Welling player/manager Jamie Coyle has said explained why referee Jack Packman over-ruled his assistant in the build-up to Chelmsford’s winner on Tuesday night.

The Wings were left fuming that an offside flag was ignored by the referee and Chelmsford then won a penalty from the subsequent corner.

“The lino gave it for an earlier incident when he ran down the line but he (the referee) didn’t actually see it (the flag),” explained Coyle.

“Then 30 seconds later there was a deflection off Ian Gayle and he over-ruled it. But it was actually offside before and he didn’t even talk to the linesman.

“It’s unfortunate the way things are going at the moment but, as I said on Saturday, we have to turn it around ourselves. We can’t rely on luck.

“It was so disappointing having defended so well for the majority of the game, to give away a sloppy penalty like that is tough to take.”

Reflecting on the game, Coyle was pleased with his team’s first-half showing but their failure to retain possession after the break put them on the backfoot.

“We did really well in the first half,” said Coyle. “I thought we were on top and had a great opportunity when Bradley Goldberg went one-on-one with the goalie.

“It was a game of not many chances. It had 0-0 written all over it.

“We defended for 45 minutes in the second half, we didn’t really get out of our half, and the quality dropped when we won possession.

“We were a little bit rash with our clearances and decision making and it allowed them to come back onto us.

“The shape and the way we put our bodies on the line was a massive plus but one sloppy (challenge) has given the referee an opportunity to make a decision.

“If you reduce a team like Chelmsford to one or two chances in 90 minutes then it’s a positive. They are going to be up there pushing to win the league but you can’t look at that. It’s about us and I think we had opportunities to win the game.

“There was no quality going into the final third and that’s something we need to look at.”

Coyle fielded on-loan Colchester keeper Dillon Barnes after Chris Lewington left the club for personal reasons.

“I had a phone call from Chris on Monday,” explained Coyle.

“He has had some personal issues at home and he’s decided to call it a day which was a big surprise to me.

“I’ve known Chris for a long time, he came through the academy at Dartford when I was there years ago and he is a really nice lad so I wish him all the best whatever the issues are.

“Moving forward, I thought Dillon was outstanding. For a youngster to come in last minute like he has done and play as well as he did was a massive plus.

“It’s been a crazy 24 hours. John Mcrae (goalkeeping coach) gave us seven or eight options from different pro clubs. He did the hard work and it was then a decision between us as to who we would take.”

Coyle also confirmed that Toby Ajala has been released after playing just 45 minutes at Truro due to a lack of fitness while forwards Alex Cathline and David Moli have both been released in order to find regular first-team action.

Read the match report from Welling v Chelmsford here