Not surprisingly, co-caretaker manager Harry Wheeler was thrilled with Welling’s Reliance Kent Senior Cup Quarter Final victory over a strong Bromley team.

Having knocked out holders Dartford in the last round, Welling now have a semi final with Charlton Athletic ahead, with the winners facing Dover Athletic in the final.

“We tried to get a little bit of structure.”said Wheeler. “We did move the ball quite well at times. We were trying to get a little more confidence in the team, and hopefully that will follow on, on Saturday.

“It was the strongest side that we could put out. Danny Walker was ill. Danny Waldren was ill. Jamie Slabber was injured. We had a couple of 17 year olds on the bench and two trialists played. We were as strong as we could be for the night and against a team that were as strong as possible. That was actually their first eleven. It was quite a rewarding win in the end.”

He went on to talk about new signing Arel Amu on dual signing with Aelesey Town. “Arel came into training a few weeks ago and did really well. We like to give people a chance and look at them properly in games and give them as much opportunity as we can.

About Alex Cathline, another trialist, he said. “Alex was better. I thought Alex was very poor on Saturday in the second half. Today I thought first half, he was very good. Second half I thought he was better. He started to use his attributes a bit more. On Saturday he looked like he didn’t know his strengths. He was trying to do things that maybe aren’t his game.

“He’s a big lad and today we told him to start winning stuff and to try to be a bit more of a nuisance.

“It’s not easy to replace someone who’s scored 34 goals in any team unless you’ve got unlimited money, which we don’t, and we’re fully aware, like the fans, that we need someone who’s going to put the ball in the back of the net. We’re looking to try and replace a goalscorer. We’re not settling on it and thinking ‘yeah, that’s all right now.”

On the subject of Harry Crawford’s 40 yard winner, Wheeler said “It was a fantastic strike, especially for this level. It was one of the best strikes I’ve seen. Funnily enough, every time we do the warm up, he does it, every single warm up, and he’s never hit the target.”

Wheeler went on to say that he thought that the semi-final against Charlton would be good for the club. “It should be a good crowd. We’ll be fully competitive and going in trying to win the game and get to the final. A club like Welling should be aspiring higher than to stay up. If we stay up and get to a final, then it’s a positive enough season considering the circumstances.

“It’s not one that I would expect the fans to be happy with but the situation is what it is and now the main thing is to stay up and we’re in a cup so can we get into the final as well.”

Whilst fellow co-caretaker manager has been forthright in saying that he is not interested in being Welling manager permanently, Wheeler was more guarded. “I literally just take each game as it comes. Before, previously, at the last club I was at, I said the same and they ended up giving me the job because I’d done so well.

“I’m not looking for anything massive like that, I’m just helping the team right now and we’ll see where it goes from there.”

Picture supplied by David Brown.