny’s been ill, struggling, and wasn’t here today. There’s a bit of a bug in the camp. Daniel’s one that could be available next week and we’ll see how it goes.”

Green’s absence meant that Gavin McCallum was recalled, rather than Connor Dymond, and Quinton was pleased with his contribution. “He did well, Gav. He’s still training with us, obviously with people sniffing around him, but his attitude has been first class.

“Harold Joseph, I thought, was superb as well with his aerial battles and pattern and shape. Chiori (Johnson) is carrying a bad ankle injury. He has been heavily ankle strapped this week and didn’t train. He’s played well since we came here and did well to get through seventy minutes.”

Although it’s a tall order, Quinton hasn’t given up on the play-offs. He said “You never know, you never know. There was no play-off hopes at the start when I first came in so that’s a privilege to be talking about that. It wasn’t to be today but before today we were top of the form guide and that’s an amazing achievement. A lot of clubs are looking at our players now and that’s a credit to our boys.”

Picture supplied by Dave Budden.