Manager Warren Feeney felt Welling should have been awarded a penalty in their goalless National League South draw at Dover on Easter Friday.

Whites looked the more likely to find a winner, although the biggest talking point at Crabble came in the 72nd minute when referee Samuel Read dismissed away penalty protests for a handball by Dover midfielder Jordan Higgs as he charged down Christie Pattisson’s effort.

Feeney thought - not only that a spot-kick should have been awarded - but Higgs could have been dismissed as well. Instead, Feeney received a second yellow card after the full-time whistle from Mr Read for dissent.

He said: “I think the biggest talking point of the game was the referee.

“I know he got it wrong - and he knows that he’s got it wrong! At the end of the day, big decisions turn games.

“If it’s a shot and the boy has handballed it, then it’s a red card. But I’m not going to fault the effort of my players. They didn’t chuck it.

“They carried on to the end, took a point and a clean sheet.”

• Report: Dover 0-0 Welling

It leaves 17th-placed Whites eight points clear of the relegation zone, with the Wings two places further back.

“Away from home, it’s a point,” reflected Feeney. “They came into the game on the back of a great win [earning a 3-1 success at Braintree last Saturday].

“I think we could have been better and I’ve said to the players that we needed a wee bit more quality at the top-end of the pitch. We didn't have it.

"But we defended well. The keeper [Kai McKenzie-Lyle] did well - along with the two centre-backs and the rest of the back four.

“With the players we’ve got out injured, it’s a point closer to where we want to go. It ticks a game off and it’s about getting over the line now.”

Guyana international Kai McKenzie-Lyle put in a strong display, particularly in the first period, with goalkeeper Myles Roberts recently recalled by parent club Watford.

His Northern Irish boss said: “Kai's a good keeper.

"He’s honest and he’s made some great saves today, which he’s paid to do.

"I’m pleased.”

The Wings are now six points clear of the relegation zone ahead of Easter Monday’s fixture against play-off chasing Eastbourne, managed by Danny Bloor, at Park View Road.

When they met in Eastbourne in September, the visitors ran out 1-0 victors.

But Feeney said: “Danny is a great guy. They’ve got good players.

“It’ll be a good game on Easter Monday but it’s one where the fans have got to support the players no matter what.”