Hednesford 4-3 Welling

FOLLOWING Saturday’s postponement due to the pitch being frozen, Welling United made the trip to Staffordshire on Tuesday evening for their FA Trophy second round match against Hednesford Town.

The visitors won the first corner after 12 minutes and Charlie Sheringham headed against the bar from Lee Blackburn’s cross.

From the resulting goal kick, the hosts worked the ball out to Elliott Durrell.

With Welling missing regular left back Sonny Cobbs through suspension, Durrell made the most of the space he had by cutting inside and striking a shot into the far corner which Clark Masters was unable to stop.

Heartened by taking the lead against their higher league opposition, Hednesford forced Tony Sinclair to block a chance with a last-ditch tackle.

Masters dropped the resulting corner, but his blushes were saved by referee S. J. Martin, much to the dismay of the home supporters.

It was not long before Hednesford doubled their lead.

Again Durrell was allowed the freedom of the left hand side of the Welling defence, this time striking powerfully into the roof of the net.

Welling almost immediately got back into contention when Tom Marshall struck just wide of his own post before Durrell completed his hat-trick, again taking advantage of the space on the right.

Durrell turned provider for the fourth when Curtis Ujah lumped a long ball into the same vacant area.

This time Durrell cut inside and Tyrone Barnett converted gleefully.

Chad Shepherd came close to extending the lead but he was thwarted by a good save from Masters before Sheringham produced Stuart Brock’s first save of the night as Welling at last started to come back into the game.

A foul on Blackburn right on the edge of the penalty area gave Sheringham the chance to reduce the arrears with a fantastic free-kick into the roof of the net.

As Welling continued to push before half time, their players were incensed when Mr. Martin refused to award a blatant penalty as Loui Fazackerley was pushed over when well placed.

Matthew McEntegart replaced Graeme Andrews at the start of the second half as Welling tried to build on their strong finish to the opening period.

Blackburn’s cross was put out for a corner unconvincingly by Ujah before Masters made a comfortable save from Barnett as Hednesford were forced to resort to long ball football.

Fazackerley’s cross from the left found Orlando Smith and following a tidy chest down, his volley was well smothered by Brock.

Again Fazackerley fashioned a good opportunity to centre from the left and although Brock reacted superbly to save Sheringham’a header, Sanchez Ming was quickest to the loose ball and smashed home into the back of the net.

Hednesford looked rattled and Blackburn headed fractionally wide from Smith’s cross.

Another ball slung in from Smith on the left found Blackburn, who miss-hit his shot, but as the ball came out to Ming, only desperate defending kept out his effort.

Completely against the run of play, the hosts were almost gifted a fifth when an awful kick by Masters allowed Durrell a free sight of goal.

This time, he shot well wide from a long way out.

Tenacious play from Ming presented Blackburn with a shooting opportunity which he blasted well over, a feat he repeated following good work from Lee Protheroe.

When Blackburn smashed a third attempt over, the game looked to be drifting away from Welling but just after Delando Smith’s 80th minute appearance in place of Protheroe, they pulled a third goal back.

This one was the scruffiest of the day as Blackburn’s low near post corner caused such havoc that it somehow crossed the line.

Whether a defender, Brock or Rob Quinn got a touch before is debatable, but it offered the Wings supporters hope for a grandstand finish.

Sadly, Welling were unable to produce one more meaningful chance and the shambolic defending in the first 25 minutes cost them the opportunity to pit their wits against Blue Square Premier club Forest Green Rovers in the next round.

Welling: Masters, Protheroe (Delando Smith 80), Johnson, Quinn, Andrews (Matthew McEntegart 45), Sinclair, Ming, Blackburn, Orlando Smith, Sheringham, Fazackerley. Subs not used: Dorian Smith, Stevens, Morgan.