Ten-man Welling United fell to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Dulwich Hamlet at Champion Hill on Saturday.

It proved to be a tough afternoon for the Wings after Lekan Majoyegbe’s straight red card led to a penalty after 20 minutes. Dulwich added a second before the break, but a spirited second-half showing kept Lee Martin’s men well in contention, particularly after Ruben Shakpoke had pulled a goal back in the 63rd minute.

But a late Dulwich goal on the break put the final nail in the coffin with the away side’s efforts not being rewarded.

The visitors registered the first shot on goal with 11 minutes on the clock as Greg Cundle sent a good-looking strike arrowing towards goal from the edge of the box, drawing a good save from home stopper Toby Bull.

But the game would hinge on an incident eight minutes later which resulted in Welling being reduced to men and Dulwich taking the lead from the spot.

 After giving the ball away cheaply on half way, former Wing Amadou Kassarate was put in on goal, getting the better of Majoyegbe. The defender wrestled with the midfielder, eventually bringing him down on the edge of the box, leaving the referee no choice but to produce the red card.

There was some surprise, however, that the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Despite the initial challenge certainly looking as if it took place outside of the box, the man in black consulted with his assistant before awarding the spot-kick.

Another former Welling player would be the main to dispatch it – Anthony Cook made no mistake, sticking his penalty into the bottom left-hand corner out of reach of Freddie Norman who had guessed the right way.

The dynamic of the game was now completely different and the Wings faced an immediate uphill struggle, which would only get worse 10 minutes later when Dulwich doubled their lead.

A ball in from the left was trapped by Kassarate in the box, who turned well to finish against his former side, making it 2-0.

The home side looked to manage their lead in the second period which resulted in Welling see plenty of the ball with Dulwich sitting off.

Greg Cundle had a decent opportunity to half the deficit when he was played into the box, only to roll a shot narrowly wide of the left-hand upright.

And it was game on shortly after the hour mark when the Wings did pull one back, courtesy of Shakpoke.

With the ball falling kindly to the striker in the box, his effort from 12 yards took a deflection before nestling in the back of the net to make it 2-1.

Suddenly, Welling were very much back in the game and, despite their numerical disadvantage were looking good for a point if they could just break through a second time.

With 10 minutes remaining, they came within inches of what would have been a brilliant equaliser. Skipper Jack Pazman sent a superb free-kick bending towards goal which had the keeper beaten, but came crashing back off the post.

Of course, with the Wings pushing late on, they were susceptible to a Dulwich counter-attack and they very nearly wrapped it up in the 83rd minute when Kassarate hit the crossbar, before Danny Mills was denied on the line from the rebound by the excellent debutant Cory Adjetey-Brew.

But despite the visitors admirable second-half efforts, a comeback was just not to be as the home side wrapped matters up on the break late on – Cook arriving at the back post to cushion a volley home.

Despite defeat, the Wings can take plenty of heart from a performance which saw them battle for more than 70 minutes with a man down.

They will now prepare for a home meeting with Slough Town in the Emirates FA Cup next Saturday.

Dulwich Hamlet: Bull, Cook, M Chambers, Kassarate  (Mensah 90+1), Mills, Payne, T Chambers, Baugh, Adewunmi, Bonnett-Johnson (Palmer 90), Talla.

Subs (not used): Wynter, Okonkwo, Jeffrey.

Booked: Bennett-Johnson 79 (foul on Siaw)

Goals: Cook 23 (pen), Kassarate 33, Cook 87

Welling United: Norman, O’Neill (Addy 77), Dobbs, Majoyegbe, Adjetey-Brew, Ebuzoeme (Siaw 57), Scott, Cundle, Paxman, Ufuah  (T Leahy 57), Shakpoke.

Subs (not used): Dyer, Williams-Bushell.

Sent off: Majoyegbe 19 (denying goalscoring opportunity)

Goal: Shakpoke 63

Referee: Paul Stratton

Attendance: 3,120

(Photos: Keith Gillard)