Welton S&SC reserves were brought crashing back down to earth slumping to a disappointing 3-1 home reversal to table toppers Lincoln Imp. James Drabble gave Welton the perfect start firing home with only three minutes on the clock but a needless penalty brought the Imp back on terms at half time. Drabble went from hero to villain as he put through his own net midway through the second half which was swiftly followed by a third to condemn the Reserves to their first defeat of the Season.
Again the management duo of Daly and Schaer were faced with selection headaches and veteran centre half James Mulhall, Joe Beard, Stewart Sawyer and Alex Smith were all unlucky not to even make the bench.
Welton went with Wilkinson in goal with a back four of Brookes, Gordon, Carlile and C Smith. Across the middle were Ottewell, Bowey, Stocks, Kelsey and Munn with James Drabble again charged with the unenviable task of ploughing the lone furrow up front. Tom Wilkinson, Simon ward and Steve Smith took their places on the bench.
Welton got off to a tremendous start when James Drabble scored a stunning goal rifling home first time from the edge of the area after Tom Bowey squared the ball to him to give Welton an early lead.
However this didn’t see the start of a familiar goal feast for the Reserves as the Yarborough Road side began to totally dominate proceedings. Too many of Weltons young side went missing in key areas of the field which allowed the Imp to dominate territory and possession with James Drabble forced to chase scraps and long balls.
Matt Wilkinson was forced to make two excellent saves before the inevitable equaliser came. The dangerous number 17 on the left wing powered into the box and invited a rash tackle from Bradley Brookes leaving the referee no choice but to point to the spot and the resulting kick was smashed home by the Lincoln Imp skipper.
Welton improved slightly but the physical Imp defence were never really tested as Welton struggled to get men forward to support Drabble.
HALF TIME 1-1
After manager Paul Schaer turned the air blue at half time Welton re emerged for the second half knowing that they had to match the Imp physically if they were to have any chance of winning the game but the Socialites still couldn’t get a foothold and continued to lose battles all over the field against the more physical Imp side.
The Imp took a deserved lead fifteen minutes into the second half when Welton failed to clear an Imp free kick despite having numerous opportunities to do so. The ball was fired across from the left and the Man mountain of a centre half sent a 50p header back across the goal that hit James Drabble on the knee and flew past Matt Wilkinson.
The home side suffered a knock out blow moments later when the pacey left winger was able to fire the ball across and Matt Wilkinson wasn’t able to grab the greasy ball and he could only turn the ball into his net to leave the Social with a mountain to climb.
Tom Bowey, Connor Smith and Phil Kelsey were all withdrawn as Welton desperately chased the game but even the introduction of a former Premier League golden boot winner and a former Lincoln City player couldn’t rescue Social a point.
Final Score Welton S&SC res 1-3 Lincoln Imp
STAR MEN
Carlile ***
Gordon**
Drabble*