Although not at their creative best Welling United claimed a vital three points when beating Chippenham Town. After the game, Peter Taylor remained grounded but happy to have won.

“I’m always pleased when we give the supporters some joy, some reward for backing the team” he said “I think that they’ve been okay with us for the way that we’ve played in the last three or four matches so I’m delighted that we’ve got a win in front of them. It’s good.

“Apart from one chance at the end, I thought that we deserved a clean sheet. Our goal difference is ridiculously poor and it’s an area that we’ve got to be more solid as a team. Today, I thought we were. I thought that everybody worked exceptionally hard. If somebody switched off a little bit, the partner near him on the pitch was helping him to try and liven him up. I thought that they worked very hard as a group.”

In the first half it was very tight and at times disjointed. “I was only disappointed with the final bit, the final pass” he commented. “I thought some of our attacks were good. Some of our attacks were quite good as counter attacking moves but it was just the final bit where we played it to the wrong side which could have created a better chance. 

“Overall, I’ve got to say that I thought that as a group of players they worked extremely hard for each other so even though it might have been a lively game on the strength of the pitch being a bit dry, they performed, I think, quite well.”

At half time he told his players what he wanted “I just said to them we mustn’t switch off defensively and I fancied us to create another chance.” He said “In the end we had a little bit of luck with the goal and we had a little bit of luck late on when maybe they had a good chance to score, but apart from that we certainly looked a bit more solid as a team and we certainly kept going.

“I’m really, really, pleased for the players because in the last four or five matches when we’ve only had two draws I think we deserved more than that so today we had a little bit of luck with their chance at the end but apart from that they deserved it and I’m so pleased for them to get a result because it means everything to them.”

Taylor gave special praise to Ade Shokunbi saying “Ade is a very lucky man. He can run all day so he helps us out defensively and he certainly helps us out to get a goal. I thought he was outstanding today.”

Although Welling might have had a bit of good fortune in this match, maybe it was a bit of pay-back as they have had little luck in recent weeks. Taylor said “We seem to have been punished whenever we have made a mistake so I’m really pleased today that we’ve had a bit, we’ve got a clean sheet, we’ve got three points and the boys are pleased with themselves. There’s only so many times you can keep turning up without any reward and they’ve been rewarded today.”

The victory meant that Welling had completed their first double of the season and Taylor was delighted. He said “Chippenham were seventh in the table before today’s game started and their manager has done a great job there. They are a very, very difficult team to play against. They play good football and they’re very controlled on the ball so you have to work hard to get a result.”

One negative was that the returning Yannis Drais only lasted ten minutes before having to be replaced. “We’re going to get it looked at but it seems that it’s the same problem that he had before.” Said a concerned Taylor. “It’s a shame. He was feeling fine. He thought he was going to be strong enough. It may be just the way he’s turned, and studs in the ground. I don’t know, but he couldn’t carry on.”

Aaron Barnes also appeared to be limping at the end and Taylor continued “There’s a few that are probably feeling it a little bit at the moment. Hopefully, they’ll go home and if they’ve got any problems they’ll put it in a bucket of ice and we go from there.”

Despite the win, Taylor knows that his team cannot afford to dwell on it for too long as they entertain Dulwich Hamlet on Tuesday night. He said “We’ve got to try and get another three points.

I’ve said to the players they’ve got to prepare right now. They’ve got to give themselves every chance to be nice and fresh on Tuesday night.”

Picture supplied by Dave Budden.