Lee Scott’s 93rd-minute equaliser saved the Hoops from their
third home defeat of the season on Saturday.
The midfielder popped up with a rare goal just when it looked as though Deal
were going to suffer a surprise setback at the hands of a Welling Town team who
had lost their previous nine matches in all competitions.
Relieved Hoops manager Derek Hares admitted afterwards: “It was a frustrating
game and, if I’m being honest, I thought we were poor in the first half. But we were better in the second
half and created three or four good chances and if we had scored our second
goal a bit earlier we would probably have gone on and won it. But the important
thing is that we didn’t lose and now we can focus on next week.”
With that last comment Hares was referring to
the Hoops’ FA Vase trip to Consett where he knows his side will need to produce
a better performance than they managed in the opening 45 minutes against
Welling. Too often Deal were wasteful in possession against a team whose
confidence must have been low after their recent wretched run, and Welling
probably feared it wasn’t going to be their day again when the Hoops snatched
the lead “out of the blue” with their first real chance after 21 minutes.
Full-back Liam Hark floated in a cross which
Connor Coyne headed over Welling ‘keeper Lee Kidman, but 10 minutes later the
Boots were “gifted” an equaliser by a mistake which summed up Deal’s poor
first-half display. Owen Kallmeier, deputising in goal for the holidaying James
Tonkin, threw the ball out to Steve O’Brien in lots of space but the
left-back’s intended pass to Scott instead went straight to the feet of Malik
Ouani who said “thanks very much” with a crisp low finish from the edge of the
area.
And Ouani, who proved a handful for the
Hoops’ backline all game, then turned “creator” eight minutes later with a
clever cross which enabled the unmarked James Day to head Welling into an
interval lead.
The Hoops didn’t need telling by Hares that
they had to “up” their game in the second half and they duly did so, starting
with Coyne almost scoring with a 35-yard lob just three minutes after the
restart. And one area where Deal did continually threaten was down Welling’s
left flank, first through Jack Paxman and then substitute Joe Reeves, but it
seemed the Hoops weren’t going to be able to convert the pacy duo’s good work
into more goals as Ben Chapman (twice), Jack Penny and Reeves himself with a
volley against the bar all went close as the minutes ticked away.
However, deep into injury-time, Reeves
delivered another superb cross and although Kidman blocked Chapman’s initial
effort, Scott was on hand to scramble home the loose ball for his first goal
for over a year – and a very timely one at that.
Deal: Kallmeier, Hark, O’Brien (Penny 64),
Maughan, Foster, Munday (Reeves 54), Paxman, Scott, Coyne (Lewis 59), Walsh,
Chapman.
Attendance: 196
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ITS AN AWAY DAY FOR THE NEXT ROUND OF THE FA VASE
BREAKING NEWS We have been drawn AWAY to Bridgwater United FC in the 5th Round of The FA Vase. The tie will be played at 3pm on