Justin Gardner felt the draw was a fair result at full time, but in truth it would have been harsh on the visitors if they would have come away from Mill Field without anything to show for their efforts after dominating the first half, hitting the bar and having two cleared off the line.

The second half started in much the same vain, but after Petrit Elbi and Jack Stevenson were introduced Aveley began to finally take a foothold in the match up.

Without being able to muster a shot on target themselves, the Millers were gifted a huge slice of luck in order to take the lead when Lewis Tozer turned the ball into his own net after Paul Burnett fired across a cross from the left.

It looked to have been the most classic of smash-and-grabs from the home side, but with two minutes of four added on played at the end of game Tyrus Gordon-Young bundled home from a corner from close range to level the scores.

There was still time for new-boy Alex Read to potentially have the final say and steal all three points for the Millers, turning in the box brilliantly before curling an effort towards the top corner that was spectacularly tipped onto the bar and over by Rob Budd.

With a play-off place still not secured, today’s match against fellow play-off hopefuls Thamesmead took on huge significance for Justin Gardners side, especially ahead of a Easter Monday clash with Grays Athletic on the horizon it was important that Aveley got something from this match.

It was the third time these two sides have met this season after meeting earlier in the season in the league as well as the Ryman League Cup Quarter Finals, both times with Aveley coming off the wrong end of defeat in a 3-2 loss in the league and penalty defeat in the cup.

The Millers were looking to make it third time lucky against the side Justin Gardner described as the best Aveley have played all season, but it appeared that the most recent weather enforced break took its toll on the Millers who were lethargic in the opening half.

Thamesmead looked by far the fresher of the two sides and were just a matter of inches away from taking a very early two goal lead.

Stuart Zanone would have felt he should have done better in the Millers six yard box when he failed to connect with a knock down from a corner. His scuffed effort was cleared off the line by Teddy Nesbitt only for Zanone to get a second bite of the cherry that was saved on the line by Andre Foster.

The goalkeeper wouldn’t have known much about it as the shot came through a crowd of players, but despite appeals from the Mead players that the ball had crossed the line the score remained goalless.

A few moments later and it was a the woodwork that saved the Millers this time around when neat interplay between Zanone and Baff Addae saw Addae’s effort smash the face of the bar before being cleared.

It was a first half utterly dominated by the away side and they had another chance cleared off the line before the break, when Foster ambitiously came for a corner.

The goalkeeper got underneath the ball allowing captain Lewis Tozer to head towards an empty net only to see his opposition captain, Billy Holland scramble it off the line as the sides went in level at half time.

Aveley could feel fortunate that they went into the break on level terms after Thamesmead’s dominance, but the longer the match remained at 0-0 the more you felt Aveley could steal something from this match.

The second half began in the much the same vain that the first half had been played with Aveley still not managing to manufacturer a shot on target, but the Millers defence remained firm as Foster was hardly called upon either at the other end.

Rob Carter threatened to open the scoring for the away side just past the hour mark. His first attempt was all his own making after wriggling left and right to make space for a shot which flashed across Foster’s goal with no one able to get a telling deflection.

His second effort from the edge of the area had Foster diving anxiously to his left, but narrowly missed the far post as Thamesmead continued to look the more likely to open the scoring.

Something had to be done to turn the tide so Justin Gardner rang the changes with just under a third of the match remaining bringing on Petrit Elbi and Jack Stevenson for Junior Appiah and Rashid Kamara, and from that point Aveley started to get a foothold in the match.

Alex Read, who was playing up front on his own initially due to the absence of Jordan Cox, was unfortunate not to have at least tested Rob Budd in the Thamesmead goal when a cross from the right was just behind the Millers’ newest signing and he couldn’t wrap his foot around the ball enough to divert it on target.

Holland was the next Aveley player to chance his arm, this time from distance, with his strike taking a deflection, just evading the Thamesmead woodwork.

But with four minutes of normal time remaining this match that had ran short of clear goal-scoring opportunities sparked very much into life in a frantic finale.

A poor clearance from substitute Tyrus Gordon-Young fell straight to Danny Hopkins just inside the Thamesmead half. The midfield man had time and space to pick out a looping pass into the path of Paul Burnett who had made a run down the left hand side.

Without much to aim at, Burnett smashed a cross across the face of goal which was just begging for a nick to divert it into the net and that duly came from the outstretched leg of Tozer who diverted the ball into his own net, off the bar, to give the home side the lead.

On the balance of play in the second half it was arguably a deserved lead earned by the home side, but after all their efforts in the opening 45 minutes it was a hammer blow to Thamesmead.

With the referee indicating a minimum of four minutes of added time to be played, the away side went all out to try and recover something from the match and with two minutes of added time played they got just that.

Goalkeeper Budd came up for the corner that was swung into the danger area by Jack Hopkins. Andre Foster was penned in on his line by a sea of blue and green shirts in front of him and was unable to put any pressure on the cross which was headed down towards goal by Lea Dawson.

The header downwards fell to Gordon-Young - the culprit for Aveley’s goal – to make amends from inches out sparking jubilant scenes between those in green.

It appeared to have been the final act of this crazy final few minutes, but there was still chance for yet another twist, falling to Read late, late on.

A cross from the right from Elbi, managed to pick out Read who was surrounded by green shirts. The Aveley striker created space brilliantly to strike towards goal, with his effort destined for the top corner only for Budd to throw out a right hand to tip the ball onto the bar and over.

The resulting corner came to nothing as the final whistle blew and the points were shared.

After the match, Justin Gardner said “before we scored, a draw probably was a fair result, but to be 1-0 up with four minutes to go at home you expect to hold onto that lead. You’ve got to give credit to Thamesmead, they kept going…you’ve got to be praising the teams that are positive going forward.”

Aveley man of the match, Danny Hopkins felt that it was a case of two points dropped rather than one point gained saying “it took us 60 minutes to start playing, but when we did I felt we were the better team and feel that it’s two points lost.”

Looking ahead to the game on Monday against league leaders Grays Athletic, asked if Gardner expected an improved performance than today’s he swiftly responded with “it’ll have to be, otherwise we’re in trouble.”

Aveley: Andrew Foster, Marcus Rose, Teddy Nesbitt, Jay Leader, Spencer Harrison, Danny Hopkins, Rashid Kamara (Petrit Elbi 62’), Billy Holland (c), Alex Read, Paul Burnett (Gbenga Sonuga 90’), Junior Appiah (Jack Stevenson 71’)