The Millers did everything but score, with Alex Read missing a hat-trick of chances in the first half.

Whenever they did manage to find the target they more often than not found Jake Winchup in the Waltham Abbey goal, who stood up well and made a number of good saves.

The more chances Aveley missed the more likely it was that Abbey were going to make them pay and so it proved as with their one and only real chance in either half Dean Green volleyed well past Andre Foster after being played in over the top.

Despite Aveley continuing to create chances in the second half they just couldn’t find the break through as the Abbey back line held firm and came away from Mill Field with all three points.

With Grays Athletic beating Heybridge Swifts last night it meant that tonight’s game was essentially academic for the Millers as they had already secured a play-off spot with two games to go.

‘Momentum’ was the buzz word going round the players and staff at Mill Field on a night that was being hosted by the Kick It Out campaign, and there was a relaxed and almost celebratory atmosphere in the air as Justin Gardner’s side looked to build that momentum in their final two regular season games.

Even as the teams lined up for the pre-match handshake in their commemorative Kick It Out shirts, ‘Miller the Gorilla’, Aveley’s mascot, and Waltham Abbey’s Dean Green even had a little play-fight – relaxed was almost an understatement.

The Millers, in front of their second biggest crowd of the season, started the game well and created a couple of early chances.

A floated cross from right to left by Junior Appiah had Jake Winchup flying off his line and in no-mans-land. Jay Leader beat Winchup to the ball but couldn’t direct his header on target with the goal gaping after eight minutes.

A couple of minutes later and Winchup was forced into a smart save low to his right when Petrit Elbi was played in by Jack Stevenson from the right. Unlike Monday night it was Stevenson who this time played it into Elbi who struck towards the bottom corner, but his low effort was turned away to safety.

Alex Read will be disappointed not to have hit the target just past the quarter hour mark after getting the wrong side of the Abbey back line. The Millers number nine – brought in in place of the suspended Jordan Cox – dragged his shot wide of Winchup’s near post in the clearest chance so far.

Aveley were starting to rack up the opportunities and if Read was disappointed to have missed his first chance, this one would have wound him up further.

Neat build-up play, once again down the right, between Appiah and Elbi saw the ball flashed across the box. Winchup flapped at the cross leaving Read at the far post to head into an empty net but his header was weak allowing the Abbey goalie to recover and grab the ball on the line.

The more chances the Millers spurned the more you thought they’d be made to pay, but they were by far the most threatening side in the first half of hour of this contest as the atmosphere continued to bubble along and Abbey failing to cause too many concerns of their own.

However, Aveley’s failure to be clinical in front of goal was to come back and haunt them as with their first incisive move the away side took the lead through Dean Green.

A neat little lob over the Aveley back line saw Green the wrong side of Leader, and the Abbey striker took the ball out of the air first time to power home a volley past Andre Foster to give them the lead after 34 minutes.

Green took great pleasure in celebrating in front of the Aveley fans who had congregated behind the goal like they did on Monday night, standing there arms wide, although his celebration did see him into the referee’s notebook.

Despite the set-back the Millers continued to apply the pressure and had two quick chances just before the break to grab an equaliser.

Firstly Read and Appiah played some neat football in the centre seeing Appiah one on one with Winchup. The Aveley winger lifted the ball over the goalkeeper but couldn’t get it past the recovering defender.

From the clearance, Appiah tried turning provider for Read, whipping a vicious ball in towards the far post which took Winchup out of the equation, but Read couldn’t direct his header on goal making it a hat-trick of chances missed by the Aveley number nine as the sides went into the break.

Different half, same result, as Read continued to frustrate in front of goal after being played in.

This time it was the frame of Winchup that kept the Millers striker out, and second half substitute Paul Burnett didn’t fare any better in a one on one with Winchup just a couple of minutes later, lifting the ball past the Abbey goalie but over the bar.

The chances kept coming for Aveley, but whenever they managed to find the target they found Winchup who this time tipped over Leader’s header from under his cross bar. From the resulting corner, Read found the ball at his feet but again but couldn’t find the target on the spin.

Past the hour mark the chances began to dry up for the home side as they continued to be frustrated by their visitors.

The introduction of Shane Oakley in place of Elbi couldn’t provide the spark the Millers needed to grab an equaliser as the game went into the final 10 minutes.

Read – who on a different night could have easily of had four to his name – trudged off with eight minutes remaining for Junior Dadson as Gardner took his final throw of the dice in search of a deserving equaliser.

Some quick thinking between Burnett and Sheldon Sellears almost created the break through as the two combined to take a quick corner. Burnett laid it off for the right back who struck towards Winchup’s near post first time, but the goalie wasn’t caught out and was again equal to it, turning it around the post for another corner.

It looked like Abbey were going to hold on to all three points as the referee indicated four minutes of added on time with Aveley doing everything other than find the goal.

There was still time for one final chance after Leader played a perfectly weighted ball into the path of Appiah. The wingers pace took him away from the left back but he couldn’t keep his shot down, sending the ball high and over as Aveley ended the evening in frustration.

After the match Justin Gardner still remained positive despite the result saying “we’ve created six or seven clear-cut chances. You can’t be hard on the strikers because they have those days where nothing does for them.”

He continued by saying “it’s frustrating because I do want to get to that 80 point mark, but we’ve got a chance on Saturday which would be a fantastic return for us.”

Despite the result tonight, Aveley are guaranteed a spot in the end of the season play-offs and when Gardner was asked to put into words how much of an achievement it was for Aveley to reach that target he said “we’re in the play-offs – wow – that’s a massive, massive, massive achievement, especially in our first full season. It’s a big achievement for us and we’re looking forward to it.”

Aveley: Andre Foster, Sheldon Sellears, Karl Blake, Jay Leader, Gbenga Sonuga (c), Danny Hopkins, Petrit Elbi (Shane Oakley 68’), Jack Stevenson, Alex Read (Junior Dadson 82’), Ade Cole (Paul Burnett 46’), Junior Appiah