Curran’s three spot kicks plus two from former Miller Simon Thomas saw the Gulls comfortably through to round two of qualifying.

The Millers had taken the lead, albeit against the run of play, when Ross Wall slotted home after being played in by Shane Oakley.

But after a contentious penalty after half an hour levelled matters up is was mostly one way traffic as Canvey took control.

Thomas scored just before the break to send the away side in front and two further penalties in the second half from Curran lead to a straight forward afternoon.

Thomas added his second to complete the away side’s part of the scoring before Kabir Jeetoo added a consolation late on for Aveley with his first for the club.

Ultimately then it was an afternoon to forget for Aveley at Mill Field, and Justin Gardner and his players knew they were in for a battle when within the first 10 minutes Canvey had three good chances to open the scoring.

The first opportunity fell to Simon Thomas who struck the side netting. Moments later Michael Alaile will feel he should have done better heading over from a corner and Spencer Bellotti certainly should have scored after getting on the end of knock down only to blaze over the bar from four yards out.

With Canvey looking like the more dominant side it was certainly against the run of play when Aveley took the lead through their leading goal-scoring, Ross Wall.

After Nurudeen Kallon had intercepted a Canvey ball on the half way line, the ball found its way to Shane Oakley who played a delightful first-time pass into the path of Wall who slotted past Josh Vickers to give the home side a surprise lead.

Playing against a side from the tier above it was a priceless lead to have and gave Justin Gardner’s side a foothold in a match that up until that point they were struggling to participate in.

With the home side now in front it was up to the away side to apply the pressure and they quickly went about closing the ball down at every opportunity and wouldn’t allow Gardner’s side to dictate the tempo of the game.

But Canvey required a slice of fortune to get themselves back on level terms with a penalty on the half hour that was contentious at best.

Adam Flanagan was adjudged to have brought down Thomas in the area, but had appeared to have won the ball cleanly, with the referee’s assistant not raising his flag. The referee, Jonathan Block, thought otherwise and awarded the penalty which Jamie Curran successfully dispatched straight down the middle.

The goal had rocked Gardner’s side so it was imperative that they got into the break on level terms so they could regroup.

But it was something that the Millers were unable to achieve as moments after Sheldon Sellears forced Jack Giddens into palming his strike onto the bar, Thomas put the Gulls in front for the first time just before the interval.

A long ball from right to left was flicked on towards Ashley Dumas by Thomas. Dumas then clipped a ball into the centre where Thomas had carried on his run and the striker had time to chest the ball down before hitting a half-volley in off the post to make it 2-1 to the away side.

With just a goal in it, it was important that Gardner’s side did not conceded a third early on in the second half which would have killed off any hope of progression into the next round. But a rush of blood to the head of Jay Leader meant that there was to be no comeback as the centre half gave away the second penalty of the match.

After scything down Thomas inside the area, the referee had little choice but to award another spot kick. There was no debating this one as Curran dispatched his second of the game, once again blasting it down the middle.

With that goal it appeared that the belief had been sapped out of the Aveley players and the Millers were almost dealt more misery when Bellotti hit the post, capitalising on a mistake by Teddy Nesbitt.

The visitors didn’t have to wait too long though for their fourth as Nesbitt felled Emeke Onwubino just inside the area, giving Curran a chance for his third. The Gulls number seven, once again, blasted the ball down the middle to complete the unlikeliest of hat-tricks, all from the penalty spot.

There was still time for Canvey to add a fifth through Thomas, after he cut inside Flanagan and drilled his left foot shot inside Giddens’ near post.

Kabir Jeetoo did manage to grab himself his first goal for the club, but it was nothing but mere consolation for the Millers.

Wall got on the end of a quickly taken Junior Appiah free kick to lay the ball back for Jeetoo to tap in as the Canvey defence went to sleep, but it was an afternoon to forget as the Millers were unceremoniously dumped out of this season’s F.A. Cup.

Head Coach Glenn Robson said after the defeat “first half we restricted them to very little. Most of the players were doing their jobs that they were asked to do.”

“We didn’t have any creativity of our own, but we were always in the game. A goal either side for us of half time would have probably put us back involved in the game, but the penalty decision has absolutely killed us.”

Asked about the penalty decision in the first half which ultimately turned the game the way of the visitors, Robson said “the referee got it wrong. Simple as that.”

Aveley: Jack Giddens (c), Nurudeen Kallon, Teddy Nesbitt, Jay Leader, Adam Flanagan, Danny Hopkins, Mathias Bakare (Sammy Knott 84’), Michael Begg (Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe 68’), Shane Oakley (Junior Appiah 51’), Ross Wall, Kabir Jee