Following a trilogy of matches against teams in the bottom four, Welling United host Vanarama National League South leaders Dorking Wanderers on Saturday afternoon.

Defeat at Enfield Town on Tuesday night ended a highly disappointing three games in which they claimed just one point out of nine that has left them on the brink of drop zone. Whilst they had a couple of half chances in the first half at Enfield, they still went in one down at the break. Once former Wing Anointed Chukwu added a second just after the hour mark, they struggled to create anything and the hosts saw out the game comfortably.

Meanwhile, Marc White’s Dorking left it late to beat Tonbridge Angels at home. It looked as though the Angels were going to escape with a hard earned nil-nil when the fourth official indicated a minimum of five additional minutes. However, three minutes in, Rhys Murphy scored from close range to give the hosts all three points.

Away from home, the Wanderers have won nine, drawn three and lost four. Overall, they are three points clear of Worthing at the top but have played three games more. They are joint top of the form guide with five wins and a draw.

This is the return fixture between Welling and Dorking this season. When they met in Surrey in October, Alfie Rutherford tapped home after Jason Prior forced a mistake out of Rhys Wilmott. Rutherford and Lovett then had a collision causing a clash of heads and both had to go off with concussion. With no goalkeeper on the Welling bench, TJ Bramble took the goalkeeping jersey and gloves.

He held out until conceding with twelve minutes remaining. Theo Alexandrou, who later had a spell with the Wings, scored a wonder goal that even an established goalkeeper wouldn’t have saved. Chiori Johnson pulled one back six minutes later, but they were unable to find an equaliser.

Head to head results do not look good for the Wings as in five previous meetings, home and away, Dorking have won them all. However, only one of those was at Park View Road, back in April 2022, when the visitors won four-nil on their way to promotion.

Johnson and Finn Ballard-McBride were missing on Tuesday evening, and may not be available on Saturday but unless any other players picked up knocks at Enfield, Rod Stringer should have the rest of the squad from which to choose as he and Kevin Watson work on plotting a way to pick up three points.

Picture supplied by Dave Budden.