Aaron Barnes scored the goal that put Welling United back on track at the expense of Billericay Town.

On Tuesday night they were left downcast when losing after leading two-nil against Hampton and Richmond Borough but they showed their character to bounce back with a gritty but deserved win.

There were former Welling connections with manager Jody Brown and one of his assistants Steve Pitt in the dugout plus Michael Chambers, Rowan Liburd and Bailey Vose in the Billericay starting line up and Lawrie Wilson on the bench.

Liburd had the first half-chance of the game but fired well over before Danny Parish, making his full Welling debut, had a couple of opportunities. First, Che Krabbendam and Dipo Akinyemi created an opening for him but he couldn’t find the power to trouble Vose. Then he made space for himself but fired wide of the near post.

Kristian Campbell tried his luck from ten yards inside his own half when spotting Vose out of position but his effort sailed wide before a rare Billericay raid ended with Charlie Lee shooting wide.

An uneventful first half ended when Krabbendam curled a free kick over the wall but it clipped the crossbar on the way over.

Early in the second period, Akinyemi slid it across the face of goal but Barnes was unable to force it home before Vose dropped a Campbell corner which caused some panic in the area before Billericay hacked it clear.

Olumide Durojaiye shot over at one end then Kweku Lucan did likewise at the other before Parish’s game was finished by an untidy challenge causing him to limp off. Joe Muscatt replaced him.

Ade Shokunbi fired well over for Welling before Jack Sims made an easy save from Chambers.

Peter Taylor made a double change for Welling, bringing on Daniel Carr and Bradley Stevenson as Welling searched for the winner. Durojaiye had a twenty yard shot saved before Sims showed his ‘they will not pass’ attitude with a fantastic save from Bagasan Graham.

That proved vital as Welling scored from their next attack. Stevenson found Campbell and, although Vose made a good save, Barnes was in the right place at the right time to hook home from close range.

Vose made a brilliant save to stop Carr from putting the game to bed and Carr again came close when getting on the end of a Campbell cross but Chambers cleared off the line. Carr then turned provider when setting up Stevenson but it came to him at an awkward height and he couldn’t get a clean connection.

Deep into stoppage time, Denilson Carvalho had a shot deflected over before Billericay’s misery was compounded after the final whistle when Toby Stevenson was shown a red card for abusing an assistant referee.

Welling United: Sims, Barnes, Penney, Durojaiye, Pearce, Statham, Shokunbi, Parish (Muscatt 57), Akinyemi (Carr 68), Krabbendam (Stevenson 68), Campbell. Subs not used: Ezennolim, Stewart.