Welling United suffered a heavy 5-0 defeat at the hands of Hampton & Richmond at the Beveree Stadium on Saturday, with relegation now looming large over the Wings.

It was a disastrous start for the visitors in south-west London with the home side racing into a two-goal lead in the first five minutes.

With four minutes on the clock, Zanda Siziba was allowed the freedom of the Welling penalty area to dispatch a simple finish after he was teed up with a pass from the right.

And less than a minute had elapsed before the Beavers made it two as they cut their way through the Wings’ defence for Harry Gardner to finish through the legs of Rhys Lovett.

At the other end, the lively Sahid Kamara forced Hampton keeper Max Merrick into an excellent save when his goalbound effort from the edge of the box, which was heading for the top corner, was tipped over the bar.

But, in truth, the away side would never recover from that slow start. Indeed, it would be 3-0 just after the half-hour mark when Gardner secured his brace with a stunning strike from 18 yards which nestled in the top right-hand corner.

Brian Statham shuffled his pack with a triple substitution at the break with Jack Burchell, Dan Martin and Deon Moore all entering the fray – but it would be more of the same after the restart with Hampton extending their lead to four in the 52nd minute as Gardner completed his hat-trick.

After Lovett had made a save from an initial shot, Gardner was on hand at the far post to nod home the rebound for 4-0.

Welling’s afternoon was compounded on the hour mark when they seemed to have a perfectly good goal ignored.

Josh Redfearn’s shot came back off the left-hand upright and inside the right post before being scooped back from behind the line from the goalkeeper, meaning the visitors should have reduced their arrears. The officials, however, remained unmoved, booking Dan Martin for dissent instead.

There was still room for the home side to punish the Wings further as they added a fifth with 15 minutes remaining – Scott Kashket was dispossessed in a dangerous position, leaving a Hampton forward to race through one-on-one, only to be denied by Lovett, by Mauro Vilheta was there to tap home the rebound into an empty net.

The Beavers were reduced to 10 men for the final 10 minutes of the game when Archie Taylor was given his marching orders. Already on a yellow card, he was pulled up by the referee for taking his time over a corner and booked for time wasting, leaving him heading for an early shower.

Any advantage that came with that came far too little and too late for Welling, however, with the damage already long-since done.

The result leaves the Wings seven points adrift of safety with just three games left to play.

Next up is the visit of Maidstone United to Park View Road on Good Friday.

Hampton & Richmond: Merrick, Atkinson (Gray 70), Keeya (Jalloh 90), Roberts (Crichlow 83), Taylor, Vilheta, Revan, Gardner, Wiltshire, Siziba (Page 73), Williams.

Subs (not used): Jeffcott.

Sent off: Taylor 79 (second bookable offence)

Goals: Siziba 4, Gardner 5, 31, 52

Welling United: Lovett, Statham (Martin 46), Quick, Di Trolio, Cornish, Davies, Kamara (Briscoe 68), Ballard-McBride (Burchell 46), Redfearn (Kashket 68), Taylor-Crossdale (Moore 46).

Booked: Taylor-Crossdale 22 (foul), Di Trolio 42 (foul), Martin 60 (dissent), Burchell 90+2 (foul)

Att: 654