Welling 1 Braintree 0

Another spectacular free-kick from Ryan Martin handed Welling their second successive Blue Square South win on Tuesday night.

Martin, who scored a hat-trick in the opening day defeat of Bath, stepped up to blast home from 25 yards with just 16 minutes left to give the Wings victory.

It was no more than Andy Ford's side deserved as they impressed throughout against an ill-disciplined Braintree outfit, who not surprisingly finished with 10 men.

Referee Lee Venamore had an outstanding game and he clamped down on a number of rash challenges, showing three yellow cards in the first 21 minutes.

That tally had risen to five when he showed former Welling defender Billy Burgess a second yellow card with 17 minutes left for bringing down Joe Healy.

From the resulting free-kick, Martin produced an even better effort than his goals at Bath to give the Wings three points.

The Wings had seen two goals disallowed for offside in the first half, Joe Healy's header and Charlie Sheringham drive both falling foul to the assistant referee's flag.

After the break, Braintree substitute Sean Marks missed two glorious openings to score either side of Martin's matchwinner but that was all the visitors had to offer.

At the other end, Welling's approach work had plenty of pace and inventiveness and their pressure was finally rewarded.

Meanwhile, Welling youngster Jack Parkinson has joined Margate on a three-month loan in a bid to gain first-team experience.