Welton Rovers exited the Les Phillips Cup at the Preliminary Round as Chard Town recorded a 2–1 victory, with the winning goal coming from their very last kick of extra time. Though disappointed to lose after being equal for 120 minutes of football, Welton’s performance was another positive one following consecutive Western League victories.
It was less than two months since Welton visited Chard’s Dening Sports Field and that league encounter saw the Greens fall to a lacklustre 3–0 defeat, but their squad has been massively bolstered since then, to the extent that only two of that side started the weekend’s cup match.
Welton were equal to Chard in the first half, dominating possession, but unable to turn it into clear chances. Five minutes from the break, that lack of cutting edge was rued as Chard’s Cian Cabell swung in a tantalising set-piece from deep on the right hand-side. The inswinging delivery needed only the slightest touch from the head of Steve Friend to guide it past Knight in the Welton goal and ensure the Robins went in 1–0 up at half-time.
Welton were quick out of the blocks in the second half and should have taken the lead after a parried stop by Chard’s Jon Hill from a thunderous Malick Jammeh drive. The ball fell to Shakeil Green, whose first touch was perfect to round the floored Hill, but he then dallied too long on the finish and his effort was headed away from point-blank range by Kieran Bailey.
The equaliser wasn’t far off though and came once again from Jammeh, who netted his sixth goal in six games since signing for Welton from Ashton and Blackwell Utd. Deputy Captain, Chris Pile, was brought down in the box and Jammeh gleefully smashed the spot-kick high into the Chard goal to bring the match level.
That was enough to take the match to extra time and as conditions worsened in torrential rain, Owen Knight pulled off a brace of outstanding one-handed saves to keep Welton in the tie. The match wound down and both sides played as though penalties were an inevitability, but Chard kept that extra sharpness and awareness and got the winning goal in added time of extra time as James Boyland’s ball from the right hand side found Cabell in space in the box, leaving him with a simple finish.
Though frustrating to lose so late on in the game, it was another strong performance from Welton, who have massively improved in recent matches, thanks to recent acquisitions made by management team, Clive Scott and Mark Brown. Welton’s fast paced, attacking football has been incredibly exciting to watch and will win them many points in the coming months. Their next opponents will be Westbury United who visit West Clewes this coming Saturday, 3 p.m. kick-off.
Gareth Paisey