WELTON Rovers pulled off a 3-2 home victory over bottom side Millbrook in the Premier Division of the Toolstaition Western League - their first victory for manager Ben Carters since he took over in March.

It ended the second longest winless period in the club’s history, as it has been 174 days since Welton’s last win which was on October 28, 2023, and that was against the same opposition. It was Millbrook who took the game to Welton early on and they were rewarded in the 8th minute when the lively Vinnie Harper-Innis broke through the static Welton defence to calmly slot the ball past keeper Alfie Hamblin.

Five minutes later Welton were level when Joe Cattermole struck a shot from 20 yards that flew into the visitors’ net. Hamblin then produced a very brave point blank save to deny Millbrook a second. He had to receive attention for a knock he suffered as a result of the save.

Welton should have got a second just before halftime when good play down the left flank by Brandon Oputeri saw him deliver a pin point cross which was met by Marcel Lewis and with an open goal at his mercy he shot wide of the target.   Two minutes after the restart Welton had a big let off when Hamblin raced out of his box, headed the ball out but it fell to Jay Boyle who headed the ball over the keeper and it slowly drifted towards the empty goal - only to hit the post.

This galvanised Welton and they took the lead on 60 minutes when Oputeri picked up a ball that had been played out from the back. He fired in a well struck shot that Millbrook keeper Jamie Dudley got a hand to but couldn’t prevent the ball flying into the net.

Five minutes later Welton got a third when man of the match Logan Cassidy raced through the visitors defence to finish off in style. As the game went into added time the visitors got a second following a goa mouth scramble that saw Boyle poke the ball home from close range. Welton’s top performance earned them this win and the three points gained took them a massive step forward securing their Premier League survival. Only one team will be going down this season. Bob Allard