After Welling United’s 4-0 defeat of Oxford City joint caretaker managers Tristan Lewis and Harry Wheeler were delighted with the second half exhibition.

At half time, with the scores level, many wouldn’t have expected what was to follow but it came as no surprise to Wheeler. “You never know. I thought that overall we were slightly shabby in the first half but in the second half we deserved it. The reaction in the second half, Everyone was fantastic, everyone was brilliant.”

Danny Waldren and Adam Coombes both scored crackers but Wheeler enjoyed Pierre Joseph-Dubois’ and Harry Crawford’s just as much.  “All goals are good goals but two were a little bit more spectacular than the other two. We could have had four more at the end. We’ve got to keep ticking over and keep working hard.” .

Lewis added his thoughts saying “I thought the first half, it was a bit of a scrappy game, both teams, maybe, had a struggle with the period of the time off, but we said to them at half time ‘you’ve got to be patient, we know our quality will come through’ and I thought the second half was outstanding, from all of them. We scored some good goals and in fairness, we probably could have had a couple more.

“The performance against Bromley (their last game before a two week break) was a really, really good one so to get back to that level isn’t going to be easy. The most pleasing thing was that the work rate was outstanding throughout. We may have been a little bit critical at half time but you’ve got to believe in your players and I think they showed everyone how strong they are in the second half.”

Despite pulling five points clear of the relegation zone, Lewis knows that there is still a long way to go. “We’re not stupid. We know we’re still in the bottom reaches of the table. We said at half time the minimum we’re going to take is a clean sheet because we trust all the players and believe in them and the first goal is going to be so important.”

He was also pleased to share the praise around. “It’s a team effort and that goes off the pitch as well. Mark’s (Mark Goldberg) had a big impact in the last two games as well. He did a fantastic speech before the game at Bromley which galvanised all of us and even today, his presence around, I think it’s important for all of us to remember that he is a manager that’s won this league and he deserves massive credit for putting this group together.”

Speaking about the fact that there are only two natural centre halves in the squad he said “I think from our point of view, we know that the squad is not huge and depth is something that we’re looking at, and I think that probably is a position where a bit of cover wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, but then Ali (Fuseini) showed when he came on that he can fill in just as well in midfield and he can do a great job for the side and he’s got a great footballing CV.

“If Danny (Waldren) has to play there (centre half) he can fill there. I saw the Hungerford game away and I thought he was great at centre half. I think that with people like Ali and Danny, do we need to go out and get someone? It would be nice to have a bit of cover and not have to move Danny. It is going to be Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday so it’s going to be tough on the squad.”

However, he was not too concerned as he confirmed that despite the ‘interim’ label, the management team could bring in someone on loan if needed “That probably would be the ideal solution if it had to be done. From our point of view it’s a team effort and although it’s a caretaker thing, we all see it as a joint effort between everybody at the club.

“The players have been fantastic. They’ve been magnificent at training. You cannot ask of any more from them and I think the Hemel game was a blip but I think that was everyone settling in. I think what’s happened now is that myself, Harry and Mark have settled into it and I think the players have responded brilliantly. They deserve all the credit. They’re the ones who’ve earned the results and I thought today, they were magnificent.. ”

Picture supplied by Dave Budden.