The first half was an end to end affair in the beaming sunshine on the south coast but neither team would really create clear cut chances to break the deadlock.

Ryan Scott had a chance but he headed over from close range. Alex Akrofi almost broke the deadlock five minutes after the Scott chance, after some great interchange he fired just wide of the post.

Just before the break both sides had a great chance, first it was the hosts who were denied by a point blank save from David Hughes. With the last kick of the first half Alex Akrofi and Benas Vaivada combined and saw the latter fire towards goal but Rogers in the Hastings goal was equal to it to keep it out.

Half Time | Hastings United 0-0 Aveley.

We didn’t have to wait long for the opener in the second half and it was our newest signing Bryan Ifeanyi, who joined from Colchester United, who latched onto pinball in the Hastings box to find the bottom left hand corner to send the travelling Millers into raptures. Hastings United 0-1 Aveley.

We went looking for a second to put the game out of reach of the hosts but debutante Benas Vaivada had his shot on goal blocked and scrambled away by the hosts.

On the 69th minute the hosts pulled themselves back level as former Ipswich and Grays Athletic forward Kai Brown forced the ball home off the post. Hastings United 1-1 Aveley.

As time ticked away it looked like both sides would have to settle for an opening day point but The Millers had other ideas. A free-kick was drifted into the box, it looked to have been going out but Garrett Kelly was rewarded for his persistence as he headed towards goal, it smacked the spot, landed to central defender Ryan Scott who was on the spot to tap in with his left foot to spark wild scenes in the away end.

There was still more drama to come as Ryan Scott was shown two yellow cards in quick succession followed by a red card deep into added time. But despite going down to ten men, The Millers secured all three points.

Full Time | Hastings United 1-2 Aveley
Brown 69 - Ifeanyi 48, Scott 90

Yellow cards | Hastings 3-4 Aveley
O’Mara 37, Hasler 86, Pope 90 - Kelly 74, Stephen 84, Scott 90+1 & 90+4

Red Cards | Hastings 0-1 Aveley
Scott 90+4