We have earned our first point under Mark Molesley since his return to the club following a hard-fought goalless draw against Welling United on Saturday at Park View Road.
Before heading to South East London, we had suffered two defeats, without scoring, away to Eastbourne Borough and Maidstone United.
Though we were unable to find the net once again, our backline held firm as we kept our first clean sheet since our Braintree Town draw in Essex last month.
On the back of three consecutive away fixtures, Molesley praised our players after the match for their “bravery on the ball,” on a “tough, tricky pitch.”
This result now, alongside our now-awarded win versus arch-rivals Yeovil Town, takes us up to 15th, level on points and goal difference with Weston-Super-Mare, although having scored less goals.
Molesley made three changes before the match, asch, as Ben Winterburn, unlikely to feature again this season, missed out, alongside Joel Rollinson and Ezio Touray, who were on the bench.
The replacements were Brandon Goodship, Keelan O’Connell, and Dan Roberts, all brought back into the line-up.
In the sweltering Saturday sun, it took a while for both sides to get going, the first chance coming after a whole 14 minutes.
Roberts crossed from the by-line to Goodship, who wasn’t quite able to connect with the ball.
Harry Parsons then tried a typical ambitious strike from range three minutes on, the ball deflecting along the way.
However, Reice Charles-Cook managed to push clear to safety.
Though the few chances were heading our way, things would change just five minutes later.
Antony Papadopoulos, spotting Harvey Wiles-Richards way off his line, lifted over the keeper, who was in no man’s land.
The hosts may have taken the lead had Papadopoulos’ strike not hit the crossbar.
The next major opportunity headed back our way, as the arriving Tom Bearwish’s deflected shot was tipped over the bar by Charles-Cook.
Then, as the half was drawing to a close, Adam Roscrow fired left of the goal, Jason Adigun forced a save from Wiles-Richards, as neither side was yet able to convert their opportunities and take the lead.
Six minutes into the second half saw perhaps our most impressive action yet.
A wonderful piece of build-up play landed at the feet of Roberts, whose effort was somehow pushed away by the Welling shot-stopper.
The Wings’ defence saved them once more six minutes later, as Goodship, through on goal, looked to curl in the ball from the right-hand side.
His plans, however, were thwarted by Lachlan Byrd, who made a last-ditch recovery challenge.
Joe Ellul then blocked a chance from our players approx. 20 minutes from time, getting in the way of Bearwish’s strike, before the offside flag disallowed any chance of a goal being scored.
By now, the Welling defence continued to hold firm, as Goodship’s free-kick cannonned off the head of Adigun to keep the scoreline level with less than 15 minutes before full time.
As the clock ticked, we would be allowed one final chance to give us the lead, courtesy of substitutes Frankie Monk and Ezio Touray five minutes before stoppage time.
Touray nearly met a cross, before the ball landed to Monk inside the box.
The sub, playing his first game since August, could only fire over the bar.
Though we missed the opportunity to grab a late winner, the lack of chances towards the end of the game ensured that we left London with a well-deserved point.
Match report
By Jack Webb
