Welton came back with a point from Wiltshire in a hard fought encounter at Westbury that saw Welton totally dominate the first half with excellent forward play and then try and weather the second half onslaught from the home side.
The game got underway on a heavy pitch as the frost lifted and it was Welton who were quicker out of the blocks. Good attacking play from Dan Scrivens saw him find Jack Metcalf in space on the right, but his effort went wide. Then a fine Welton attack, driven by Andy Catley, saw his accurate shot scrambled away for a corner. Catley's delivery was met by Greg Dando, but his first time shot went wide. Welton keeper, Dan Tamblyn, was then called into action with a very good save to deny Nathan Hallett. Welton took the lead on fifteen minutes when a deep free kick from Catley was met by central defender, Dando, whose header thumped against the underside of the Westbury bar down to the goal line and Byron Lismore was quickest to react and fired the ball into the net. Welton were on a roll and good work from Jack Nix saw his effort cleared for a corner. Welton got a second on 24 minutes when superb play from Scrivens saw him beat two men and deliver a great through ball that dissected the Westbury defence and Lismore was on hand to guide his shot into the far corner of the net. Billie Cooper then nearly got a third for Welton when he headed inches wide of the target. With ten minutes remaining of the half, Westbury pulled a goal back with only their second attack of the half.Matt Mead was found in space on the left and he drilled his shot past Tamblyn into the Welton net. Just before the half time whistle Lismore was so close to getting a first half hattrick when his powerful header was saved by the Westbury keeper's foot on the goal line.
The half time team talk in the Westbury dressing room must have been interesting as the home side came out fired up and dominated the early stages of the half. Tamblyn rose to the challenge and he tipped Kieron Kiff's shot over the bar and then produced an outstanding one-handed save to deny Robert Mitchell. The game was getting quite physical as the home side pressed for an equaliser and Cooper was booked for a challenge on Hallett. Ben Bicknell was then on hand to clear the ball off the Welton line with Tamblyn beaten as Westbury went all out for the all-important goal. Jack Nix also got booked as the temperature rose from both sides. However, Westbury were not to be denied and with fifteen minutes remaining, a terrific shot from Westbury Captain, Paul Beavers, was brilliantly tipped onto the bar by Tamblyn and Westbury sub Phillip Hampson, was quickest to react and drilled his shot into the Welton net to equalise.
Bob Allard