St Albans City 2-3 Welling United

Both teams went into the fixture at Clarence Road struggling for form and in a recent match the hosts had pulled back a three goal deficit against Bromley, only to lose 5-4.

In this match, they again showed their ability to bounce back but then not make the most of their hard work.

The first opportunity fell to Welling but the shot from Charlie Sheringham did not have sufficient power to trouble Paul Bastock too much.

St Albans tested the Wings defence early on with a free-kick and corner but it was Welling who went ahead with Sanchez Ming’s first league goal for the club.

Good work from Sheringham and a dummy run from Loui Fazackerley gave Ming time and space to line up his shot and a minor deflection helped him find the top right hand corner of the net.

James Quilter had a long range shot pushed away for a corner by on-loan keeper David Wilkinson, who was making his first appearance in his second spell at Welling, and the Crystal Palace stopper had to be quick off his line to thwart the dangerous Paul Hakim.

Hakim got himself into another good position but as he was about to shoot, Sonny Cobbs intervened with a great tackle.

Orlando Smith shot well wide from distance before Ming fired straight at Bastock after more good work from Cobbs.

Unfortunately, the Saints lost Ryan Frater to injury as he over-stretched attempting to halt another Wings attack and Chris Seeby came on as his replacement.

Lee Blackburn set up Smith from a short free-kick, but his shot was blocked by a defender.

Jack Parkinson made a heavy tackle on Hunt and was rightly shown the yellow card.

In a rare St Albans foray, a Graeme Andrews header cleared a Seeby long range shot.

Back on the attack, Parkinson couldn’t quite pull the ball back following further good play from Cobbs and Smith and on his next surge forward, Cobbs was fouled in the St Albans 18 yard box.

The penalty was struck home powerfully by Sheringham.

Welling continued to press and Smith had a venomous shot blocked and Fazackerley just failed to pick him out again in the next attack.

A needless foul in a dangerous position gave St Albans an opportunity early in the second half but Craig Mortimer hit the free-kick straight into the wall.

Smith had a shot saved after good interplay with Sheringham, but then sloppy defending by Ryan Johnson almost let Hakim in.

A good tackle by Gavin Dayes, making his full Welling debut, saved his team on this occasion, but it was at a cost as he picked up an injury.

Shortly afterwards he was replaced by Tony Sinclair.

Johnson made another error when he played a pass across the face of his own goal.

This time there was to be no let off as Hakim intercepted and gave Wilkinson no chance with his low shot.

Accepting this gift as a lifeline, St Albans pushed Welling back and only a great header out by Andrews from a corner prevented the hosts from setting up a possible equaliser.

In increasingly rare attacks, Ming had a wild shot blocked by Ben Martin and then a rasping drive from Parkinson was beaten out by Bastock after a good move involving Sheringham, Smith and Ming.

Eventually the pressure told and young substitute Sam Hurrell went on a run past several defenders before blasting beyond Wilkinson.

Hakim hit a free-kick over the bar and Blackburn received a yellow card for a foul as Welling struggled to regain a grip on a game they had been controlling until the Saints were allowed back into it.

From the free-kick, the ball reached Hakim in space but he was unable to control it and get a shot in.

Ming’s error then gave Hurrell space for another run but Wilkinson made a fine save to keep the scores level.

When Fazackerley also lost possession, he showed a great fighting spirit in chasing back to tackle Quilter, who then became the first home team player in the referee’s notebook for complaining too much after committing a foul.

Sheringham had a run on goal but was well-tackled by Ben Martin when about to shoot.

Bastock dropped the resultant corner but was fortunate to be awarded a free-kick to spare his blushes.

Richard Stevens replaced Fazackerley for the final 10 minutes and with three minutes remaining, Welling scored the decisive goal.

Receiving the ball on the right wing, Ming strode forward before putting in a low inch perfect cross that Sheringham converted.

Stevens had a shot saved on the turn and in his next attack, was fouled outside the penalty area.

Sheringham’s free-kick went high and wide.

There just remained time for Everitt to receive the yellow card he might have picked up earlier before the referee brought an end to the contest.

Welling: Wilkinson, Johnson, Cobbs, Parkinson, Andrews, Dayes (Sinclair 54), Ming, Blackburn, Fazackerley (Stevens 80), Sheringham, Orlando Smith. Subs not used: Mitten, McEntegart and Delando Smith.