GOALMOUTH THRILLS were in short supply at a cold and wet Park View Road on Saturday but satisfaction was high as Welling United and St Albans City both edged closer to Blue Square South safety with the first goalless draw between the two clubs.
City made light of the loss through suspension of Ryan Frater, whose form of late has been exceptional, with James Quilter stepping in alongside Ben Martin who continued his own run of top class performances as Welling failed to score at home for the first time in eight games. In fact, so well did Quilter do in the middle of the defence that the hugely influential Paul Bastock was able to celebrate winning the Conference South Player of the Month award by not having a single on target shot to deal with.
Attacking the main road end of the ground that Welling now share with Erith & Belvedere, City shaded the first 45 minutes with home keeper Jamie Turner called into action in the opening minutes to deal with a gentle header from Luke Thurlbourne. The teenager missed City’s pre-match warm up after a tortuous journey down the M11, which was blocked for several hours.
Jonathan Hunt had his second start on the left of the City midfield and again showed up well with a selection of shrewd passes. One such ball on ten minutes put Hassan Sulaiman away but his shot was well blocked by Max Ellison-Hustwick.
City continued to look the most likely outfit to find a way through and when Lee Clarke, following a Scott Cousins ball in from the left, had an effort blocked Martin followed up to test Turner with a shot that the keeper caught under the crossbar.
In the Wings first serious threat on the Saints goal the lively Orlando Smith burst into the penalty area and crossed from close to the goalline. Sam Gargan and then Calum Crawley, at the back post, both just failed to force the ball home.
Receiving a pass from Paul Hakim on 18 minutes Clarke slipped an excellent ball up to Akanni-Sunday Wasiu who in turn fed Sulaiman. Coming in from the right onto his left foot the midfielder sent a fine low diagonal shot across Turner and just beyond the far post.
Welling’s clearest opening of the half fell to Gargan who, when collecting a headed through ball from Joe Howe, completely lost his bearings and screwed his shot across the pitch and out for a throw. But City quickly lost possession and only a fine tackle by Quilter on Smith kept the Wings at bay.
Generally though it was City – three points behind their hosts – who appeared the most threatening and Turner was called into action again to deal with a deflected shot from Hunt while another promising City move lost momentum when Hakim, perhaps ill-advisedly, opted to exchange passes with Sunday instead of going it alone and the chance was lost.
City suffered a blow on the half hour when Sulaiman pulled up sharply with a hamstring injury and was immediately replaced by 19-year old Hamza Twomey. Early reports suggest that Sulaiman is unlikely to figure during the final four games of the season. A minute from the interval Hunt beautifully deceived Robbie Ryan and whipped over a cross from the right that went over Hakim at the near post but sadly for Saints there was no support behind the City striker to apply the killer blow.
As the sides re-emerged after the break conditions in the London side of Kent were far from ideal and they deteriorated quickly as heavy rain swept towards the home goal. Close footwork was difficult and even as Welling pushed hard it was the two defences that coped best with the conditions.
But City did threaten early on with Hakim having an effort charged down and the Wings were fortunate that when Turner sliced the ball inside his penalty area following an Ellison-Hustwick headed back pass the ball fell straight to a team-mate.
Just before Welling enjoyed a spell of dominance the Saints almost broke through the middle of the home defence. Clarke smartly flicked on a long Bastock goal kick to send Hakim away but the on-song City frontman was dispossessed by the experienced Chris Moore.
City survived an anxious few moments when Quilter elected to let a ball run out of play that was successfully retrieved by Gargan whose cut back fell straight to Hunt. His miscued clearance flew high inside the penalty area but was cleared before Welling could pounce.
A similar sliced clearance by Ben Martin was gathered by Smith but his shot from 25 yards was way off the mark. Midway through the half City hit back with Hunt twice involved with precise passing that troubled the home defence. His second ball sent Cousins scurrying down the left and from his low cross to the back post Twomey closed in but was denied his first goal by the diving Ryan – City appeals for handball as the ball ricocheted off the prone defender fell on deaf ears.
Turner smartly caught Hunt’s corner and knocked the ball up to Smith who looked to have sent Gargan clear before Ben Martin slid in with a crunching tackle. From the ensuing throw-in Smith played the ball into the box where Sonny Cobbs stabbed a shot a couple of yards wide.
City were beginning to look uncomfortable as Welling sought to complete their first double over the Saints and the partisan home crowd looked towards referee David Woolford when James Fisher sent Gargan tumbling side the penalty area. But City’s fears were needless as a raised linesman’s flag ruled Gargan to be offside from Smith’s initial through ball.
As the game moved into its closing stages Welling seemed happy to accept a point where as City saw their chance to exact revenge for the defeat at Clarence Park last October. City worked the ball across the pitch with Clarke sending a fine ball into the path of Twomey whose weaving run into the box only faltered at the third defender.
Earlier in the half Twomey, when supplied by Hakim, had won the first corner of the match with an excellent ball across the face of the goal that Ellison-Hustwick turned behind. But it was substitute Simon Martin who came closest to making the belated breakthrough. Hakim, on the City left, played the ball inside to Martin who cut across the edge of the penalty area before drilling a low shot at Turner that the keeper fumbled before collecting just in time to stop the ball from spinning over the line.
And as the clock ticked into a third minute of added time Martin caused more mayhem when chasing a seemingly lost cause and got a foot to the ball just as Turner attempted to hack it to safety outside his penalty area. The ball struck Martin’s boot and ballooned towards the goal but referee Woolford somewhat harshly penalised Martin for a raised foot. It mattered little as a defender did manage to chase back and clear from right on the goalline.
The draw extends City’s unbeaten run to a seventh match and lifts them a point clear of Bognor Regis Town whom Steve Castle’s side visit next Saturday. City are likely to be without Hassan Sulaiman, while Ryan Frater will again be absent as he completes his two-match ban. Although Paul Bruce was on the bench at Welling he was not well enough to play but should have recovered sufficiently to be available for selection at Nyewood Lane next week.
Report by David Tavener |
