Aveley 3, Dereham Town 2

MILLERS came through in the end to take all three Isthmian North points but they made hard work of what should have been a much more emphatic victory.

They were the stronger side throughout but a woeful first half display gave Dereham the chance to get a foothold in the game played out in a strong wind.

It was at the backs of Aveley in the first half and they decided to go long and high with the ball, rather than keeping it on the deck and time and time again they overran their forward line and were unable to muster much creative play around the Dereham box.

And a defensive mistake on 26 minutes gave Toby Hilliard the opportunity to lob keeper David Hughes as he and central defender Steve Sheeham got in a mix-up.

A goal for Aveley looked a long way away, but on the stroke of half time they, for once, held the ball up and a pass was played in to Bradley Sach who cut in from the right and provided an accomplished finish from an acute angle to send the sides in on level terms.

Aveley were much better in the second half and began to play with some style and purpose and were rewarded when Wyan Reid fired home just after the hour from the edge of the box, the ball taking a deflection en route to the back of the net.

On 75 minutes Manny Ogunrinde, who had come off the subs' bench just four minutes before, looked to have put the game to bed when he cut inside and clipped the ball past Elliot Pride from the most difficult of positions.

The goal goal margin produced an air of over confidence in the Millers. They began to over elaborate and were left to face a nervous last seven minutes when Ryan Crisp broke through and scored but in the end Millers held on through several minutes of added time.

In the wake of the game the club announced that first team coaches George Christou and Jack Toghli have left the club to take over the management of Redbridge.

The duo said: "We would like to thank Aveley for giving us the opportunity to develop at this great club. We loved every minute working under you the past year and learned so much. We will always be thankful."