Welling held on for a point after finishing with nine men against St Albans in National League South on Saturday.

A topsy-turvy game was eventually dominated by referee Tom Bishop as the Wings had two players sent off in the second half.

On a day when no team in the top half of the table managed to win, Welling did not lose ground. But the suspensions will stretch their threadbare squad to the limit in the coming weeks.

St Albans were rewarded for a bright start to the game with the opening goal inside 10 minute. Welling’s Craig Braham-Barrett failed to clear his lines and when the ball was returned to the penalty area, Sam Merson’s header down was turned in by Zane Banton.

The hosts immediately lost right-back Jordan Gibbons to a hip injury and while the visitors had to hack one Welling effort of the line, they were relatively untroubled in a dour first half.

The game came to life with the introduction of Welling centre-back Josh Hill on 52 minutes.

Within three minutes, Hill turned in Brendan Kiernan’s cross from close range to level the scores.

Then Welling were in front on the hour mark as Hill headed home beyond keeper Dean Snedker.

As the Wings celebrated, St Albans captain Tom Bender had to be dragged away from his own player by keeper Snedker.

Welling boss Steve King later claimed that Bender was fighting with his own team-mate, but after consulting with his assistant, the referee only showed a yellow card.

St Albans immediately withdrew Solomon Sambou and James Ewington before the afternoon took a dramatic twist on 67 minutes.

Welling striker Danny Mills challenged at the near post alongside Michael Clark, who went down clutching his head. Referee Bishop raced over to show Mills a red card and Clark immediately got up without needing any treatment.

Despite playing with 10 men, Welling appeared to be relatively comfortable until they conceded a penalty nine minutes from time.

Braham-Barrett conceded a corner, from which Arnaud Mendy fouled his man according to the referee. Mendy was duly shown a second yellow card to leave Welling with nine men and Merson sent keeper Dan Wilks the wrong way from the penalty spot.

Welling were left hanging on with nine men but St Albans failed to create a clear-cut chance to find a winner.

Welling: Wilks, Gibbons (Oyebanjo 11mins), Braham-Barrett, Ijaha, Orlu (Hill 52mins), Audel, Kiernan, Mendy, Mills, Goldberg (Anau 74mins), McCallum. Subs not used: Agyemang, Newton.

Attendance: 589.