Lack-lustre Welling United’s hopes of remaining in the Vanarama National League South took another blow when they dropped two points at home to Hornchurch. After the match, Welling manager Brian Statham shared his thoughts.

“We did show a great deal of effort.” he said. “Two sides that played the conditions reasonably well. I thought that we kept their opportunities down. They were always going to be a danger from set pieces, corners, long throws. They’re a big side, quite a physical side, and I felt that we dealt with it particularly well.”

He then explained how the wing men were important to the tactics, saying “The whole point, when you’re playing against big centre halves, is if we can get in behind them with our wide boys, who have got quick feet and that ability to go round people, we are always going to cause problems and create but we didn’t quite get the quality of the final pass in to the right areas. We got into those situations half a dozen times in the ninety minutes but didn’t quite have that last little bit that we needed.”

Chances for the Wings were at a premium and Hornchurch goalkeeper Mason Terry had a comfortable afternoon.

He said “We got a few shots off, TJ (Bramble)’s had a couple, an easy save for the keeper and one that went close in the first half, Josh (Redfearn) got a little glancing header in the first half, if he gets a little more meat on that then he scores, a couple of opportunities but nothing really clear cut.”

Despite the disappointment, Statham hasn’t given up. He stated “It’s still doable. We have to remain upbeat and we will. We go to Hampton next week and we’ll be keen to go and get a win and that’s what the boys will be trying to do.

“They’re really disappointed in there after that. There’s been a lot of effort, focus, concentration and I thought that we kept the ball particularly well in moments and we just needed that final little piece that would have made the difference.”

Images courtesy of Dave Budden