Derby Day Delight for Wings
Game 4
Dartford 0 – 3 Welling United
Venue: Princes Park
Goalscorers: Nathan Bertram-Cooper (44), Nahum Melvin-Lambert (51), Fumnaya Shomotun (59)
Match Day Experience
Welling United vs Dartford is a game that both sets of fans will have circled on there calendar and will make the effort to the there. With the two stadiums situated just a 5.7 mile drive from each other it is always a well attended game for both home and away fans. Home and away fans were in fine voice during the game, although as the game swung the way of the Wings , it was the Welling faithful who could be heard loudest and longest. The fan zone had a DJ pre game to up the vibes and create an atmosphere which certainly worked and the Dartford Grill served a cracking burger.
Match Report
On a sunny afternoon in Dartford, it was a game to remember for the Wings as they won at Princes Park for the first time since Antony Papadopoulos scored a hat-trick in the FA Cup in a 3-2 victory in 2023. Once again, it was three goals that did the trick for Welling on Saturday. Welling United have notoriously struggled at Princes Park, with this being their first victory in the league there in eight years.
Welling started the brighter of the two teams, with some early pressure and some dangerous crosses whipped into the Darts’ box, which were well dealt with by the Dartford back line. The Wings’ first chance came when Sam Smith laid the ball off to Ryan Kingsford, whose shot was saved by the Dartford shot-stopper.
Dartford grew into the game and came close when Max Fiddes struck a true effort towards goal, which was expertly saved by Mackenzie Foley. The Darts came close again when a loose ball from a corner fell to a Dartford player, who blasted over from close range. The game started to heat up and became much more end-to-end, with Welling having a goal ruled out for offside (it was a couple of yards offside). The game reached a flashpoint at a Welling corner when the game’s first handbags came to fruition. This was then followed by an incident moments later between Melvin-Lambert and Dartford centre-half Joe Tennent.
They say the best time to score is just before half-time, and that is when first-time Wings skipper Nathan Bertram-Cooper popped up with his first goal for the club. It was a delicious whipped free-kick from Sam Smith, which was nodded onto the post by Bertram-Cooper. However, the ball landed back at his feet, and he remained composed enough to slot the rebound home.
The Wings came flying out of the traps in the second half and quickly doubled their lead when last week’s standout player, Demaray Anyadike, crossed from the right-hand side and Nahum Melvin-Lambert found himself between the two centre-backs before finishing with a delicate touch.
Things just kept getting better for the Wings. As Dartford pushed to get back into the game, they became more open at the back, and Fumnaya Shomotun took full advantage of this when he picked the ball up at the halfway line and drove at the Dartford defence before finishing into the bottom-right-hand corner.
The rest of the game passed without any real event as Welling United saw the game out. Dartford couldn’t quite muster enough to start a comeback, while the Wings fans were in fine voice for the last 30 minutes of the game, really enjoying themselves in the September sun at a venue that has caused them so much heartbreak in the past.
This result leaves both teams with nine points from a possible twelve. Dartford will be hoping this was just one of those days and will be looking to bounce back next week against Burgess Hill, while Welling will be hoping they can build on this result and continue their momentum into the double-header bank holiday weekend.
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