Junior Dadson's goal two minutes from the end of normal time secured Justin Gardner's side a thoroughly deserved three points at Barrows Farm, but the Millers had to muster all their fight and character to get the win, having to come from 3-1 down.

Harlow opened the scoring early with a goal coming from Reece Dobson after just seven minutes which was cancelled out late in the first half by Paul Burnett's second of the season, sending the sides in level at the break.

The second half kicked off to a flyer when Harlow retook the lead thanks to Aaron Gayle's stunning effort just 15 seconds into the second half, with Harlow doubling their lead through a neatly worked free kick with Danny Brown applying the finish.

Two goals from debutante Jordan Cox levelled the match, his first a lovely guided header in off the post and his second the simplest of tap ins, and Junior Dadson completed the comeback for the away side as he was put clean through on goal from a defence splitting pass before drilling his strike into the bottom corner.

Keen to build on the performance from Saturday against Maldon, where Gardner and his side felt they deserved all three points from the game, the Millers’ manager named an unchanged starting 11 to start the game away at Harlow, and in the opening exchanges the away side were controlling the tempo of the game and looking the more threatening of the sides.

However, after seven minutes Harlow managed to take the lead through their first attack of the game. Striker Reece Dobson was allowed too easily to canter into the Aveley penalty area, but was being shepherd wide by Jay Leader. Dobson tried turning Leader but the Millers captain slipped as he turned, allowing Dobson the time and space to toe poke the ball home from close range to give the home side the lead.

Despite the setback, Aveley continued to control the pace of the game enjoying the majority of possession throughout the first half.

Their dominance of the ball allowed the away side to create a number of half chances with Paul Burnett, Junior Dadson, Mark Sontag and Shane Oakley all having efforts off target, with the Harlow goalkeeper only having to make one save from Oakley’s side foot volley, which was well held by Bert Bossu whilst diving to his right, in the opening half hour.

Aveley’s clearest opportunity game of the half came after 33 minutes when a perfectly weighted through ball through the heart of the Harlow back line put Oakley in the clear, but he could only manage to strike the ball straight at the advancing Bossu who made himself big to prevent the away side from grabbing a deserved equaliser.

As the half wore on it was looking more and more likely that Harlow were going to go into the break with a lead, until Burnett finally made the away side’s dominance count, grabbing an equaliser in the 42nd minute on the counter attack.

With Harlow attacking down the right hand side the ball was fizzed across the six yard box but cleared away by Ellis Sands who was stood by the front post. His clearance bounced over Oakley’s head and looked to be mopped up easily by centre back, Liam Thomas. Thomas though managed to catch the ball under his feet allowing Oakley to nick it away and put Aveley in a two on one situation. Oakley managed to slide a lovely weighted pass behind the last defender and into the path of Burnett who took one touch before slipping it between Bossu’s legs and in for 1-1.

Gardner would have been pleased with his side’s efforts going into the break and would have wanted his team to kick on as the second half approached, but any of the manager’s best-laid plans would have been thrown well and truly out the window as Harlow retook the lead just 15 seconds into the second half thanks to a wonder goal from Aaron Gayle.

Wide on the left and from at least 40 yards out, Gayle was faced with a bouncing ball that sat up perfectly for him to strike and with one swing of his right foot the ball arched over Dave McCartney and into the top corner to give Harlow a 2-1 lead.

Aveley were dumbstruck and just six minutes later their surprise turned into misery as they found themselves two goals down thanks to some slack defending from a free kick.

Harlow were awarded a free kick on the left hand edge of the 18 yard box after a soft foul was given for a foul on Jake Cass by Mark Sontag, who had reverted to right back for the second half. The free kick was played short by Mark Taylor to Danny Brown, and with the Aveley defenders not reacting quick enough to the danger, Brown was able to stroke the ball into the net from around the penalty spot to double the home side’s lead.

Despite arguably being the better side up until that point, Harlow’s clinical finishing had the Millers on the ropes, but they managed to gain themselves a lifeline as Jordan Cox reduced the deficit to one with 57 minutes played.

After one attack had broken down the ball fell to the feet of Marc Sontag wide on the right. Sontag arched a beautiful cross into the box and right onto the head of Cox who steered his header over the diving Bossu and in off the far past to make it 3-2 and put Aveley right back into the match-up.

But, after fighting their way back into the match, the away side were almost caught napping once again as Brown struck the post from a short corner similar to free kick that led to his goal, just two minutes after Cox had reduced the arrears and the let off was to prove costly.

With tackles flying in left, right and centre from both sides, the game started to get a little feisty and turned into a scrap for supremacy, which saw both Cox, Junior Dadson and Harlow’s Stanley Muguo see yellow for late challenges, but with the game edging towards its conclusion Aveley grabbed an equaliser through Cox’s second of the game.

With 81 minutes on the clock, Junior Appiah was played into the Harlow box off a neat reverse pass by Cox. Appiah's low cross was met by Dadson whose first time strike was blocked by Bossu, but the ball pin-balled kindly to Burnett who, with a defender flying it at him, had the presence of mind to find Cox, leaving the on-loan front man with the simple task of tapping in from close range to level the scores.

Going into the final few minutes both sides understandably went for the win. Harlow almost got what would probably have been the winner after a goal-mouth scramble saw McCartney pull of a brilliant point blank save before the ball was hacked away, but it was the away side that would complete the comeback and take away the points through Dadson’s 88th minute strike.

With Harlow attacking and still looking for a winner of their own, Burnett picked the ball up in the middle of the Aveley half before playing a defence splitting pass between Thomas and Brown. The ball took the slightest of nicks off one of them, moving the ball perfectly into the stride of Dadson whose pace took him away from the Harlow centre back pair with the winger lashing in his strike low and hard into the bottom corner to send the pocket of Aveley fans behind the goal wild and Gardner’s lads home with all three points.

After the game a jubilant Gardner said “I’m lost for words. We done a lot wrong today, but we done a lot right and to come back from 3-1 down, away from home: character.”

He continued by saying “the third goal we gave away, I couldn’t look at the team at all for 15 minutes because it was disgraceful. But, to come back from 3-1 down away from home to win 4-3, I’m lost for words; it’s just out of this world. They died for me out there, they never gave up.”

Aveley: Dave McCartney, Carl Patten (Jordan Cox 46'), Lee Sontag, Jack Stevenson, Jay Leader (c), Ellis Sands, Marc Sontag, Ricky Edwards (Sheldon Sellears 71'), Shane Oakley (Junior Appiah 79'), Paul Burnett, Junior Dadson