A disappointing performance in front of a very small crowd saw Dover crash out of the Nationwide MacMillan Trophy. Welling United scored three goals in the first period and defended solidly in the second to progress to the Second Round.

Welling took the lead after just four minutes when Richie Hanlon put away a rebound from Leon Braithwaite's shot.

Welling's second was slightly fortunate, a deflection helping Kevin Dennis' 20-yard effort past Charlie Mitten.

Dover could have pulled themselves back into the match when Matt Carruthers found himself one-on-one with the keeper, but the Army man was indecisive in front of goal. He was forced wide and his shot was blocked by the goalkeeper.

Dover had two further chances in the first half. Firstly, Simon Wormull's 25-yard effort had the keeper beaten but flew just wide. The other chance was created by Steve Norman who played the ball across the face of goal from the Dover left. Steve Brown was ready for the tap in when the Welling keeper made a fine interception, palming the ball away from Brown's feet.

Welling killed the game off on the stroke of half time. Dover failed to clear on the edge of their area and Hanlon setup Mike Rutherford who lobbed Mitten.

Athletic came out for the second half looking to get forward but they lacked ideas and rarely troubled the Welling defence. Dave Clarke fired well over from 30 yards, James Virgo's 25-yard effort went a yard over and Mark Hynes placed the ball just wide of the far post from a difficult angle coming in from the right.

While Bill Williams' priorities will certainly lie elsewhere (he was not at the match, instead he took the opportunity to watch Dover's first FA Cup opponents, Worthing), it was very disappointing to be beaten 3-0 by a Welling team that looked solid without ever appearing particularly threatening. Dover should be concerned that they could not score past the Conference's leakiest defence, Joff Vansittart's aerial dominance was certainly missed tonight.

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