WELLAND came close to winning at Malvern Town Wanderers on Sunday, against a team that remains unbeaten for seven years in the league.

After having several players out in their previous game, Juniors were back to full strength.

With no referee turning up, the Malvern manager stepped in to carry out the task to allow the game to go ahead.

Welland started well, keeping most of the possession and piled on the pressure in the first-half, giving as much as they got from the opposition.

With the game goalless at half-time, due to some great goalkeeping from Ryan Williams, a sturdy midfield performance from Alex Fairweather, Joe Hargreaves, Will Chambers and Toby Mitten.

The visitors went straight back into the game as they had started the first-half, with good pressure on the opposition’s defence of Luke Wellham, Charlie Wasley, Ben Morgan and later Mikey Catherall.

Malvern broke well and looked intimidating, but were dealt with well by the Welland defence, Gareth Howells, Brad James, Myles Powell, and Charlie Lloyd, who were missing a key player.

Welland kept the ball under control and put it forward to allow them to maintain pressure at the other end.

One of the Welland strikers Luke Wellham received an injury which took him off the pitch 20 minutes from time.

This was followed by further injuries in midfield, which led to the end of the deadlock between two teams as Malvern scored their goal 15 minutes from the end.

Welland battled to get back into the game, missing some great opportunities, while the hosts were just as intent on getting a second at the other end.