Whilst the previous weeks cup win had broken an atrocious run of consecutive losses , we needed to get some points on board and quickly if we were to get out of the relegation zone .
I hadn't assumed much going in to this game , but did say to the team that our opponents were at our end of the table and not the other , like so many of our fixtures had been and that if I was to be proved right that our performances weren't that bad , then this was a game we had every chance of taking something from .
We started OK but were kept honest by our hosts front 3 , who got in to some good areas without ever really threatening and we ourselves lacked the necessary tidiness to carve out any real opportunities . I felt we were slightly the better side , but was cautious of being overly optimistic as the game was level and with our second half showings of late being off the pace , the game was in the balance .
We made the break through on the half hour , when a forward pass was guided into the path of Dan Burbulis who finished well from wide on the left .
For the second game running we had a half time lead , but I sensed as we spoke at the break , that we had more about us this time round , to successfully defend that lead or to even build on it .
The start of the second half was fantastic from us in everything other than a goal. We had 3 0r 4 very good opportunities and spurned them all based totally on our finishing rather than good defending or goal keeping .
That is always a worry as the game progresses , as you know the game should have been done but wasn't and that just 1 moment could change everything . That looked like happening with 15 minutes to go , as our back line which had defended reliably throughout , got an attempted offside trap badly wrong , with the striker having a free run on goal . Thankfully Theo on loan from Horsham YM stood tall and timed his grasp of the ball perfectly from the forwards feet as he attempted to go round him .
That lifted us it seemed and knocked our hosts and we were able to capitalise on that escape with a second goal with 5 minutes to play , when Athan finished well from a tight angle .
The usual flurry of late substitutions were duly made to disrupt any momentum that Welling were trying to build and we saw out the remaining time including the obligatory 7 or so minutes added on relatively easily to secure our first league win of the season .
Hopefully the first of a few , as we are still bottom and in need of more points quickly to get out of the trouble that the opening quarter of the season put us in .