Welling United 1-5 Erith Town

1st Half : Ollie Green, Chris Dunphy, Ed Willoughby, Mark Eaton, Frank Fabiolo, Ian Brooke, Josh Smith, James Cummings, Joe Kelly, Rishi Nankani, Gabriel Odunaike

2nd Half: Ollie Green, Joel Thompson, Sam Wilson, Jack Gyamfi-Badu, Frank Fabiolo, Ian Brooke, Josh Smith, Matt Vitty, Matt Steer (Trialist), Charlie Hookway, Rishi Nankani. Unrecorded substitutions.

Scorer: Rishi Nankani (4)

Welling went a goal up after 4 minutes and made a promising start to the game. Erith equalised when the referee awarded a disputed penalty for a foul that many thought was about 2 yards outside the box. Welling conceded another goal and that was how it remained at half time.

The scoreline remained at 1-2 until the final 15 minutes when Erith scored a further three goals the 3rd and 5th have to be put down to Welling mistakes and the 4th was a magnificent finish.

Ken's Comments:
"This was a really good test of what we can expect. Erith were big, strong and physical and being mostly year 2's they had the experience of knowing all the tricks and getting the ref on their side. We will learn a lot from this game, and whilst nobody likes losing, you learn more about your team and what needs to be done than in an easy win. All 3 games (in 5 days), have helped and taught us different things. There is lots to work on, but we will sort a few things out in the next few days."

bruno's comments:
I have long said that the world of U18's football is a very different game to that at U16 and tonight's match (and to a lesser extent the game against Dartford) proved this. The significant difference being both the sheer physical nature of the game and the increased level of gamesmanship.

Welling started well but it did not take long for Erith Town to take the upper hand as their experience at this level began to have an influence on the game.

The best football was played by Welling in the middle third of the second half when it looked as if footballing skill would enable them to keep the score down to a respectable 1-2. However, the wheels came off in the last 15 minutes and the final scoreline flattered Erith in the context of the overall game.

The midfield, where we undoubtably have players with skill but who need to come to terms with the physical side of the game at this level, is the area which must be causing Ken the most headaches.