WELLING United went into their final game of the season without the spine of the team which had shown the recent good form which enabled them to travel to Havant comfortably placed above the relegation zone.
Chris Moore (paternity leave), Richard Carpenter (injury) and Sam Gargan (recalled by Brighton & Hove Albion) missed the finale, while Tony Boot was allowed to stay at East Thurrock United to try to help them avoid relegation from the Ryman League.
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Havant were also missing some of their squad and only had three defenders available to play.
The match was played in warm sunshine and the first half had a decidedly end of season feel to it.
In the first meaningful action with 17 minutes having elapsed, Max Ellison-Hustwick was shown the yellow card for an untidy foul.
Former Wings midfielder Jamie Day struck the resultant free-kick well over Jamie Turner's goal.
Turner had to claw away a header from Luke Nightingale as the hosts had three corners in quick succession before a Welling attack saw Ellis Remy head straight into the arms of Hawks goalkeeper Kevin Scriven.
Welling finished the half the stronger of the two sides with Sonny Cobbs curling a free-kick which drew a comfortable save by Scriven, Orlando Smith shooting wide after using his skills to make the opportunity and Remy having another header gathered by the keeper.
Mo Harkin came close to opening the scoring early in the second half when his shot cannoned back off the crossbar before Nightingale produced a save from Turner.
The Wings team was further decimated when an injury to Ellis Green resulted in him being carried off by stretcher to be replaced by Danny Phillips.
Welling then took the game by the scruff of the neck and totally dominated possession for the next 30 minutes.
Smith set up Cobbs, who shot wide, and Joe Howe worked himself into a shooting position but could not keep the ball down.
Then Smith had two more shots blocked, the first of which appeared to be goalbound before the intervention of Brett Poate.
The lively Phillips crossed for Cobbs, but his header went agonisingly wide of the far post and then Remy, spotting Scriven off his line, attempted an audacious lob from 45 yards which just missed the target.
As the game appeared to be heading for a goalless draw, both teams made substitutions which directly impacted on the final outcome.
Following a brilliant Turner save from Hawks substitute Rocky Baptiste, the ball fell to Charlie Henry, another Havant player who had just come onto the field.
Wings replacement Calum Crawley made a clumsy attempt at tackling him, resulting in a penalty for the hosts.
Baptiste drove his spot kick hard and low, but Turner dived to his left and turned the effort away at full stretch.
Turner deserved a clean sheet for his heroics, but Henry had other ideas.
With five minutes remaining, he collected possession, strode forward a couple of paces without being closed down and struck a shot beyond the reach of the Turner into the bottom corner.
Welling's last real chance was foiled when Daniel Nwanze was fouled having broken through, but the referee chose not to give the obvious free-kick.
Although the defeat was disappointing and a little undeserved, Welling still finished the season in 16th place in the table, a position which even the most optimistic of supporters could barely have dreamed of at the beginning of March.
Welling: Turner, Kamara (Crawley), Ryan, Solomon, Cobbs, Ellison-Hustwick, Green (Phillips), Nwanze, Remy (Boakye), Smith, Howe. Subs not used: Sinclair.
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