WHITEHAWK 1 WELLING UTD 2 – MATCH REPORT
Whitehawk vs Welling
Our final home game before Christmas, but we were unable to give the amazing Hawks faithful the perfect gift as it was the visitors who came away with all three points in a bitterly disappointing afternoon.
We welcomed Welling United to The McLaren Enclosed Ground off the back of a frustrating result just four days prior – a 2-1 defeat away to struggling Canvey Island – with Shaun and the side looking to make amends. The good thing about such a jam-packed festive period is that you don’t really get the chance to dwell on the previous result, good or bad, as another fixture is always around the corner and so the prospect of hosting second-bottom Welling was a welcome one. The squad was also boosted by the return of Andrew Briggs and Joel Daly, two key players in Shaun Saunders’ set up this season, as well as Josh Nandhra who was looking for his first minutes in nearly three months after suffering an injury in the warm up at Folkestone in early September. The bad news started before kick off though, as Nandhra suffered yet another heartbreaking setback getting injured in the warm up. He was now out, Destiny Ojo was in the starting line up and Oscar Lambie was placed into the squad and on the bench.
Welling got us underway and just 180 seconds later found themselves in front. A soft but precise cross from the right bounced between centre-back and goalkeeper, with debutant Bradley Sach slipping in with a deft touch to give his side an early lead. The Hawks would respond well, controlling possession and getting a number of shots off, but never really tested Roraigh Browne in the visitors net for the rest of the half. In fact, it was our own shot stopper Francis Hurl who would make the biggest save of the first 45, denying Troy Howard 17 minutes in as the forward pulled off a neat turn before firing a shot that was well saved by the wide-spread Hurl. Behind at the break.
The hosts came out in the second half with a point to prove, dominating practically the entire second half and forced Welling into setting up shop inside their final third. Passes had a little more precision to them, shots had a little more purpose and the team were playing like a side who were determined to get back into this match. Numerous corners, free-kicks and crosses were sent into the Welling box as the Whitehawk players seemed to identify the visitor’s keeper as their weak spot. Roraigh Browne had looked a little shaky trying to defend set pieces throughout the afternoon but he did however come up with a monster save, and one that proved to be critical with just 11 minutes to go. Charlie Lambert latched onto a smart Hugo Odogwu-Atkinson flick inside the Welling box, with Lambo swivelling and shooting in one smooth motion but was denied his 11th goal of the season by a low diving Browne. As time was running out, and the Hawks were committing more men forward, space continued to open up at the back and the visitors would eventually punish us. A swift move saw them execute a two-on-one almost perfectly but for Lewis Chambers’ shot being a tame one that was straight at Francis Hurl. However, just a few moments later Welling would double their lead as Chambers, who missed that chance a few moments earlier, fired in off the underside of the bar. The side who had collected just 6 points from a possible 27 on the road this season were suddenly staring at a comfortable 2-0 victory. Charlie Lambert would smash home his team-leading seventh league goal of the season after a great feed from Nathan Cooper, but it was too little too late. Shaun and his team tasted defeat for the second time in five days and a fifth defeat in their last eight which has seen the Hawks slip to 15th in the table.
A couple of away fixtures before Christmas are next on the calendar, with trips to the Cray’s (Wanderers and then Valley PM) to come on Friday 12th and Saturday 20th.
By Junior Paradot
