Ryman Div One North
Aveley 1 v 2 Tilbury
By Scott Hately
AVELEY succumbed to their first defeat of the league campaign after suffering a 2-1 defeat at the hands of local rivals Tilbury in a feisty affair.
The home side started the stronger, but it was Tilbury who took the lead after 11 minutes through their striker, Emiel Aiken, who beat Dave McCartney to the ball after confusion in the centre to prod into the net to give the away side an undeserved lead.
Less than 60 seconds later, though, Aveley had levelled the match through Shane Oakley, thanks to a defence splitting pass that sent the striker clear allowing him to slot home to equalise.
Aveley continued to look the stronger of the two sides, constantly applying pressure on the Tilbury back line but with little reward, with Tilbury snatching the three points after Alfred Kamara turned into his own net on the hour mark, under pressure from Danny Francis.
Despite persistent pressure from Aveley in the closing stages, the Millers were unable to break down the Tilbury defence as the away side took the spoils.
The defeat left manager Justin Gardner cursing his sides missed opportunities as once again the home side created the better of the chances, but weren’t clinical enough when it mattered.
Tilbury came into this local derby brimming with confidence after knocking in 11 goals in their last two games, but in the early stages it was Aveley who were having all of the possession and looking by far the most threatening, creating a couple of early half chances.
Marc Sontag forced Tilbury goalkeeper, James Marrable, into action early on, saving low to his right as early as the second minute, when the midfielder’s shot from the edge of the area looked destined for the bottom corner. Junior Dadson, who had been brought back into the fold after Billericay let him come back on loan, also flashed a shot over the bar in the fourth minute after good build up play down the right from Carl Patten and Jordan Cox.
Despite the early dominance it was the away side who took the lead, with their first meaningful attack of the game, through Emiel Aiken.
A long throw from Aaron Walters was initially cleared, before being played back into the defender’s feet. With time and space, Walters picked out a cross towards the far post which was defended well by the Aveley back line and was cleared. Their clearance wasn’t quite good enough to stop the immediate danger, however, and after a bit of confusion in the middle the ball found its way to Emiel Aiken, who beat the on-rushing Dave McCartney to poke to ball into the net to give the away side the lead in the 11th minute.
The setback didn’t deter The Millers as within a minute they were level thanks to Shane Oakley.
A perfect through ball from the heart of the midfield split the Tilbury defence, and with Oakley holding his run perfectly to beat the offside flag he took one touch to take it away from the defender before slotting the ball into the bottom corner with his second to make it 1-1 with exactly 12 minutes on the clock.
The rest of the half continued in the same vain as the previous 12 minutes, with Aveley creating the better of the opportunities with the best of the chances falling to striker Jordan Cox.
With just under half an hour on the clock a cross from the left from Dadson found Cox unmarked at the far post. All that was needed was for the striker to poke the ball towards goal for the simplest of tap-ins, but from a couple of yards Cox managed to send the ball back across goal instead of towards it, allowing Tilbury to clear, leaving Gardner looking stunned on the side-line.
Cox, to his credit, continued to work hard and almost set up a goal for Marc Sontag, whose strike hit Marrable in the chest from 12 yards out before being hooked away, and Cox almost managed to make amends right on the stroke of half time for his earlier miss. A corner from the right delivered by Paul Burnett fell at the feet of Jay Leader whose back heel found Cox six yards out only for the striker to see his effort desperately blocked as the referee blew the break.
The second half started slowly, but Aveley continued to look the most threatening, with Cox having another chance, this time heading over at the far post from a Jack Stevenson free kick.
With the home side missing chance after chance it was almost inevitable that Tilbury would retake the lead which they duly did on the hour mark.
Jack Carlile found himself in acres of space on the left which allowed him to carry the ball forward into the final third before delivering a low cross across the Aveley six yard box. With Danny Francis tugging away Alfred Kamara, the centre back could only steer the ball into his own net to the delight of the travelling Tilbury fans behind the goal.
With manager Gardner shouting at his players to believe they could get back into the match, Aveley continued to press and create chances. Within a few minutes of going behind, Stevenson made Marrable tip over a free kick wide from the right and Cox’s day was summed up when from 15 yards he connected with nothing but thin air as the ball hit his standing leg before being cleared.
Tilbury had the chance to extend their lead through Francis after the striker found the ball at his feet on the left he carried the ball menacingly into the area before cutting back onto his right and releasing a fierce shot across the face of goal which was brilliantly saved by McCartney.
With the clock ticking down Aveley continue to put the away side under pressure and almost nicked a deserved point with their last attack of the game after Lee Sontag’s half volley from the left took a deflection before being saved brilliantly, low to his right, by Marrable.
A dejected Gardner after the match said “as you can see I’m very disappointed, we gave away two sloppy goals. I’ve got to look at the defence but as the manager I’ve got to look at myself…but again, how many chances have we created today?”
He continued by saying “like I said to the forwards it’s a good thing (creating chances) because the hardest thing in football is to create chances, but we just can’t keep giving charity goals away.”
Junior Dadson said the feeling in the dressing room after the match of “pure disappointment” but when talking about the Redbridge game on Tuesday Dadson said that “The only way to be is to be positive, pick yourself up mentally and everything, have good preparation for the game and just go again.”
Aveley: Dave McCartney, Carl Patten, Lee Sontag, Jack Stevenson, Jay Leader, Alfred Kamara (Ricky Edwards 72’), Marc Sontag, Shane Oakley (Billy Holland 57’), Jordan Cox, Paul Burnett, Junior Dadson (Junior Appiah 81’)
