Lewes 2 Welling United 1

10-MAN Welling saw their brave resistance ended with nine minutes to go at Lewes on Saturday.

The Wings, who needed maximum points to boost their play-off chances, faced an uphill battle after right-back Lee Gledhill was sent off after just 12 minutes.

The Wings were already in front when, after five minutes, Che Stadhart sent Danny Kedwell away and his right-footed cross-shot was deflected into his own net by Lewes' Steve Robinson.

On 11 minutes Gledhill received his first yellow card for a needless foul on Kirk Watts and within 60 seconds the full-back saw red after an off the ball incident with the same player.

Lewes equalised with a well-worked goal on 15 minutes when Jean-Michel Sigere set up strike partner Jamie Cadd to fire home from the edge of the area.

The Wings introduced Barry Ashby to bolster their defensive numbers and despite defending against the wind they were able to restrict the home side to half chances.

In the second half Welling had a great opportunity to go infront when a Robinson error let in Kedwell but former Wings keeper Paul Wilkerson diverted the ball away with his feet.

Lewes found the winner with just nine minutes left when Karl Beckford took advantage of an error by Rob Owen and curled a long-range shot beyond Jamie Turner.

The defeat means that Welling will probably have to win all five of their remaining games and, while Lewes sit in the play-off places, the result means little to them as their ground, like last year, still fails to meet Nationwide Conference requirements.