Welling United 2-0 Eastbourne Borough - Teams are not going to make it easy for us, says Jamie Day

WELLING UNITED  2-0  EASTBOURNE BOROUGH
Blue Square Bet South
Tuesday 4^th September 2012
Stephen McCartney reports from Park View Road

WELLING UNITED player-manager Jamie Day says he was pleased that his side bounced back from their first defeat of the season with a comfortable win over Eastbourne Borough at a humid Park View Road tonight.

The Wings came away from Woking with a disappointing 2-1 defeat at the hands of Hayes & Yeading United at the weekend, but they bounced back with a comfortable 2-0 win over a negative Eastbourne Borough side thanks to second half goals from strikers Ross Lafayette and Keirnan Hughes-Mason.

Welling United, who finished in third last season, climbed up eight places to seventh in the Blue Square Bet (Conference) South table with 9 points (two wins and three draws) from their opening six league games and are only four points adrift of leaders Salisbury City.

Day, who was one of four changes to the side that lost at the weekend, said: “I’m pleased with the performance, obviously disappointed with Saturday and that’s gone now and the boys have put in a decent performance tonight.

“Teams are not going to make it easy for us, they’re going to have a game plan and it’s down to us to break them down.  Unfortunately that’s going to be the case for majority of the season now.

“I thought we worked really hard. We created a lot of chances in the first half but didn’t take them but more clinical in the second half and I felt that we deserved to win.”

Welling United called visiting keeper Danny Potter into making his first save of the night with only 15 seconds on the clock to thwart Hughes-Mason, who ran through in between Ollie Rowe and Anwar Uddin after Joe Healy’s threaded pass.

Welling United were more direct tonight than they were throughout last season and they carved open a chance through this method shortly afterwards.

Right-back Loui Fazakerley pumped a ball over the top of the Eastbourne right-back Matt Turpin for Hughes-Mason to hook a right-footed shot, which sailed over Potter’s head but dropped the wrong side of the crossbar.

Day defended his direct tactics by saying, “If we pass it people are shouting from the side ‘get it up front’.  If we put it up the front people are saying ‘pass it’, so we can’t win!

“We have to adjust each and every game and we have to adjust to what the game is.  We want to pass it but at the same time, like tonight, we felt it was the right ball to get it in behind the two centre halves. No disrespect to them, they lacked a bit of pace and we had lads that could run in behind and it worked.

“People keep moaning about getting three points and winning games. We have to adjust to it and do what we need to get that win.”

Welling keeper Sam Mott plucked Uddin’s looping header from 15-yards out of the air after the central defender came up to meet Josh Scowen’s ball into the penalty area.

Eastbourne hardly threatened in the final third but striker James Walker’s shot on the turn flashed wide after Scowen’s free-kick was knocked down inside the crowded penalty area.

Welling called Potter into action in the 14^th minute when Scott Kinch hooked a long ball over the top for Lafayette to latch onto and the striker beat two defenders and flicked the ball up with his right-foot before cracking a low left-footed volley, which forced Potter into saving to his left.

Hughes-Mason then linked up well with Healy, who took a touch before steering a low right-footed shot across Potter and agonisingly wide of the foot of the far post with the Eastbourne keeper struggling to get across.

Healy then swung in an excellent corner from the right, which was flicked on in a crowded penalty area but Hughes-Mason hooked his shot over from inside the six-yard box.

Eastbourne Borough finally called Welling keeper Sam Mott into action with ten minutes to go before the break when Uddin stepped up and drove his right-footed free-kick off the wall from 25-yards and the former Thamesmead Town stopper plucked the ball out of the air.

The home side almost broke the stalemate with another decent chance inside stoppage time.

Eastbourne striker Charles Ademeno attempted to play the ball back to his keeper some 35-yards from goal but he gave the ball away to Scott Kinch instead, who sprinted down the inside left channel before cutting the ball back towards Lafayette, who slid his low right-footed shot across Potter and agonisingly wide of the foot of the far post.

When asked what he said to his players at the interval, Day replied, “It was 0-0 but I felt we were in control and it is difficult because we got beat on Saturday and people get a little bit edgey and we wanted to get a win.  We just felt we done enough. I just said to them keep going, keep the work-rate up, keep putting the ball in the right areas, which they did and if we get a chance we have to put them away and the boys done that.”

Those wise words from Day and his management team of Dean Frost and Barry Ashby had the desired effect as Welling deservedly took the lead four minutes and 25 seconds into the second half.

Kinch and Day played a one-two together inside the centre circle and Kinch swept the ball out to Fazakerley inside the Eastbourne half and the right-back burst forwards for about 30 yards before whipping in an excellent cross with his right-foot, which bounced over the sliding Hughes-Mason but Lagayette timed his run towards the back post to perfection and his downward header beat Potter at his near post four yards from goal to score his fourth goal in Welling’s colours.

Day said: “Faz offers great width and great attacking play as a full-back.  I don’t think you’re going to get a better right-back in the league when he’s like he is tonight, up and down and he’s defending properly and he puts crosses in like that, then obviously people like Ross are going to get on the end of them.”

