Welling 1 Eastbourne Borough 0

SKIPPER Richard Carpenter kept his cool to tuck away an 86th-minute penalty for Welling in Blue Square South on Monday.

The Wings edged a narrow contest against the league leaders to boost their chances of play-off survival.

Carpenter beat keeper Lee Hook from the spot after Ellis Green was tripped by Borough's Matt Smart.

Welling manager Andy Ford said: "I know the club suffered with penalties before I came here but Richard has scored two excellent spot-kicks in recent weeks.

"He has a lot of experience and he was always going to be my penalty taker here."

The first half saw few chances at either end with Andy Atkin firing wide for the visitors while Daneil Nwanze headed Welling's best chance wide of the near post.

Striker Sam Gargan twice went close early in the second half before Eastbourne started to put pressure on the hosts. Jamie Turner did well to deny Atkin and then Smart as the Wings defence produced a resolute display.

The crucial point of the game came with five minutes left when Smart, who somehow escaped a caution throughout the 90 minutes despite a number of fouls, needlessly tripped Green and Carpenter scored the decisive goal.