Dorchester TOWN 3
Flood 15 pen, Dickenson 33, Bowles 49
WELLING UNITED 2
Parkinson 59, Clarke 86
ASHLEY Vickers got his tactics spot on as Dorchester Town produced a superb performance to inflict a first defeat of the season on to Welling United at the Avenue Stadium.
The hosts were sublime for the first 50 minutes, racing into a three-goal lead, but their high-flying opponents then made it a nervous climax by grabbing two goals back, only to fail to find an equaliser in the closing stages.
Having seen his side lose four of their opening six games, Vickers was clearly under pressure ahead of kick-off and with Welling coming into the encounter off the back of an impressive record of six wins and one draw it appeared he would be in for another tough afternoon.
So in a bid to shake-up his side, he made four changes to his starting XI with Simon Evans, Nick Crittenden, the injured Ashley Nicholls and Ryan Moss all making way for Alan Walker-Harris, Ryan Dovell, Jamie Gleeson and Rico Wilson.
After a minute’s silence in honour of former Magpie Mark Ovendale and lifetime season-ticket holder John Rennie, who both sadly passed away recently, Vickers’ men lined up in a flexible 4-5-1 formation, clearly with the intention of hitting Welling on the break with pace.
And that plan was immediately put into action on two minutes when Dovell robbed Jack Parkinson and put Chris Food away down the right. He squared the ball inside to Mark Jermyn but his shot from 20 yards was well saved by AFC Bourne-mouth loanee Dan Thomas, who enjoyed a spell at the Avenue last season.
The hosts were looking threatening and moments later Ben Dickenson delivered a telling ball from the left but after taking it down on his chest, lone forward Wilson could only fire his shot wide of the target.
United were clearly struggling to get to grips with the Magpies’ set up and on 15 minutes they paid the price when Flood sent Thomas the wrong way with a cool spot-kick after Loui Fazakerley had clearly tugged back Wilson in the box.
Vickers could not have asked for a more positive start from his side with Jermyn, Gleeson and Dovell dominating the midfield battle and Flood, Dickenson and Wilson looking threatening every time the ball went forward.
Town were also looking solid at the back but they did receive a scare on 23 minutes when Loick Pires broke down the left and found Loui Cumbers, who then teed up Andy Pugh inside the box but somehow the in-form striker stumbled at the vital moment, allowing Kyle Critchell to clear the danger.
At the other end, Fazakerley was being given a torrid time by Dickenson’s pace and 10 minutes later it resulted in a second for Town after Flood had delivered a fine cross-field pass into the left channel.
The Welling full-back attempted to head the bouncing ball back to Thomas but Dickenson managed to get there ahead of the keeper to nod it into the net to the delight of the home fans.
That instantly propelled Welling into action and just 60 seconds later only a superb double save from Walker-Harris, following efforts from Lee Clarke and Cumbers, stopped them from immediately replying.
Town then lost Jermyn to injury just before the break after a crunching challenge with Clarke. The home skipper had to be stretchered off and was replaced by Moss, who took up an unfamiliar midfield role.
The first period then eventually closed with Pires finding the near-post side netting as Town went into the break with their lead intact.
Within 14 seconds of the restart, Dickenson then broke the offside trap and fired a long way wide before more good work from Flood and Wilson set up Moss, whose 20-yard blockbuster was pushed around a post by a flying Thomas.
Welling looked shell-shocked and on 49 minutes their keeper went from hero to villain when he completely missed his punch at a cross allowing Moss to head towards the target, where Anthony Acheam-pong’s woeful clearance off the line was gobbled up by Bowles, who volleyed home from close range.
It seemed like that was job done but the Wings continued to battle and after creating a couple of half chances they pulled one back just before the hour when Bowles’ half clearance enabled visiting skipper Parkinson to drive the ball into the bottom left corner of the net from the edge of the box.
The Magpies then thought they should have had a second penalty when Acheampong appeared to make contact with stand-in skipper Gleeson just inside the box but despite Vickers’ protestations on the sideline the referee waved play on.
Welling continued to apply pressure at the other end but some heroic and sometimes desperate defending continued to keep them at bay until four minutes from time, when a free-kick from the right caught Walker-Harris in no-man’s-land allowing Ben Martin to head back across goal for Clarke to nod home.
In response, substitute Nick Crittenden fired a 30-yard free-kick over the crossbar and although Welling huffed and puffed in the final stages, Dorchester hung on to record a famous win that Vickers will no doubt be hoping ignites their campaign.
Magpies: Walker-Harris, Critchell, Martin, Jermyn (Moss 42), Walker, Bowles, Dovell, Gleeson, Wilson, Flood (Crittenden 65), Dickenson. Subs not used: Evans, Symes, Bell.
Welling: Thomas, Fazakerley, Obersteler, Healy, Acheampong, Martin, Parkinson, Clarke, Cumbers (Attwood 56), Pugh, Pires. Subs not used: Camacho, Johnson, Heffernan, Day.
Stuart Barnes Ltd Man of the Match: The entire Dorchester team
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