Defeat at Dover on Tuesday evening left Welling United in deep trouble at the wrong end of the Vanarama National League table.
They now sit nine points adrift of safety and have played two matches more and now need to win nearly every one of their remaining nine matches if they are to avoid the drop.
Their last two games could have finished very differently. Last Saturday, Luke Wanadio’s first Welling goal put them ahead against league leaders Cheltenham Town in the first minute of injury time. However they then had to suffer the agony of conceding an equaliser with just seconds remaining.
Then on Tuesday night, Michael Bakare opened the scoring for the Wings with barely a minute on the clock. They then dominated but paid the cost of not adding a second. Stefan Payne’s 23rd minute equaliser changed the momentum of the game.
Sean Raggett put Dover ahead six minutes into the second half, and although Welling had plenty of possession and had a number of corners, they rarely looked like breaching the well marshalled defence.
On Saturday, they visit Southport who started the season slowly but are now in a position where they are almost safe.
When the two teams met earlier in the season at Park View Road, Mike Phenix scored the only goal fifteen minutes from the end as the Sandgrounders headed back north with the three points pocketed.
Last season’s game at Haig Avenue was a tumultuous affair with Jamie Turner in goal (now goalkeeping coach) and former player manager, Jamie Day, both sent off. Southport claimed the only goal through Joe Connor in the 94th minute.
Manager Dean Frost will hope to have one or two of his injured players back in contention for the trip. Their list of walking wounded was so bad that they had to recall Joey Taylor from East Grinstead on Tuesday to give them some defensive / central midfield options on the bench.
Whilst there is still a flicker of hope for Welling, they will continue to strive for the win they need to give them a huge confidence boost.
Picture supplied by Dave Budden.