Aveley 1, Hastings United 0

AVELEY'S love affair with the FA Trophy continued at Parkside this evening when the Millers won through to the second round proper thanks to Mitch Gilbey's second half goal.

Having reached the quarter-finals last season when they bowed out on a memorable day at Notts County, Aveley are determined to enjoy another cup run and will be anxiously awaiting the draw for the second and third rounds, which will be made tomorrow (Wednesday, 9 December) at 1pm.

Tonight's game was close throughout, but on balance the home side, who gave a debut to new signing Darelle Russell following the departure of top scorer George Sykes to Brentwood Town, deserved the win, particularly on the back of a strong second half performance that saw them dominate possession.

The first half was nip and tuck throughout, with Hastings, who are top and unbeaten in the Isthmian South East division playing a possession game and playing out from the back with goalkeeper Louis Rogers probably getting more touches on the ball than anyone else on the park.

But they struggled to find an end product and the half ended goalless, with the best chance actually falling to Aveley's Morisi Gelashvili who lashed an angled shot high over the bar after being set up by great work from Gilbey.

On the resumption Aveley began to dominate the game and it was no surprise when they took the lead on 57 minutes when a fine run and cross by Harry Donovan ended with a brave close range header from Gilbey finding the net.

Aveley continued to look the better side until the closing five minutes when Hastings finally abandoned their tippy-tappy antics across the back four and began to boot the ball upfield, mounting a lengthy spell of pressure that saw them rattle the crossbar deep in added time but in the end Aveley held on.