After a quiet first half, two goals in the space of eight second half minutes from Jordan Cox and Jay Leader looked to be sending Aveley through to the last eight.

Just two minutes after Leader had doubled the away side's advantage it was cut back to one after Lea Dawson headed in from an Ashley Proberts corner, and with 20 minutes left on the clock a smashing goal from Stuart Zanone sent the tie to penalties.

Shane Oakley was first to step up, but his effort was saved by Robert Budd. All four of Thamesmead's penalty takers converted their spot-kicks, before Ellis Sands saw his penalty go the same way as Oakley's, with the home side scraping through to the quarter finals.

Coming off the back of their fifth straight win in league and cup, Justin Gardner was keen to maintain that winning momentum and named a strong starting eleven to face Thamesmead, who boasted the fifth best defence in the league this season.

Despite having one of the best defences in the league, Thamesmead are also one of the lowest scorers in the division, so with that in mind, it came as no surprise that the first half was a tight and tense affair with very few chances of note.

The closest either side came to opening the deadlock was in the 36th minute when a free kick wide on the left from Sheldon Sellears was whipped in and headed towards goal by Jordan Cox, only for the Aveley striker to see his header brilliantly tipped around the post by Robert Budd in the Mead net.

Prior to that, Thamesmead’s best openings came from defensive slip ups with two short back passes almost putting Jack Giddens in trouble, but other than that it was a quiet first half for the Aveley stopper who wasn’t called into action until the 40th minute when Stuart Zanone was clear of the Millers back line. Giddens dived at the feet of Zanone as he prodded the ball towards goal, getting his body in the way of the strike and diverting it away for a corner.

With opportunities at a premium it was no surprise that the sides went in level at the break, with both teams requiring an improvement in the final third to break the deadlock.

Into the second half and it was the home side who had the first shot in anger as Lea Dawson flashed a shot from the edge of the area wide after a pull back from Jack Hopkins, but with just over 10 minutes gone in the second half the deadlock was broken as the away side took the lead.

A hotly disputed free kick was given wide on the right hand side for handball by Hopkins with the free kick being taken by Sellears.

The Aveley midfielder whipped the cross into a dangerous area, picking out Cox at the far post who headed home from close range to give Aveley the lead after 56 minutes.

The goal was just what the game needed to spark it into life, and just eight minutes later the away side doubled their advantage from another set-piece goal.

It was Paul Burnett’s turn this time to whip the ball in from the left as the Aveley winger stepped up to take the corner. The ball was played into a dangerous area towards the far post once more, with the ball, this time, finding Leader who powered home his header to make it 2-0 with 64 minutes played.

With a two goal cushion to protect, Gardner and his team would have hoped that they could go on to keep their second clean-sheet of the week to ensure their passage through to the last eight of the competition. But just a couple of minutes after going two in front, their lead was halved as Dawson scored for the home side to get them back in the tie.

It was the third goal of the game to come from a set piece, with the corner being played in from the left hand side by Ashley Proberts. Dawson rose highest to glance his header in past Giddens from the centre of the six yard box to make it 2-1 with almost 25 minutes left of normal time to play.

The goal gave the home side the initiative and with plenty of time to seek out an equaliser the Aveley back line began to come under some increased pressure.

Aveley would have felt fortunate not have found themselves level after 70 minutes when Sean Roberts blazed over from a good scoring position, and just moments later Chris Edwards had a goal-bound effort cleared off the line.

However, the reprieve was short-lived as with quarter of an hour left before the final whistle, Thamesmead levelled the scores with a sublime finish by Zanone.

A long free kick from inside the Thamesmead half was floated from right to left by Proberts. The flight of the ball deceived Leader who was caught underneath it, allowing the ball to float through to Zanone, but with the striker going further and further wide of the goal. It wasn’t to matter, though, as the Thamesmead striker crashed a half volley across goal that came off the underside of the bar and in to level the scores.

With both sides staring down the barrel of a penalty shoot-out, Aveley managed to create three late chances to steal the win.

With five minutes remaining, Burnett brought the ball forward from the left hand touchline before dinking a delightful ball over the Thamesmead backline that found Cox in front of goal. All the Aveley frontman had to do was steer the ball towards goal but he side footed it well, well wide.

Two minutes later, Budd in the Thamesmead net produced a stunning fingertip save from a Teddy Nesbitt free kick, tipping the ball onto the bar and away for a corner.

And deep into stoppage time another clipped ball over the top from a free kick wide of the left found Cox again. The striker played the ball across goal towards Leader who couldn’t wrap his foot around the ball enough to send it goal-wards with the match ending all square.

With no extra time in the Ryman League Cup, the game went straight to penalties with the away side stepping up first, with joint top goal-scorer Shane Oakley taking the first spot kick. The second half sub’s effort, though, wasn’t quite in the corner as Budd guessed correctly and saved low to his right.

After that, successful penalties were converted by Proberts, Lew Tozer, Zanone and Budd himself for the home side. Cox, Nesbitt and Burnett all scored their penalties before Ellis Sands stepped up to take Aveley’s fifth penalty needing to score to keep the away side in it. However, Sands’ effort was saved by the legs of Budd sending the home side through.

Aveley: Jack Giddens, Ellis Sands, Teddy Nesbitt, Jay Leader, Luke Wilson (c), Petrit Elbi (Scott Curley 67’), Rashid Kamara (Danny Hopkins 77’), Sheldon Sellears, Jordan Cox, Paul Burnett, Junior Appiah (Shane Oakley 84’)