Despite a late Tilbury rally, Welling United held on for a well deserved away win in the FA Trophy.
Coming into the match, Tilbury were unbeaten in seventeen matches, however the three division gulf between the clubs was evident for most of the game.
It took less than a minute for the Wings to go ahead. Sam Corne and Barney Williams combined to allow Kieron St. Aimie to rise and head home.
Playing with a strong wind behind them, they had to remain patient and they didn’t extend thir lead until just before the half hour mark. The goal was worth the wait, however.
George Porter claimed possession on the edge of the box before his delicious chip sailed over Clarke Bogard into the back of the net.
Ten minutes later, Porter added a third when running across tem-mate Recce Harris before rounding Bogard and stroking home.
Incredibly, despite three goals, two Tilbury cautions, and three long lectures, there was only one additional minute before the break.
There were further long lectures for Tilbury players early in the second period before Welling added a fourth in the 58th minute.
Harris was again involved when playing in Ben Jefford. The marauding left back reached the bye-line before pulling back for Ricky Wellard to tuck away.
Tony Martin shot over on the turn, Kurt Smith was thwarted by Michael McEntegart and Emiel Aiken curled wide as Tilbury tried to get back into the game.
However, Bogard made two fine saves at the other end to keep Porter from completing a hat-trick.
Jack Carlile pulled one back with eight minutes remaining when a drive from distance was deflected past McEntegart.
Five minutes later, Smith changed the direction of Tony Martin’s shot beyond McEntegart to give the hosts home.
Deep into injury time, Danny Glozier hit a goal of the season contender from 35 yards and Tilbury had an unlikely hope for a draw.
Martin’s free kick sailed over in the last few seconds as Welling progressed into the next round of the F.A. Trophy.
After the match Loui Fazakerley felt that the late goals gave the result an unfair reflection “The scoreline takes the gloss of what I thought was a very very good first half performance and good for the majority of the second half.”
“While we are very very happy to win the game it does take the gloss of it and we’re a little bit frustrated with the scoreline.
“We had opportunities to go and get more. When you concede one goal obviously their tails go up and we had the conditions against us as well and it was backs against the wall.”
“You can’t afford to allow that to happen when you concede one goal. At that stage it was still 4-1. We’ve got to be positive and get back to doing what we did well. We can’t allow that to happen again.”
Tilbury: Bogard, Mead, Glozier, D. Smith, Nightingill, Game, Babalola (Martin 60), Carlile, Richmond (Cook 66), Aiken, K. Smith.
Unused substitutes: Webb, Pooley, Hawes.
Welling United: McEntegart, Williams, Jefford, Lee (Fagan 79), Chambers, Lokko, Porter, Corne, St. Aimie (Bakare 75), Wellard (Vidal 80), Harris.
Unused substitutes: King, Kabba.
Referee: C. Brook
Assistants: D. Richardson and A. Anastasiou
Welling star man: Sam Corne
Attendance:186