There was finally some joy for Welling United as they beat Carshalton Athletic in a tense Isthmian League Premier Division encounter.
Grit and determination were the order of the day as the Wings came from behind to claim a vital three points in their battle to stay in the league.
Abdullateef Salami tested Welling goalkeeper Mackenzie Foley with a low cross shot in the opening minutes and the custodian showed that he was up for the challenge when holding it well. However, he was powerless to stop the visitors from going ahead in the ninth minute. Veteran striker Chris Dickson headed it down, it was half cleared, and Luke Read arrowed it into the bottom corner from twenty minutes.
Salami’s spectacular overhead effort flew wide, before Welling’s Sam Smith went close. The Robins’ striker soon had further opportunities and twice shot narrowly wide of the far post.
In the twenty-first minute, Welling equalised. Troy Howard burst down the right and drew out Matt Kerbey before squaring for John Ufuah to slot it home.
Laurence Ernest fired well over for Carshalton then their dead ball expert, Fabio Saraiva, was off target with a free kick.
Four minutes before half time, the Wings went ahead. Lewis Gard delivered a corner and Lekan Majoyegbe’s header hit the inside of the post before coming out to Dean Gunner who fired home from close range.
Parity was almost restored in first half stoppage time when Salami got in behind and squared to the far post but Eddie Oppong was unable to turn it into the net.
Zak O’Keefe shot well off target for the Wings early in the second period before Dickson turned his man and looked certain to score but he could not beat Foley who pulled off a stunning save.
Neither side really threatened again as a series of substitutions broke up the flow and Foley coped comfortably with high crosses from both wings. Twelve minutes remained when Welling’s defence were forced to show their mettle with a series of brave blocks before they got it clear.
Saraiva snatched a shot wide before having one last chance when his close range header drew a startling save out of Foley deep into time added on.
Victory moved Welling up two places, four points adrift of safety, having played two games fewer.
Welling United: Foley; O’Keefe, Majoyegbe, Gunner, Arthur; Smith (Oluwatimilehin 82); Howard (Vukoje 54), El-Mogharbel (Reynolds 76), Gard (Thomas 68), Ufuah (Crichlow 79); Azeez.
Subs not used: None
Goalscorers: Ufuah (21). Gunner (41)
Yellow cards Ufuah (70 delay of restart), Majoyegbe (89 delay of restart), Foley (90+2 delay of restart)
Carshalton Athletic: Kerbey; Ming (Bradford 58), Ernest, Atewologun, Masampu (Ladapo 75); Read, Saraiva; Ifeanyi, Dickson (Krokhin 5), Oppong (Bakare 58), Read; Salami.
Sub not used: Rzeznik.
Goalscorer: Read (9)
Yellow card: Oppong (44 foul)
Referee: Joseph Gray
Assistants: Tommy Fleming and Gary Baker
Attendance: 389