Ryan Maxwell oversaw a Welling United squad made up entirely of trialists in a friendly at Isthmian League North club, Buckhurst Hill.

Despite none of their players having met before, the Wings probably deserved their one-nil half time lead. They had enjoyed the better chances before they went ahead in the thirty-second minute when their striker beat the offside line. He then showed great composure when waiting to see whether goalkeeper, Christian North, was going to come out or stay before slotting it into the bottom corner.

They held the lead until ten minutes into the second half when Welling were unable to clear a corner and a player was allowed to arrive late at the far post and nod it home. Eight minutes later, the hosts scored again when their striker found space on the left and rounded the Welling goalkeeper before rolling it in.

Just under quarter of an hour remained when a long punt forward caught out the Welling defence to send a striker through to finish confidently, five minutes later, the hosts made it four-one.

Two minutes from time, Welling won a penalty but North guessed correctly to save and the Stags headed home a fifth in the final minute.

After the match, Maxwell thanked the hosts for the game and wished them well for the new season. Talking about his own team he said that he was happy to have had the match. “If we find one gem, it is worthwhile. It should be pointed out that today it was a Welling eleven. Today, there were some players who impressed me. It wasn’t easy walking into a changing room and seeing fifteen players that I have never met before, and whose names I had to learn very quickly.

“It was also difficult as I had to ask midfielders to play at centre back, and wingers at full back. There were players that have been released by clubs like Norwich and Northampton, and some have travelled a long way to get here.”

Whilst speaking, he was also giving his phone number to players and telling them to call him on Monday. Maxwell explained “These players have no club for the start of the season for whatever reason. We cannot take them all and I’ll do whatever I can to help them find clubs.

“I’d also like to thank Mike Knell, our Head of Recruitment, for his hard work in getting the players in for us to play this match”

Looking back at the game at Punjab United on the previous evening, he said “That was just the type of game that we wanted to play. They are very well organised and play a direct style on a difficult pitch. I wasn’t happy with the start. They were much quicker out of the blocks but then we settled and Ryan Kingsford took his goal really well.”

There was one negative, though. Troy Howard went down with what appeared to be a serious injury. Maxwell said “He’s having a scan today and we await the results. Hopefully, it’s not as serious as we first feared. I shall be praying for him tonight.”