In front of a live TV audience, Sam Corne fired home the best goal of his fledgling career to earn Welling a late point.
It looked as though Welling were going to be unrewarded at the end of yet another fine performance until the young Wings’ captain let fly from over 25 yards.
Corne admitted afterwards “I don’t score many goals. That’s one to add to my collection. We’ve got to start taking more shots on goal to score more goals.”
Head Coach, Matt McEntegart backed those comments up by saying “We want the boys to have shots. We don’t want them to worry about failing and missing the target. I’d be more worried if we weren’t creating chances.”
Xavier Vidal had a header saved by Scott Davies early on as Welling came out positively.
Sahr Kabba, on his return from injury, and Reece Harris had shots saved, then Harris had a claim for a penalty refused as his shot was deemed ball to arm rather than arm to ball.
Rovers leading scorer Andy Mangan had a shot deflected wide by Michael Chambers but Welling were soon on the attack again and Vidal’s shot was blocked by Davies after Rovers’ custodian and Matt Hill collided going for the same ball.
James Norwood made a mess of a shot for Tranmere but Kevin Lokko and Kabba had further chances for the Wings before half time.
Less than a minute after the re-start, the visitors went ahead. Goalkeeper Tom King came out for a corner but failed to get it away, and Lois Maynard was able to float a header into the unguarded net.
That appeared to deflate the Welling side for a while but they came back and kept Davies busy. He was out quickly to meet Harry Lee’s through ball ahead of George Porter, before the latter tested him again with another good shot.
Jay Harris was then busy at both ends. First he shot just wide for the Rovers before making a great goal-line clearance from Lokko’s powerful header. Porter followed up but shot just over.
Norwood had a chance to double Rovers’ lead with an unmarked near post header that went over before a moment of Tranmere indiscipline cost them dearly. Awaiting a Welling throw in, Ritchie Sutton threw an arm into Kabba’s face and was shown a red card.
Gary Brabin, Tranmere’s manager, felt the decision was harsh but Coach Paul Barnes wasn’t concerned. “Last year those decisions went against us. It was about time we got a bit of luck.”
Having an extra man allowed Welling a little more freedom to attack and they were rewarded with three minutes remaining when Corne’s thunderbolt flew in off the post.
He could have claimed an unlikely winner in injury time when another clean strike was deflected just past the post by Rovers’ substitute Marcus Holness.
Afterwards, manager Loui Fazakerley felt that Corne’s pile driver was “Massive. We’ve been playing very well but going on to lose. Goals we concede are soft.”
After going behind again, Welling might have folded but they came back. Fazakerley felt it was “Good character from the lads.”
Now, they can look ahead and try and build on the momentum ahead of next week’s home game with Torquay United.
Welling United: King, Osborne, Jefford, Lee, Chambers, Lokko (Obafemi 82), Corne, Vidal, Kabba (Adeyinka 82), Porter, Harris.
Unused substitutes: McEntegart, Fagan, Wellard.
Tranmere Rovers: Davies, Sutton, Hill, Ridehalgh, Hogan, Jennings, Maynard, Harris, Norwood, Mangan (Holness 78), Ihiekwe.
Unused substitutes: Turner, Jackson. Stockton, Margetts.
Referee: Craig Hicks
Assistants: Alexander Guy and Iain Parsons
4th Official: Carl Fitch
Welling star man: Sam Corne
Attendance: 1,012
Pictures supplied by Dave Budden.