Ten-man Welling United bowed out of the Emirates FA Cup with a narrow replay defeat at Slough Town on Tuesday evening.

The Wings battled valiantly throughout after Scott Simmons was shown an early red card and were arguably the better side throughout, until the home side bagged the winner in the 79th minute.

And although their involvement in the competition comes to an end for another season at the hands of a team in a higher division, Welling can head back to Park View Road with their heads held high

After a bright start which saw the visitors come close on five minutes when Lekan Majoyegbe’s header from a corner was cleared off the line, they would make life difficult for themselves when they were reduced to 10 men with only seven minutes on the clock clock.

A robust challenge from Simmons was deemed to be dangerous play by the referee, somewhat  harshly, and he reached for his red card to give Welling an uphill struggle for the remaining 83 minutes of the tie.

Despite having the numerical disadvantage, however, the Wings continued to look the brighter and battled well throughout the first half.

Indeed, they enjoyed the better openings with Tom Leahy firing over from a good position, while Ruben Shakpoke saw his low, goalbound effort well blocked.

Meanwhile, at the other end, Freddie Norman was called into action on one occasion, pulling off a fine save to tip over Tyrique Clarke’s shot from outside the box.

Lee Martin’s men continued to battle brilliantly into the second half and it was difficult to tell which side was the one with the disadvantage.

Logan Dobbs dug out a shot form 20 yards which was well held by home stopper Adam Desbois, while Norman pulled off another good stop for the men in red when he kept out Joshua Adepoju’s  firm strike at his near post.

But as Welling legs began to tire, the Rebels finally took advantage, winning the game with 11 minutes remaining. A ball which was slid across the six-yard box from the right-hand side was pounced upon by Wiktor Makowski, who completed the task of tapping home from close range.

Despite defeat, the Wings can now head into Saturday’s meeting with Canvey Island in  DA16 with plenty of confidence.

Slough Town: Desbois, Gidaree, Ojemen, Ochieng, Clarke, Goddard, Makowski, Davies, Nelson  (Anywanwu 71), Roth, Adepoju (Bartlett-Antwi 90+3).

Subs (not used): Berry, Hines-Leacock, Sami, Long, Upstell.

Booked: Ochieng 45 (foul on Shakpoke), Ojemen 45+5 (foul on Shakpoke)

Goal: Makowski 79

Welling United: Norman, Simmons, Dobbs, Majoyegbe, Adjetey-Brew, Ebuzoeme, Scott (Dyer 68), Ufuah, Siaw (Shakpoke 28), T Leahy (Cundle 68), Hambury (Williams-Bushell 12).

Subs (not used): Antonio, Holley.

Booked: T Leahy 56 (foul on Clarke), Adjetey-Brew  67 (foul on Clarke), Majoyegbe 85 (foul)

Sent off: Simmons 7 (foul on Clarke)

Referee: Matthew Norton

Att: 450

(Photo: Kieran North)