‘A massive disappointment’ – Hawks’ nightmare second half of National League South season ends with woeful home defeat

Hawks striker Mo Faal can't believe a goal has been ruled offside. Picture by Dave Haines.

The curtain was pulled down on a nightmare second half of the National League South season for Hawks with a dismal Westleigh Park defeat.

Jamie Collins’ side had to beat visiting Welling United to stand any chance of making the sixth tier play-offs.

Instead, they suffered a dismal 3-0 loss to finish in 10th place - missing out on the play-offs for the second season running.

Hawks should have entered the game in confident mood after ending a club record winless streak in dramatic fashion two days earlier.

Hawks striker Mo Faal scores - but the goal will be ruled out for offside. Picture by Dave Haines.

A stoppage-time winner from Jake Jebb had given Collins his first success - at the 10th attempt - with a 4-3 victory at Concord Rangers on Thursday.

But Hawks turned in a woeful display, falling behind against Welling – marooned in the lower mid-table zone - after just two minutes.

Kodi Lyons-Foster grabbed the early goal, and Welling went further ahead on 17 minutes through Ade Azeez.

Christie Patterson inflicted further pain on Hawks with a 58th minute third.

In the thick of it - Jake McCarthy and Joash Nembhard, with ex-Hawk Stefan Payne. Picture by Dave Haines.

Welling had failed to win any of their previous six away league games, scoring only three times in the process.

Hawks finished five points outside the play-off positions after a shocking run of just one win in their last 16 games. In all, they banked just seven points out of a possible 48 - throwing away what seemed at one stage a nailed-on top three finish.

‘It was a massive disappointment,’ said Collins. ‘I don’t think we have turned up.

‘We were lucky to get away with only 3-0 - we could have been 4-0 down at half-time.

Callum Kealy fires in a shot. Picture by Dave Haines.

‘We just looked leggy …if you’re not going to run around you’re not going to win games.

‘People could use the excuse that we played on Thursday, but Concord had played Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday for three weeks and they still ran around.’

Asked to sum up what had been a once promising campaign, Collins stated: ‘We have failed.

‘From Christmas onwards it’s been a massive disappointment. We have drawn too many games, and lost too many games. We have all failed.

Hawks midfielder Jake McCarthy saw this header saved. Picture by Dave Haines.

‘As manager, I will take the blame but at some point the players have got to look at themselves and ask why they keep failing - exactly the same happened last year.’

A quick look at the stats reveals where Collins needs to improve his side.

Hawks ended the season having not kept a single clean sheet in their last 17 league fixtures.

Indeed, the clean sheet kept in a 3-0 home win against Chelmsford on February 11 was the only one in the last 28 NLS games.

In the final reckoning, only seven of the other 23 clubs in Hawks’ section conceded more than their 70 goals - and four of those were relegated.

Hungerford, who finished bottom, only let in two more goals than Hawks did.

Against that, Hawks did score 80 goals themselves - only four clubs scored more. And they were the top four - champions Ebbsfleet (110), Worthing (92), Oxford City (83) and Dartford (82).