Another poor end of season game from the Harriers

On a breezy but bright spring afternoon Harriers made the trip south of the Thames and down to Kent to the Park View Road 'Stadium'. The match day was dedicated to be in aid of a cervical cancer charity and so ladies got in free (having to make a donation instead) and Welling played in an all pink strip.  The Harriers team, as has oft been the case of late, was made up of a lot of youth and a lot of experience but with very few played in their prime in their mid twenties.

In the first twenty minutes, with the wind behind them and kicking towards Park View Road, the Harriers dominated.  However, whilst they had the vast majority of possession and territory, in truth they created few clear cut chances.

After three minutes Callum Gittings had the first shot as his effort from the edge of the box was blocked, before Luke Maxwell fired wide.  On six minutes Danny Wright then skillfully turned and shot but his attempt on goal was well wide.  Shortly afterwards we also saw some good work from William Boyle who drove down the left and crossed but Gittings' attempted follow-up shot was cleared.

One of the brightest players in the opening exchanges was James Fry but he unfortunately had to leave the field with a foot/shin injury when his powerful strike was solidly blocked by a Wings defender.  The uninspiring Craig Reid came on in his place.

At this point the game turned and the home side came more into it.  After about twenty minutes Ross Lafayette ran onto a long ball & tried to get between the Harriers' defence but Jamie Grimes nodded back safely to Danny Lewis.  This was soon followed up by another strike from Lafayette that flew narrowly wide and on twenty six minutes the goal came.

Keiron St Aimie pushed Nathaniel Kelly off the ball, crossed, and Jake Gallagher headed home unmarked from the right-sided cross.  1-0 to the Wings.

Taking the lead gave Welling, and their fans, the belief and motivation which for the first twenty minutes had been missing and so it was only a matter of time before Welling doubled their lead as Lewis' clearance from Lafayette's header struck St Aimie and trickled back past him into the back of the Harriers net.  Farcical really and the Welling fans laughed.
Thereinafter the Carpetmen were dominated by the likely relegated part timers.  A few minutes before half time and Dominic Vose's threat along the byline wasn't cleared by Harriers and his pass reached Jake Gallagher who slammed the ball well wide.

Welling were now passing the ball with pace and moving forward with confidence whilst the visitors were just still playing kick and chase.

In an embarrassing school boy like punishment Gary Whild and mark Creighton sent their team back on to the field early during half time for some extra push ups.

They probably had detention after the game too and many of them may well have had to do lines but nonetheless the second half followed very much in the same style as the preceding twenty five minutes.  The home side were clearly on top.

On fifty three minutes Jamie Grimes did brilliantly to dispossess Lafayette who had rushed into the box from a high pass.

Then Callum Gittings went down injured.  Whilst he was being treated by Gavin Crowe the Harriers management team decided to substitute Will Boyle (who had clearly gone off the boil by this time) with Kevin Nicholson.  Why they didn't wait to see what was going to happen to Gittings was a mystery because as sure as mustard is mustard, Gittings could not continue and so Jamie Spencer had to come on to replace Gittings.  All three substitutions unnecessarily used after fifty six minutes due to management not keeping their fingers on the pulse.

It could have been costly for Harriers but fortunately this time it wasn't.  It was still business as usual though as Harriers were even struggling to clear the ball over the half way line.

On seventy two minutes the inevitable happened when Sam Corne dodged challenges in the box and found the bottom corner of the visitors' net.  Harriers were being outplayed in all departments and it was looking like there could be more goals for the home side.

Fortunately for the Harriers the game then petered out somewhat but in truth the score line was probably a fair reflection.

In a week when the chairman and two other directors have been sacked, the performances on the pitch also continue to go from bad to worse.  Two games left against promotion challenging sides and so the sooner we can get through those the better.

Meanwhile some of the youngsters (jake Green and Luke Maxwell in particular) look good prospects and in a decent team they would probably do well but in a team of journeymen (Danny Wright and Lee Hughes) and fellow rookies too many of the Harriers frailties are being exposed and it does begin to look more and more based on recent results, tactics and utterings that money troubles or not, Whild and Creighton are way out of their depth unfortunately.

Let's hope next season brings some concrete changes for the better…

 Goals for Welling: Gallagher 26, St Aimie 35, Corne 71

REFEREE:

Mr C Powell Dorset