Aveley 2, Maldon & Tiptree 0

AVELEY sealed their place in the semi-final of the BBC Essex Senior Cup with a confident display and deserved win against Isthmian North promotion-chasing Maldon at Parkside on Monday evening (9 December).

Millers suffered a blow in the pre-match warm-up when Jayden Gipson was replaced by Harry Haysom at the 11th hour, leaving Millers with just four subs.

The visitors, who sit second in isthmian North, made a decent start and forced the first opening of the match, only being foiled by a fine save from Christian North.

His counterpart in the Maldon nets, former long serving Dagenham (and East Thurrock United) keeper Elliot Justham made a great double save to deny Millers the lead just before the half hour.

Maldon then rattled an Aveley post but there was nothing to separate the sides when they went in at half time.

Brett Munyard's post-match verdict:

Millers were marginally the more dominant of the two sides but as the match entered its final stages the scoreline remained locked and the possibility of penalties loomed.

But with five minutes to go Millers' momentum finally saw them take the lead when a well-crafted move ended with Jesse Nwabueze on the ball and he fired home a shot into spark big celebrations.

And the tie was put to bed in the fifth minute of extra time when Millers were awarded a penalty, which George Saunders calmly slotted home against his former club.

Millers will be back in action on Friday evening when they play host to Billericay Town in the Isthmian Premier. The derby will see the return of former boss Danny Scopes to Parkside for the first time since leaving the club at the end of last season. Billericay are in Essex Senior Cup action themselves tonight (Tuesday, 9 december) when they entertain Tilbury in another Essex Senior Cup semi-final.