The Lilywhites and the Wings fought out a goalless draw at Milton Road which keeps both teams very much in contention for the end of season play-offs.

City and Welling have experienced very similar weeks, narrowly defeated at the hands of teams from Conference National in the FA Trophy they both bounced back with 2-0 victories in midweek. City away at Newport, Welling at home to Bognor.

City’s win came at a cost however with Josh Simpson injured, coupled with Mark Molesley’s suspension this left Greg Lincoln and Robbie Simpson to form a makeshift midfield partnership. The in-form Michael Gash who came off the bench to score for the fourth time this year on Wednesday night earned a start and with Danny Naisbitt fit enough only for the bench Alan Calton continued to deputise between the posts.

Michael Gash gets to the ball before Welling's Chris Moore

Visiting boss Adrian Pennock had the luxury of naming an unchanged side for the third game in succession after an early strike from Matt Bodkin coupled with a late clincher from substitute Steve Perkins had secured the points at Park View Road in midweek.

The Wings’ had the look of a settled side about them and they were much the sharper of the two outfits in the opening stages. Jamie Day’s free kick from the left nearly resulted in a goal with only two minutes on the clock. Danny Kedwell latched onto a flicked header but Calton was down well to smother at his feet, a hand ball decision finally relieving the threat.

Kedwell then went deep to collect, turned and drove forward towards goal, again forcing Calton into action with a low drive. Moments later the teenage ‘keeper came to edge of his box to collect a through ball which fell between himself and skipper Glen Fuff, Kedwell stuck out a boot poking a speculative effort across the face of goal.

An apparent lack of communication in the City rearguard then saw Calton mis-hit a clearance straight to Matt Bodkin who bore down on goal only to be driven wide by Lee Chaffey before forcing Calton into a fine finger-tip save which resulted in a corner for the visitors.

City’s best outlet appeared to be to utilise the pace of their wide players and as they looked to ease Welling’s grip on proceedings Craig Dobson sped past Leon Solomon only to be wrested to the ground a challenge which earned the former Gillingham player a caution.

Welling always looked a threat from set plays, principally because of the height in all departments of their team. Day’s delivery continued to be accurate and when he centred from the right on seventeen minutes the ball flashed across the face of goal with Rob Owen and Kedwell closing in.

After more purposeful play from Dobson had earned a free kick on the City right Craig Pope’s centre found Lee Chaffey whose first effort was blocked before his second attempt was high in what was City’s first shot on goal with nearly a quarter of the game played.

More neat play from Kedwell saw him get the wrong side of Matt Langston and send a driven cross into the near post but the ball had too much pace on it for James Pinnock who diverted his shot over the bar.

Craig Dobson takes on Leon Solomon

Having weathered the storm City began to claw their way back into the contest. Clever link-up play saw Paul Booth feed Dobson whose first time pass into the feet of Dale Binns allowed the wide man to home in on goal before firing off a fierce cross-cum-shot which Jamie Turner cut out at his near post.

As the half drew to a close a Welling corner broke down, Greg Lincoln’s intelligent ball out of defence found Dobson who set up Booth but the Lilywhites’ top scorer was unable to force Turner into action.

City went into the break on a high when Binns seized on a careless pass and weaved past three defenders before sliding a shot across the face of goal and wide.

With Gary Roberts’ options limited there was little other for City to do than battle on after the break. Welling played into their hands to a certain extent however with Glen Fuff and Matt Langston dominant in the face of the visitors’ direct approach when it was the Lilywhites’ makeshift midfield which appeared most vulnerable.

City’s discipline stemmed the flow of chances from open play but dead ball situations continued to look like Welling’s best chance to forge ahead. A well struck Kedwell free kick was only inches away from the angle of post and crossbar.

Lee Chaffey who had turned in a rock solid display at full back then came off worst in a 50/50 challenge with Bodkin. With the City defender down injured the former Gillingham midfielder sped clear down the Welling right, cut inside and forced Calton into an excellent reflex stop at the foot of his near post.

With Adrian Pennock making all three of his permitted changes in quick succession and Academy prospect Ryan Lockett replacing Craig Dobson for the hosts the game began to open up in the final ten minutes.

Alan Calton sees Danny Kedwell's free-kick fly wide

As City broke away Robbie Simpson sent Dale Binns clear down the left. Doing well to keep the ball alive Binns looked up and sent in a near post cross for Michael Gash who had done well to get in front of his marker. Unfortunately for the teenage striker there was to be no continuation of his recent goal scoring exploits as he skied over the bar.

The dangerous Bodkin then beat Greg Lincoln in centre field and fired low at Alan Calton who had to change direction and made a top class save with his legs before the alert Craig Pope cleared the loose ball away from the danger zone.

Dale Binns made a strong finish to the game and another driving run through the inside left channel took him to the edge of the box before he was chopped down by Lee Gledhill. Greg Lincoln took the resultant free kick, getting the ball up and over the wall but he was a little too close to get it to come down again sufficiently to hit the target.

Although both sides had probably settled for a point by this stage Welling could have grabbed victory at the death. Gledhill’s long throw from the right pinged around the City box before falling invitingly for Owen who dragged a disappointing shot wide of goal. Then, with time as good as up, a swift break freed Solomon wide on the Welling left, the full back cut inside and unleashed a rising drive but fittingly the ball was plucked out of the air by Calton, who rounded off a good afternoon’s work with a tidy save.

On reflection neither side will be disappointed with this result. Gary Roberts in particular will be pleased that his patched-up side shared the spoils with the league’s least defeated team. He’ll also hope to have more players to choose from when his high-flying former club St Albans visit Milton Road on Tuesday.