Ade Azeez and Stefan Payne bagged five goals between them as Welling soared to a comprehensive 5-0 victory over Oxford City at Park View Road on Saturday.
Azeez’s first-half hat-trick stole the headlines, while Payne bagged a brace himself as the Wings swept aside their visitors who came to DA16 in fine form with four wins and as many clean sheets on the spin.
Warren Feeney made just the one change to his side, with Stefan Payne making his return to the starting XI having withdrawn late on before Monday’s victory at Dulwich Hamlet.
Palace Francis dropped to the bench, allowing Payne to take his place alongside Azeez in attack.
Indeed, it was that man Azeez who opened the scoring following a bright start from the Wings with nine minutes on the clock.
Aaron Barnes’ smart, scooped pass into the box saw the striker latch onto it and Azeez struck firmly across the keeper and into the back of the net.
And there was plenty more to come. Payne hit the crossbar shortly after with a good-looking, curling effort, before Azeez added a second just after the half-hour mark as the Wings embarked on a first-half onslaught.
Racing onto a through-ball, Azeez calmly finished past the keeper into the bottom right-hand corner to secure his brace and put his side into a commanding lead.
Four minutes before the break, Payne got in on the action, latching onto a knockdown to slam a half-volley into the top right-hand corner to make it 3-0 to Feeney’s men.
Three minutes later, Azeez had his hat-trick, with Payne involved again. Payne’s header was searching for the bottom corner, and his strike partner was on hand to bundle the ball home from close range to seal his third and round up a dream first 45 for the home side.
The Wings continued to play with confidence after the break and very nearly added a fifth before the hour when Amodou Kassarate drew an excellent save from Ben Dudzinski with a header at his near post.
With 25 minutes remaining, Oxford City’s uphill challenge became even steeper when Charlie Rowan was shown a straight red card for a reckless challenge on Manny Parry and it opened the door for Welling to add a fifth five minutes later, with Payne sending an excellent header into the back of the net for his brace.
The result perfectly sets up Feeney’s side for next week’s local derby with Dartford at Princes Park, with the Wings keeping one eye on a third win on the bounce.
Welling United: Roberts, Barnes (Hyde 78), Parry, Sendles-White, Ezennolim, Kassarate (Elito 72), Dunne, Maloney, Papadopoulos, Azeez (Francis 58), Payne.
Subs (not used): McKenzie, Dickens.
Goals: Azeez 9, 32, 44, Payne 41, 70
Oxford City: Dudzinski, Miccio (Muchetere 56), Ashby, Rowan, Coyle, McEachran, Lolos (Humphrey-Ewers 71), Harrison, Baptiste-Fischer, Williams-Bushell, Carroll.
Subs (not used): Grantham, Burley, Iaciofano,.
Booked: Carroll 57 (foul on Azeez)
Referee: S Parkinson
Att: 965
(Photo: Michael Brown)
