At the fifth time of asking, Welling United picked up their first win of the season with a deserved victory over Havant and Waterlooville.
Danny Bloor, the Wings manager, restored Alex MacAllister to the starting line-up and was pleased to have Lewis White available for his first start.
However, it was the visitors who came out the fastest. Ansu Janneh tried his luck with an overhead kick that flew over before Joe McNerney headed wide from close range after meeting Roarie Deacon’s corner.
Jephte Tanga had Welling’s first chance when throwing himself at White’s deep cross but he didn’t get a clean connection with his header and Havant goalkeeper Ross Worner was able to tidy up.
Worner was beaten in the seventeenth minute when the Wings went ahead. Tanga’s clever pass sent MacAllister in behind. He went past Worner and clipped it goalwards. Although McNerney tried to get back, he was unable to stop it from crossing the line.
Antony Papadopoulos brought down a poor Havant clearance but sent his shot just wide before Lachlan Byrd was unable to direct his header on target when meeting James Vaughan’s corner.
Five minutes before half time, Havant stunned Welling with an equaliser. Tom Blair’s cross was not cleared and it fell into the path of Muhammadu Faal whose shot crashed down off the crossbar and was deemed to have crossed the line.
Janneh flashed a shot over but Welling had the last effort of the first half when White worked his way through but Joe Oastler got across well to make a crucial block.
Shortly after the interval, Byrd headed over from Vaughan’s free kick before Welling regained their lead. A long Jack Burchell free kick caused problems for the Havant defence and when Worner dropped it, White was alert and made no mistake from the edge of the area.
More brilliant wing play by Tanga gave him the opportunity to cross and he picked out MacAllister whose header was tipped over by a flying Worner.
Blair and Janneh both fired well over for the Hawks before Welling substitute Kain Adom was unable to keep his attempt down, having been found by Tanga. The struggling Havant defence again failed to clear effectively and it fell to Vaughan but his first time shot flew wide.
Bloor brought David Kamara on with just under twenty minutes remaining and within one minute he added Welling’s third. Cameron Green’s long pass down the left wing picked Kamara out and his exquisite first touch wrong-footed the Havant defence. His second touch was a superb low shot that went just inside the far post for his maiden National League South goal.
Adom’s first time shot from Green’s low corner flew over before Faal drew an easy save out of Ben Winterbottom.
Seven minutes remained when Havant reduced the arrears. A slick passing move worked Callum Kealy into the penalty area and his first time shot, from a tight angle, found its way into the net.
Although Billie Busari and Blair had shots on target, both were saved comfortably by Winterbottom as Welling saw out the additional six minutes with little trouble.
On Monday, Bloor’s team are back in action with a Bank Holiday match at Tonbridge Angels as they look for back-to-back wins.
Welling United: Winterbottom, Lema (Andrews 85), Green, Vaughan, Byrd, Burchell, Tanga, Odusanya, MacAllister (Kamara 71), Papadopoulos, White (Adom 56). Sub not used Olomowewe, Isiaka.
Goalscorers: MacAllister (17), White (54), Kamara (72)
Yellow cards: Tanga, Vaughan
Havant and Waterlooville: Worner, Deacon, Innocent, Mehew (Baker 64), Oastler, McNerney, Blair, Janneh, Faal, Jewitt-White (Kealy 73), Roberts. Subs not used: Stedman, Connolly.
Goalscorers: Faal (40), Kealy (84)
Yellow cards: Janneh, Jewitt-White, Baker, Oastler
Referee: Abigail Byrne
Assistants: Stuart Smith and Daniel Ripton
Attendance: 527
Images courtesy of Dave Budden