Welling United slipped to a 3-1 friendly defeat to Dulwich Hamlet at Park View Road on Tuesday evening.
The game gave the first real opportunity for Danny Bloor to implement his style of play on his new side and there were plenty of promising signs early on with Will Wood firing wide after getting on the end of a left-wing cross, while Antony Papadopoulos pulled back for Trialist C to drag off target.
At the other end, Dulwich hit the inside of the post via a trialist’s head, but the home side were looking more likely in the first 45 as James Vaughan drew a good save from a well-struck free-kick, before the Wings took the lead in the 33rd minute via White’s debut goal.
The winger remained patient in the box before picking his spot and squeezing his shot inside the post to get off the mark in Welling colours.
Bloor made seven changes at half-time and Sadik Balarabe came close when he rounded the keeper before flashing a shot across the face of goal, while Papadopoulos saw a good-looking effort dip just over the bar from the edge of the box early after the restart.
But the hosts were caught somewhat cold at the other end with a pair of defensive errors allowing Dulwich to get in front.
First, a sloppy pass out from the back led to Adrian Clifton being able to finish into an empty net on 54 minutes. That was followed by another wayward pass allowing Dulwich to pounce and a subsitute trialist was given an easy finish seven minutes later.
Indeed, those lapses were evidence of a fledgling team still feeling their feet with the first implementation of a new style of play with these games vital for ironing out such creases before the big kick-off on August 5th.
More subs followed in the last 15 minutes as the game began to peter out in typical pre-season fashion – but there was still time for Dulwich to add a third late on via the penalty spot after a Hamlet forward was felled in the box.
Luke Wanadio stepped up to send the trialist keeper the wrong way, making it 3-1 to the side from the other side of south London.
Despite the result, Bloorcould gain plenty of encouragement from what he saw in the first 45 minutes of action and will continue to step up his team’s pre-season preparations as the Wings welcome National League outfit Woking to Park View Road on Saturday.
Welling United: Trialist A (Trialist G 46), Lugboso, Olomowewe (Royal 77), Burchell (Curran 46), Trialist B (Trialist E 46), Vaughan (Trialist F 77), Bramble (Andrews 46), Wood (Muwonge 46), White (Adom 46), Papadopoulos (Kamara 77), Trialist C (Balarabe 46).
Goal: White 33
Dulwich Hamlet: Trialist (Constable 46), Ming, Chambers, Gyebi, Scott, Allen, Clifton, Shokunbi, Trialist, Binnom-Williams, Trialist.
Subs (60 mins): Trialist, Trialist, Wanadio, Mills, Jeffery, Trialist, Krasniqi, Tunkaya, Trialist, Trialist.
Goals: Clifton 54, Trialist 61, Wanadio (pen) 83
Att: 405
