10-man Welling United put on a show under the lights on Tuesday evening as they blew away second-place Worthing 4-1.

An excellent first-half performance saw the Wings go into the break one goal to the good thanks to Anthony Grant, before Reece Grant doubled the advantage in the second half.

A controversial penalty saw the visitors pull a goal back, before A Grant was sent off late on, but the home side stood firm at the break and caught Worthing on the break twice in injury time as Sonny Fish bagged himself a brace to round off the scoring in style.

The Wings started brightly against the promotion-chasing Rebels, causing all sorts of problems with a high press, while knocking the ball about with some fantastic spells of passing football early on.

Cameron Green saw an effort blocked in the box with eight minutes gone, while Sonny Fish forced keeper Oliver Wright into a save shortly after following a brilliant move in which the hosts strung together a number of passes.

On 18 minutes, a glorious chance presented itself to Fish after Green had squared to him in the box, but a slip at the vital time meant his shot sliced from 12 yards sliced wide.

Welling were certainly the better side throughout the first half, but Worthing did give them a scare when Jack Wadham could not convert a rebound following Ollie Pearce’s initial effort.

The Wings, however, were worthy of a lead for their first-half showing and they got just that with 44 minutes on the clock.

Yet another free-flowing move allowed the hosts to knock the ball around intricately before finally slipping midfielder Grant into the box who slotted home into the bottom left-hand corner.

Welling continued to shine after the restart and came close to a second when Jason Adigun twisted and turned in the box before forcing a save, while Cameron Green also saw his follow-up denied by Wright.

Worthing then saw a couple of half chances pass them by with Pearce heading well wide from a good position, but it would not be long before the hosts struck their second to give themselves a healthy lead.

The goal came from another superb piece of play with the Wings’ one-touch passing opening things up before R Grant converted a cross from the right with a first-time finish.

The visitors would need to show their promotion credentials to give themselves a chance and they were given the opportunity to pull a goal back from the penalty spot on 65 minutes when Reice Charles-Cook punched clear, only to be penalised in controversial fashion by the referee.

Up stepped Pearce for Worthing and he put away his penalty to reduce the lead to one and set up a nervy finish.

Charles-Cook would pull off some fine saves as the visitors poured forward and it would get nervier still with five minutes remaining when Welling were reduced to 10 men with A Grant given his marching orders for a second bookable offence.

But Rod Stringer’s men stood firm, standing up to everything their opponents could throw at them. Indeed, as their desperation grew, the Wings’ energy levelled allowed them to catch them on the break, not once, but twice in the 11 minutes of time added on, to put a gloss on the final result.

Fish would be the man to net a double to seal the third and forth, rounding off a pair of counter-attacks by keeping a cool head and slotting home on both occasions to give his side the emphatic victory that their performance deserved.

Welling will now take their good run of form on the road on Saturday as they take on St Albans City.

Welling United: Charles-Cook, Lema, Byrd, Burchell (Papadopoulos 82), Wood (Perkins 70), Green, A Grant, Kennedy, Adigun, R Grant (Holness 77), Fish.

Subs (not used): Pitterson, Krabbendam.

Booked: Byrd 27 (foul), Charles-Cok 65 (foul), A Grant 71 (dissent), Lema 90+9 (time wasting)

Goals: A Grant 44, R Grant 59, Fish 90+10, 90+11

Worthing: Wright, Colbrran, Wills (Robinson 90), Klass (Dolaghan 66), Pearce, Starkey (Luer 66), Wadham, Fage, Felix, Young, Cashman.

Subs (not used): Tutt, Livesey-Austin.

Booked: Starkey 32. (Interfering with throw-in), Cashman 45+2 (foul on A Grant)

Goal: Pearce 66 (pen)

Referee: Isaac Searle

Att: 509

 

(Photo: Semone Thompson)