Legge's fine header not enough

It was the home side who dominated the opening exchanges and in the third minute Mark Green hit the sidenetting with only Paul Wilkerson to beat. The ball rarely left Lewes's half for 10 minutes and it was from his own half that Dean Brennan showed wonderful opportunism. Spotting Wings keeper Jamie Turner off his line at a free-kick Brennan launched a bullet that had the former Horsham man scrambling to make a parried save.

After 10 minutes Moore '“ who had a shocker '“ put a free header at a corner over Wilkerson's crossbar. The move was followed by a good chance for the Rooks in which Owen Price fed Brennan in front of goal but the Grays signing could not compose himself.

The home side had two opportunities midway through the first period, Green shooting inches over the crossbar and Che Stadhart also missing narrowly. These were followed by an incident in which Dean Hooper was yellow-carded for a blatant handball and another Welling chance that saw Matt Carruthers's curling free-kick crash into the woodwork.

The Wings finally went ahead after half an hour when Stadhart beat former Gravesend teammate Wilkerson from close range with a header at a Carruthers corner. And it could have been 2-0 soon afterwards had the hapless Moore not ballooned a header into the stand from what seemed point-blank range.

Lewes manager Steve King must have inspired his men at the break since they started the second half brightly and were full of ideas which allowed them to dominate. On the hour-mark they launched a quality move in which Jean-Michel Sigere fed Brennan who nodded down for Price whose effort was high and wide.

The deserved equaliser came when Leon Legge rose unchallenged at a corner to power home on 71 minutes. It looked as though Lewes were going to nick a point until the 80th minute when the Rooks's defence allowed substitute Matt Bodkin acres of space for a mazy run which finished with a precise cross that even the wasteful Moore was able to head home.

Lewes were outplayed in many departments but came away with some pluses. Paul Wilkerson was generally secure and kept his side in the game. The Rooks showed commitment in the second half and were often dominant in the air. But they frequently gave possession away in the middle of the park and final balls were poorly chosen and executed. A well-drilled Welling side played with width and stretched their opponents down both flanks.

For the second game in succession the Jefferson Louis-Sigere front pairing posed limited threat and the visitors's best chances came from set-pieces. Louis has the knack of getting the right side of defenders and is difficult to dispossess but so far he has lacked a sharp edge.

But there could be no doubt as to their positive intent as they attacked in numbers from the off and went all out for three points. A purposeful Kirk Watts had been making promising runs down the left flank and his departure on 47 minutes with ankle ligament damage after a bad challenge was a major loss. Similarly, the pace and bustling presence of the injured Amos Foyewa was also missed.

Lewes: Wilkerson, Hooper, Lovett, Legge, Robinson, Watts (Harkin 45), Kennett (Beckford 82), Brennan, Price, Sigere, Louis. Subs not used: Gomis, Sangare, Hustwick.