Hastings United stumbled back into the Premier League relegation zone with a crushing 4-1 defeat at home to Welling United.

Two goals in injury time painted an unflattering picture as Hastings slipped up in the mud at the Pilot Field.

The difficult conditions meant the teams took a while to find their feet with all the scoring coming in the second half.

The first blow was struck by Hastings old boy Paul Jones who marked his return by firing Welling into a 55th minute lead. A corner from the right was allowed to run through to the forward who, from eight yards, shot through a crowd of defenders on the goalline.

Hastings were back on level terms within ten minutes through Danny Simmonds who made no mistake from the penalty spot after he had been brought down in the box.

But poor marking allowed the visitors to regain the initiative almost immediately and once again it was Jones who twisted the knife into his old team-mates with a close range finish following good work by Paul Booth.

The goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of Hastings and, despite throwing players forward, they rarely threatened to snatch a draw.

Welling piled on the agony late on by increasing their lead with breakaway goals from Booth and Anthony Riviere.