Aveley 2, Torquay United 1

AVELEY'S impressive start to their inaugural National League South campaign continued on Saturday (2 September) with a landmark win against former football league opposition Torquay.

The Gulls played in the Football League from 1927 (the same year Aveley were formed), until being relegated to the National League in 2007, bouncing back at the second attempt in 2009 by winning the play-offs.

A second relegation followed in 2014 and they dropped down to step Two in 2018. They secured immediate promotion back to the top tier but last season were again relegated.

Their bid for a second immediate 'bounce back' had been going well with four wins and a draw until Saturday when goals from Siju Odelusi and substitute Charlee Hughes put the Millers in front.

Despite Brad Ash's late response for the visitors, Aveley were able to celebrate victory

The first half hour was evenly matched, with chances at both ends and Gulls keeper Mark Halstead and Millers' Jonathon North both tested.

Aveley gradually began to exert a grip on the match and went close when Odelusi's right-wing cross fed Alex Hernandez, who sent a powerful header crashing against the crossbar.

But there was to be an opening goal for Millers on 37 minutes when a neat passing move saw the lively Jon Benton drive forward before he delivered a low cross that the sliding Odelusi fired past Halstead.

There were other chances for Aveley, most notably from Matt Rush and Hernanzez again but it stayed 1-0 going into the break.

Neither side were able to carve out much in the way of clear-cut chances on the resumption, but as the game entered its final quarter, it was the home side who looked likelier to amend the scoreline.

Benton and Eduino Vaz both fired decent chances wide of the target before Aveley appeared to put the result beyond all doubt in the 82nd minute.

A swift counter-attack saw Rush and Benton combine before completing the switch of play from left to right by playing Hughes into space inside the box, and he drilled home an angled shot.

With three minutes left Torquay grabbed a lifeline when Ash scrambled the ball home from close range after a cross caused chaos in the box.

A minute later nerves for the home fans jangled even more when Aveley were reduced to ten men with the dismissal of Jason Ring after he picked up a second yellow card but the Millers were able to hang on and complete a memorable afternoon.