Both clubs kept their FA Cup hopes alive when Isthmian League Premier Division Welling United drew with National League South Slough Town. After the match, Welling manager, Lee Martin, gave his thoughts to Mark Doig.
“I think we were the better side.” he said “We’ve hit the post, missed a one on one, potentially another penalty against a team that is a higher level. I’m immensely proud. We had a seventeen year old at left back, two centre backs who are eighteen and a goalkeeper who is eighteen so big, big credit to those boys.”
He continued “We had a game plan at sixty (minutes) to freshen things up and I thought that worked quite well with Zac (Hambury) coming on. He is a right pest. He chases and harries and he also has that little bit of quality to win the penalty. We’ve had to be patient around Zac. We tried to get Zac done as soon as we finished the Orient game but we had to be patient and kept tabs on him. He scored in midweek and he epitomises everything that I want from a player.”
Injuries were in his thoughts with some of his selections. He continued “Tom Leahy is just coming back with his hamstring and we’ve got to be mindful of that. John (Ufuah) had a tight hamstring on Tuesday so it was a balancing act in terms of that but we’re very lucky with our options off the bench now whereas two or three weeks ago we didn’t really have that.
“We’re asking inexperienced boys to go and learn on the job and they’re going to make mistakes and they’re going to have bad games but they are fighting for us and showcasing what they’ve got. It shows great character to go and do that in the last minute. They’re making a habit of that. I do feel that we’re a good side and it’s just a matter of when it all clicks. We never give up, we’re fighting. I could nit pick on the goal, it was a sloppy one to concede but ultimately we’re giving everything. We’re leaving everything out there.”
Scott Simmons was given a start due to Lekan Majoyegbe being suspended and went off with fifteen minutes remaining through injury but Martin confirmed it was nothing serious. “Cramp.” he confirmed. “He hasn’t played for a while but but Scotty’s been superb. He is behind Leks in terms of a starting berth but he has been training really well.
“I see the boys training every Tuesday and Thursday and there’s a real grit and determination in them now that wasn’t there before. Every week we work with them, they get better. They understand it. We tweaked a few things today in terms of a tactical thing and they executed it superbly.”
Luke O’Neill and TQ Addy both missed out through injury but neither have knocks that are going to keep them out for too long. Martin said “Luke’s calf, he did it at Dulwich. He should have come off earlier. We could have acted a little faster as it cost us the second goal. TQ took a whack in training. It might be a rush for Tuesday night but neither will be long term.
“Lukey, we’ve got to manage because he is an old boy now. You’re never going to get forty or fifty games out of him, but you will get thirty-five if you look after him. He will be in contention for Tuesday night.”
Image courtey of Keith Gillard