Orlando Smith is stopped in his tracks by a Weston defender on Saturday.
Welling United 2-1 Weston-super-Mare
WELLING United finally got their first home league win in 133 days on Saturday with a crucial victory over fellow relegation strugglers Weston-super-Mare.
It was a pulsating scrap between two teams who have struggled to get their seasons off of the ground at all, mainly due to their poor defensive records.
Welling have only kept two clean sheets at home this season whereas the visitors have conceded an alarming 19 goals in their last seven games.
However, these records led to a game full of incident and clear cut chances in which the home side just edged it in the end.
Sam Gargan nearly opened the scoring after just 14 seconds when he got on the end of his own flick on before dragging his shot wide of the far post.
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Orlando Smith seemed to have found an early goal for the Wings when his curling effort from 20-yards went just over the bar after four minutes.
The threat of Gargan was looming large for the visitors and the game opened up on 24 minutes when Welling were awarded a penalty.
Gargan managed to head past the keeper before being pulled back as he ran onto the loose ball.
Ryan Northmore was then shown the red card by the referee, leaving Mark McGregor to step in as goalkeeper from his natural position of centre-back.
Richard Carpenter converted the penalty to give Welling a priceless lead.
Andy Ford, however, looked far from happy with the performance from his men as the visitors got back into the game on 38 minutes.
Lewis Powell beat both Robbie Ryan and Stephen Williams with a lovely strike into the bottom corner with the help of the post.
Welling got their noses back in front seven minutes after half-time when McGregor couldn't get down to Gargan's effort which rolled past him and into the back of the net.
It was a brilliant piece of interplay between Ellis Green and Gargan as Green played a great through ball into the path of the striker, who put in a classy finish to end the best piece of football in the match.
Welling continued to make things hard for themselves when Sonny Cobbs was sent off after receiving a second yellow card.
It was a nail-biting last 10 minutes for everybody at Park View Road as Max Ellison-Hustwick nearly put through his own net, but the Wings held on to the delight of the Welling faithful.
The victory for Welling was all the more important after St Albans had stunningly pulled off a 2-0 victory away at Lewes to stay just one point behind the Wings.
Had Welling have drawn or even lost the game, they would've slipped into the bottom three for the first time this season.
Welling are next at home on Easter Monday when they entertain league leaders Eastbourne Borough, kick-off 3pm.
Welling: Williams, Kamara, Ryan, Carpenter (Nwanze ht), Moore, Ellison-Hustwick, Green (Stewart 86), Cobbs, Gargan, Smith (Howe 76), Solomon. Subs not used: Crawley, Phillips. Att: 450
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