Welling United were made to pay for a sloppy opening quarter of a frustrating game against Chippenham Town at Park View Road on Saturday, with the visitors walking away with a 4-0 victory.
An absolutely disastrous opening period saw the visiting side essentially wrap up the game inside just 13 minutes with Chippenham racing into a three-goal lead.
Eight minutes were on the clock when Leone Gravata sprung the offside trap to find himself one-on-one, lifting his shot over the advancing debutant Jordan Gillmore.
Just two more minutes elapsed before the Bluebirds scored again with Harry Parsons finding the bottom corner to round-off another quick counter.
And it went from bad to worse just another two minutes later when Tom Owen-Evans took advantage of the exposed Wings defence yet again to make it three.
That gave Welling an almighty hill to climb with the prospect of salvaging anything from the game looking extremely unlikely.
A Martell Taylor-Crossdale free-kick drew a good save from Chippenham stopper Will Henry, but that was as close as the hosts came to pulling one back before the break, although they should probably have had a penalty when a visiting defender handled in the box, only for the referee to wave away the appeals.
As expected, the Wings came out for the second half on the front foot having introduced Anointed Chukwu just before half-time, before make a trio of changes at the break – Elliot Long, Garrett Kelly and Jack Burchell entering the fray.
The home side applied plenty of pressure on Chippenham who could, in truth, afford to soak it up with their substantial advantage in tow.
As such, Rod Stringer’s men were left frustrated as they struggled to break their opponents down and regain a footing in the game.
Taylor-Crossdale saw a shot from distance whistle past the right-hand upright on 67 minutes, while Daniel Martin’s cross/shot was nodded off the line.
Somewhat inevitably, however, the more Welling pushed, the more susceptible they were to a counter-attack and the Bluebirds netting a fourth.
Indeed, they did just that to put a final nail in the coffin in the 77th minute with Owen-Evans securing his brace from close range.
The Wings will dust themselves ooff and go again on Tuesday evening when they head to Eastbourne Borough.
Welling United: Gillmore, Johnson, Statham, Winfield, Martin, Cornish (Garrett 46), Kennedy, Bramble (Chukwu 42), Pegrum (Long 46), Z Walker (Burchell 46), Taylor-Crossdale.
Subs (not used): Donkor.
Booked: Winfield 16 (foul), Z Walker 35 (Dissent), Statham 44 (foul on Mewhew)
Chippenham Town: Henry, Grant, Mehew (Colwell 83), Haines, Johnson (King 71), Owen-Evans (Bradbury 84), Bray, Andrews, Spokes, Gravata (Williams 87), Parsons (McClure 72).
Booked: Johnson 45 (foul on Taylor-Crossdale), Haines 53 (foul on Long), Spokes 76 (kicking ball away)
Goal: Gravata 8, Parsons 11, Owen-Evans 13, 77
Referee: Tommy Breen
Att: 554
