Having beaten Hemel Hempstead Town for the first ever time early in December, Welling United completed the double with an excellent victory in the return game despite playing the second half short handed.

Immediately after the match, manager Brad Quinton expressed his delight. “I’m proud of those boys to go down to ten men, which was a bit unfortunate, possibly could have been ten each but it’s part of football.” he said.

Hemel should probably have had Jack Midson sent off two minutes before Bradley Rolt was dismissed but Quinton was philosophical. He said “Sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t.” However, he was delighted with how the team adapted. “Defensively, all over the park, the shape when we went down to ten men, the hard work, the commitment to one another, I think in the short space of what we’re doing and working so hard and the boys were fantastic to a man, even those that came on.

“We were positive, we worked on the structure, we work on this in training when you go to a man over or a man less. We have to work on that because in game management players have to understand that so fair play to the boys. They’re listening. They can see the shape and the football that we are playing. Two centre forwards scoring, one comes on, one comes on after sixty-five minutes, he’s done well and worked his socks off but I’m pleased for (Dan) Wilks as well. Romoney (Crichlow-Noble), Harold Joseph, Connor Dymond, I could go on, the performance of the boys. They’re all Man of the Match.

“To their faces, I would probably say every single one of them is Man of the Match. Even the subs. I had to make some changes today, and the boys won last week, but we had a game plan and it was working really well.”

That was before Bradley Rolt was dismissed. “I feel sorry for young Brad. I think he’s a fantastic player. I don’t think it was a red card so we’ll look to see what we can do with that and try and speak to the league but I’m not going to let it spoil our day. We won today and we were the better team.”

Two minutes before that, Jack Midson had been very fortunate to escape with a yellow card for a forearm in the face of Crichlow-Noble. “It was harsh to only get a yellow card and then two minutes later we get a straight red for a tackle. I think he slipped but it’s tough nowadays.”

However, Quinton wanted to concentrate on the positives that came out of it and continued “We dug deep, we worked hard and whether they were down to ten men or nine men, they gave everything to me, and the club, and the directors and all of the fans. I’m proud of them.”

Chiori Johnson was substituted on, as Quinton changed the shape and was substituted off again in second half injury time. “It was frustrating that I had to make a sub when I had to bring a player on and bring him off but it was just game management to try and kill the time. You have to explain that but then when Aaron (Cosgrave) came on he nearly scored with his first touch so it could have been three. Even when we went down to ten men we could have had two or three other goals and I’m proud of the boys.

“Chiori came off, I feel sorry for him, gutted. He’s seeing how we want to play in training and how we work in training and he’s said ‘I want to play for you as I can see how you want to play.’ That’s a delight to hear as a coach and as a manager.”

Although Quinton has not yet been at Welling for a month, he is happy with the progress made so far and has an eye on the future beyond guaranteeing safety for the team this season. He said “It’s a joy to watch but it’s hard work. They have to learn when they haven’t got the ball where they should be, making space, and making time for themselves. “

We’re enjoying it, we’re doing well, it’s a great club and they should be in and around the play-offs. Hopefully next year we kick on and do well but ultimately it’s one game at a time and we look forward to next week when we’ve got boys back and there’s a few more that we’re looking at.”

Pictures supplied by Dave Budden.