Read came off the bench at half time to tap in the winner after 51 minutes after brilliant work from man of the match Junior Appiah down the right hand touchline.

The Millers welcomed back Jordan Cox after a two game suspension and he was quickly back on the score sheet bundling home after seven minutes from a Atu Ngoy fumble before Tom Richardson levelled proceedings from a spot after a foul on him by Bradley Thomas.

Despite some late pressure from the away side Aveley held firm with Jack Giddens – returning to replace the ill Andre Foster - hardly tested for what was to be a morale boosting win for the home side.

Manager Justin Gardner wanted a reaction from his players after the demolition job Needham Market performed on them on Saturday, and they got off to the perfect start taking the lead as early as the seventh minute.

A free kick in a central position was drilled towards goal by Petrit Elbi. The strike split the wall all too easily and went straight down the throat of Atu Ngoy in the Romford goal, but Ngoy inexplicably fumbled the shot. Jordan Cox – returning to the side after a two game suspension – was quickest to react showing his predatory instincts to bundle the ball past Ngoy an in to give the Millers the lead.

The goal was a landmark goal for the Millers as it was their 100th goal in all competitions, so it was probably fitting that leading scorer Cox should score it, but it was to be one of few chances for either side in the first half, which was full of attacking threat but not much in terms of clinical finishing.

Romford reacted well to the goal but lacked the clinical edge to grab an equaliser, coming closest when Tyler Christian-Law whipped a dangerous ball into the area after Marcus Rose brought down Jamie Dicks.

The ball was played low, behind the defensive line and almost diverted in by Paul Clayton with his knee, but the centre half couldn’t quite divert it inside of Jack Giddens’ post as Aveley remained in front.

The referee was infuriating the Romford fans inside Mill Field, giving a number of decisions for the home side but not so much for the visitors, and when the ball skipped up off the turf and suspiciously against the arm of Bradley Thomas from a Dicks cross, the referee’s decision not to award a penalty just annoyed them further.

Their misery would have been compounded further if Cox had of taken a chance laid on a plate to him by Junior Appiah just seconds later. Appiah, who was causing left back Joe Oates all sorts of misery down the right hand side, cushioned a perfectly weighted ball into the path of Cox, but his first time strike went straight at Ngoy who spread himself well to block the shot.

Whereas referee Atkins had failed to give Romford a penalty for a possible handball by Thomas, with less than 10 minutes of the half remaining the referee did award the away side a way back into the match from the spot when Thomas was adjudged to have brought down Tom Richardson on the by-line.

It appeared Thomas was a little unfortunate as he looked to have won the ball with Richardson going down very easily, but the Romford striker brushed himself off to slot home the penalty, sending Giddens the wrong way to level it up after 37 minutes which is how it stayed until the break.

The second half saw the introduction of the new boy Alex Read, replacing Ade Cole, and it took him just six minutes to show why Justin Gardner was so eager to snap him up from Brentwood as he put the home side back in front, applying the finishing touch to a classic counter attack.

Thomas found his way into the referee’s notebook after blocking off Richardson as he carried the ball forward wide right. The resulting free kick was poorly executed and was cleared easily by Aveley who worked it out quickly to Appiah.

The tricky winger shifted the ball past his marker to create enough space for a cross which he played devilishly across the face of goal just begging for someone to get on the end of it. Read was there at the far post to apply the finish the cross had been searching for and the home side were back in front after 51 minutes.

It was the perfect way for Read to see in his debut, but there was still a lot of work still to be done as Romford pushed for an equaliser.

Romford’s goal scorer, Richardson, was proving to be a constant threat for the away side and just before the hour mark he managed to get away from Teddy Nesbitt down the right before drilling in a low cross towards Kurt Smith, but Smith’s instinctive prod towards goal was deflected wide by Leader for the first of a succession of corners.

Aveley continued to create chances of their own as they searched for a decisive third goal with Cox, Elbi and Read all having shots at goal charged down within seconds of each other just past the hour mark.

As the game headed towards its conclusion Romford continued to press the Millers back, but they were unable to create anything that they would deem as a clear chance as the home side continued to hold firm.

The closest the away side came was in added on time when Richardson once again got free down the right, clipping in a low cross which took Giddens out of the equation, but Marcus Rose was on hand to clear the danger heading away for a corner which eventually came to nothing as Aveley held on for all three points.

After the game manager Justin Gardner gave his views on a hard fought win saying “Romford don’t give you nothing, if you don’t fight and put your heart on it you’re not going to get anything from Romford. We had to match them second half, I don’t think first half we matched them for work rate, but second half I thought we were superb all over the park.”

Debutante and match winner Alex Read was understandably delighted to get on the score sheet in his first game for the club and said afterwards “I think it’s important that we got three points first, but getting an early goal playing for Aveley has done me a favour I think, confidence is buzzing”

He continued saying “I think as a team we played well. I think we could have done better, could have given them a good hiding. They battled well but I thought we were the better team on the day by far.”

Talking about Alex and his winner, Gardner said “that’s what he does. That’s his 30th goal of the season and to have him and Jordan (Cox) and Pet (Elbi) and Shane Oakley to come back it’s frightening. He’s just given us a massive boost just at the right time.”

Aveley: Jack Giddens, Marcus Rose, Teddy Nesbitt, Jay Leader, Bradley Thomas (Spencer Harrison 62’), Danny Hopkins, Petrit Elbi, Billy Holland (c), Jordan Cox (Jack Stevenson 85’), Ade Cole (Alex Read 46’), Junior Appiah