Welling United bowed out of the Isuzu FA Trophy with a third-round defeat at Aldershot Town on Tuesday evening, despite a spirited performance at the EBB Stadium.
A second-half header from Inih Effiong was added to by late goals from Ryan Glover and Ben De Lacy-Turner late on to put a rather harsh complexion on the scoreline, but Warren Feeney’s men can be proud of their showing in general against a side in good form in a higher division.
Indeed, there was nothing to separate the sides in the first half with the Wings more than holding their own against the National League outfit.
With the two sides feeling each other out for much of the first 45, chances were few and far between with the hosts being limited to shots from distance – Kai McKenzie-Lyle was equal to efforts from Justin Amaluzor and Ody Alfa with fairly routine sides, while Chi Ezennolim came close at the other end when he cut in from the left, before rolling a right-footed shot narrowly wide of the post.
The Shots saw two openings in the very early exchanges of the second period but wasted them both with sub Harrison Panayiotou and Inih Offing sending efforts sailing over the bar.
Meanwhile, Taylor Maloney came mere inches away from breaking the deadlock from a free-kick delivery on the left-hand edge of the box which bounced back off the crossbar.
Suddenly, there was a flurry of activity as McKenzie-Lyle produced a fine save to keep out Panayiotou’s header at full stretch but, on 55 minutes, the Shots did eventually take the lead.
A left-wing cross was met by Effiong’s leap and the forward caressed a header in off the right-hand upright for 1-0.
McKenzie-Lyle was forced into action again to keep out an almost-certain second for the hosts when he pulled off a brilliant save to deny Panayiotou’s close-range shot as the Shots began to gain control with their lead secured.
Aldershot doubled their lead in the 89th minute as Glover added a second with a header from a corner, while sub De Lacy-Turner scored a third deep into injury-time which added a somewhat flattering complexion to the scoreline as the Welling’s involvement in the competition came to an end for another season.
The Wings now have a six-day gap before their next test post-Christmas with the Boxing Day trip to Tonbridge Angels at Longmead Stadium to come.
Aldershot Town: Ashby-Hammond, Davies, Harfield, Partington, Cordner (De Lacy-Turner 90+1), Amaluzor, Vincent, Effiong, Alfa (Panayiotou 46), Phillips (Jordan 64), Glover.
Subs (not used): Thomas, Shroll, MacAllister, Lahtinen-Kalsi.
Booked: Phillips 50 (foul on Nkrumah), Panayiotou 67 (foul), Partington 78 (foul on Kassarate)
Goals: Effiong 55, Glover 89, De Lacy-Turner 90+3
Welling United: McKenzie-Lyle, Barnes (Curran 89), Parry, Sendles-White, Ezennolim, Dunne (Kasim 76), Kassarate, Maloney, Nkrumah, Payne, Azeez (Papadopoulos 81).
Subs (not used): Roberts, Howard.
Referee: Jacob Miles
Att: 606 (28 from Welling)
