Aveley 2, Brentwood Town 3

A TRAUMATIC and difficult week for Aveley which featured back-to-back home defeats and the unexpected loss of a manager to south Essex rivals ended with further disappointment as the Millers crashed out of the FA Cup.

Adding salt into the wounds was the fact the defeat on Saturday (19 September) in the second qualifying round came at the hands of Brentwood, who had appointed Aveley boss Brett Munyard just 48 hours before.

Munyard didn't officially play a part in the cup tie build-up for the Blues, who were managed on the day by former Aveley hero Alex Akrofi - whose post-match interview didn't exactly look as if he had enjoyed much of what had gone on before.

Yet disappointment seemed a world away after a whirlwind opening to the match when Millers breezed into a two goal lead.

The first came in the second minute when in-form Toby Amorolaram latched on to the end of a flick from Chris Harris and showed his finishing skills.

Roles were reversed in the 20th minute when Amorolaram turned creator for Harris, running at goal then turning the ball into the path of Harris who slotted it past Brentwood's young debutant keeper Tommy Goodger, a 17-year-old who signed on loan from West Ham in the build-up to Saturday's match.

The two goal lead only lasted four minutes when another newcomer to Brentwood's ranks, one time Aveley player Shad Ngandu whipped a cross into the area and Luke Read was on hand to head home.

And parity was reached six minutes into the second half when Malachi Linton delivered the leveller after being picked out by the free kick delivery of Ngandu.

The ultimately decisive goal came on 76 minutes when sub Jesse Olukolu put Brentwood ahead with a low-range angled strike from the edge of the area.

There was further angst for Millers when their sub Gio Palmer was shown a red for a foul on Olukolu who was through on goal.

Aveley will hope to have a new manager in place by the time they play host to Ware in the FA Trophy Third Qualifying Round on Friday evening (25 September), 7.45pm.