Welling United slipped to a narrow defeat at the hands of Hemel Hempstead Town at Park View Road on Tuesday evening.
The Wings were left feeling frustrated on a bitterly-cold night in DA16, with chances hard to come by, while a late own-goal condemned the hosts to defeat to their fellow mid-table opponents.
A scrappy first half saw neither side create much in front of goal.
Myles Roberts got down well to keep out George Williams from range, while Nana Owusu fired over on the half-volley for the visitors.
At the other end, George Alexander had the ball in the net just before the break, only to be denied by the linesman’s flag as he strayed just offside from Christie Pattisson’s initial shot.
The theme continued into the second half as both sides continued to largely cancel each other out.
Luke Holness rolled a shot inches past the post for the visitors on the hour, while Stefan Payne dipped a shot just over the bar from 20 yards for the Wings shortly after.
As the second period progressed, it was the away side who began to create a bit more with Luke Holness proving to be somewhat of a thorn in Welling’s side.
Roberts denied the Tudors’ number nine with his legs in the 69th minute after the ball had fallen to him in front of goal, before Holness came close again, slicing a volley just wide from a promising position.
Holness tested Roberts again on 74 minutes, this time from distance with a good-looking piledriver, but the Wings’ stopper made an even-better-looking save, to pluck it away from the top corner.
In truth, Hemel were becoming the more likely to break the deadlock and they did just that with nine minutes remaining, albeit it fortunate circumstances.
A cross from the left was nodded back across the face of goal by Kory Roberts which bounced straight off the unsuspecting head of Jamie Sendles-White, wrong-footing the goalkeeper and bouncing in the net.
The Wings will now have to dust themselves off ahead of a busy month ahead with eight league and cup games coming up in March, starting with a trip to Hungerford Town on Saturday.
Welling United: Roberts, Howard, Lyons-Foster, Sendles-White, Ezennolim, Dunne, Elito (Parry 88), Pattison, Payne, Azeez, Alexander (Lisbie 70).
Subs (not used): McKenzie-Lyle, Vendrells-Parcerisa, Barnes.
Hemel Hempstead Town: King, McKenzie, J Williams, Roberts, Westbrook, O’Connor-Ajayi, G Williams, Brown (Morgan-Griffiths 84), Holness (Hughes 84), Owusu (Hill 87), Castiglione.
Subs (not used): Mukendi, Eleftheriou.
Booked: Owusu 52 (foul on Alexander)
Goal: Lyons-Foster (og) 81
Referee: Shelby Elson
Att: 419
