Honours were even on Saturday when Welling United claimed a well deserved Vanarama National League South point at Chippenham Town.
Having won four of their last five matches, the hosts would have felt optimistic coming into the games however, the bobbly pitch was not conducive to good flowing football and may be the reason why their record away is better than their home form.
Rod Stringer’s Wings came into the game on the back of two defeats having only won twice in their ten previous league games in 2025, causing them to drop into the bottom four. They were buoyed, however, by their midweek Kent Senior Cup semi-final success that means that they have a show piece cup final to anticipate.
Once again, the Wings got off to a poor start when they went behind in the eleventh minute. Luke Spokes delivered a corner that was flicked on into the path of Freddie Grant. His shot was heading beyond the far post until it struck Hamzad Kargbo and flew into the net.
Shaken Welling might have conceded again shortly afterwards when Tom Mehew broke through but didn’t get a clean strike and Rhys Lovett made the save.
It was then Welling who started to press and they came close when James Alabi controlled a long pass on the run that allowed him to go past goalkeeper Will Henry. He squared and it took a brilliant last ditch tackle by Tom Haines to stop Scott Kashket from rolling it into an empty net for a debut goal.
Midway through the first half, Welling equalised. Alabi could only be stopped by being fouled. Harvey Walker took the free kick and it reached Dave Winfield who read the flight to get to it firsr and side-foot home from close range.
Although the Wings continued to press, they almost went back behind in the first half’s latter stages when another Spokes corner caught in the wind and came out off the crossbar.
After the break, Welling again started slowly, and a Mehew shot through a crowd scene was blocked by Lovett’s left leg. However, the Wings then settled and enjoyed the better of the possession but struggled to create chances. The best of them came when Alabi’s hold up play freed Jayden Davis down the right hand side. He shot from twenty yards but his shot just missed the angle of post and bar.
While Welling continued to press, Chippenham tried to pick them off on the counter-attack. Caine Bradbury and Mehew both broke through but shot beyond the far post as Lovett closed down the angle.
Late in the game, Welling had a big shout for a penalty denied before settling for the point that took them out of the bottom four ahead of their Tuesday night game at Tonbridge Angels.
Welling United: Lovett, Davis, H. Walker (Kamara 75), Burchell, Winfield, Di Trolio, Kennedy (Grant 60), Quick, Alabi (Moore 54), Kashket (Z. Walker 78), Kelly. Sub not used: Taylor-Crossdale.