Day wants the striker to continue his rich vein of goalscoring form, “Hopefully he keeps that going.  He’s something we’ve probably not had in the past, big, strong target man, who can hold the ball up and he’s scoring goals. He knows he’s got to keep that going but at the moment his work-rate and his finishing has been excellent so I’m pleased with him.”

Eastbourne created a couple of chances before the hour mark when Dan Carr managed to play the ball inside to Walker, whose left-footed angled drive was comfortably gathered beside the near post by Mott.

But Mott made the first of his two excellent saves when he got a strong hand to keep out Ademeno’s powerfully struck, right-footed half-volley from a tight angle, the keeper tipping the ball away from underneath his crossbar at his near post in the 57^th minute.

Welling United went direct when they doubled their lead with seventeen minutes remaining.

Mott’s clearance went straight down the middle of the pitch and Lafayette flicked the ball on and Hughes-Mason latched onto the ball and aided by a mistake from a defender inside the box bundled his shot from eight-yards past Potter and into the middle of an empty goal to score his first goal for the club.

Day added: “Like I said, we want to pass the ball, but at the end of the day it’s about getting results and winning games. 

“The keeper’s kicked it down the middle, it’s a flick on and we’ve scored!  That’s sealed the game off and it’s got us the win so we want to play both styles and we have to adapt to both styles.  We’re not just going to crash it long but it’s effective and we need to adjust to certain games and certain styles.”

Welling United kept their first clean sheet of the season when Mott tipped over Charlie Gorman’s rasping right-footed drive from 25-yards in the final nine minutes.

“He’s not had much to do and in all fairness he’s not had much to do in the last five games but tonight he’s done what he had to do, he pulled off a good save. His communication was good talking to the back four and what you want from a goalkeeper when they are called upon, they need to earn their money.  He’s done well and he knows and we know that we’ve still got more to come from him, which is a bonus but he was pleased with a clean sheet as well.”

Day added: “I thought the back four done exceptionally well. We’ve got a seventeen-year-old (Barney Williams) that’s right-footed playing at left-back.  I felt he was excellent tonight and he done exceptionally well on Saturday.  It’s looking good for the future. We’ve got Anthony (Acheampong) 21, Fraser (Franks) 20, obviously Fazakerley is the oldest one at the back.  It was a good performance from them and Motty as well so they’ve all done exceptionally well.”

Eastbourne Borough created the last chance of the game when Rowe pumped the ball forward from the right and central defender Sam Cole came up from the back to send his header harmlessly wide.

Day admits visiting teams to Park View Road will make it difficult for his side.

“Teams aren’t going to let us play football because of how we’ve done in the last two years. People now give us a bit more respect and it’s now down to us to break teams down.

“This is teams Cup Finals now. I’m not saying we’re the best team in the league but because of what we’ve done previously teams come here and a point for them is a good result.  It’s harder for us this year. It’s not going to be easy. I said that at the start and it’s down to us to get the right effort and work-rate and commitment and hopefully we’ll have enough to get the right results.”

When asked what pleased him the most tonight, Day replied, “I think the response!  People can and I can have a go at the players and moan about the lack of effort but I think when they put in a performance like that and they show that they do care and they want to be at this club, then I think we have to give them credit and that’s everyone and that’s just not me. The fans have to appreciate that as well.

“It’s fine moaning on Monday when the performance was not good enough but then they have to give praise when it is.  Hopefully they’ll get that tonight and we’ll move on to Saturday and hopefully get three points.

“We want to play better football and we want to pass it a bit more. We want to be a lot more slicker but at this stage of the season it’s about trying to get the right results.  As form works out in the next month or so and teams confidence dip, obviously we can play a little bit more. We need to get on a run of games and hopefully tonight is a start of that and we can pick up another couple of wins an get a little four or five game run going and move on and try and get up that table.”

Welling United: Sam Mott, Loui Fazakerley, Barney Williams, Jamie Day, Fraser Franks, Anthony Acheampong, Scott Kinch (Theo Fairweather-Johnson 65), Lee Clarke, Keirnan Hughes-Mason (Jon Main 83), Ross Lafayette, Joe Healy.
Subs: Harry Baker, Joe Obersteller, Jamie Turner

Goals: Ross Lafayette 50, Keirnan Hughes-Mason 73

Booked: Scott Kinch 53, Jamie Day 55

Eastbourne Borough: Danny Potter, Matt Turpin, Ollie Rowe, Anwar Uddin, Sam Cole, Charlie Gorman, Dan Carr (David Knight 59), Josh Scowen, James Walker, Charles Ademeno (Chris Morgan 82), Chris Shepherd (Gary Hart 43).
Subs: Tom Gilbert, Nick Jordan

Booked: Matt Turpin 80

Attendance: 471
Referee: Mr Gavin Muge (Dunstable, Bedfordshire)
Assistants: Mr Paul Evans (Hartwell, Northamptonshire) & Mr Shaun Barry (Northampton)