Tony Stokes’ fine first half strike gave the Dockers the lead at the break in front of a strong 397 crowd, before a Brian Moses penalty eight minutes from time doubled their advantage, and Cameron Brodie added a late third to seal a disappointing night at the office for the Millers.

Manager Keith Rowland made one change from the side which progressed in the FA Trophy at the weekend, with Jack Mochalski coming in to replace the unavailable Freddie Gard, while new signing from Brightlingsea Regent Morishi Gelashvili was named amongst the substitutes along with youngster Jack Chawner.

The opening chance of the game fell the way of the visitors when Aveley failed to clear their lines and with the ball bouncing around in the box Lee Noble spurned a good opportunity by firing wide of David Hughes’ goal.

Aveley worked their way into the game and a ball over the top was only cleared straight to Bradley Sach by Dockers goalkeeper Harry Girling. However, the striker fired wide and opportunity went begging.

Some lovely play from the hosts saw George Sykes and Alex Clark force another good opening but Girling did well to deny the latter with his low shot from just inside the box.

However, the next major attack saw the visitors break the deadlock on 21 minutes and it was a fine strike too.

The ball fell to Tony Stokes outside the box and the attacked had plenty of time to curl the ball into the top corner, with little Hughes could do to deny the former Grays man his first goal in a Dockers shirt.

The hosts were struggling to make inroads in the Tilbury defence from that moment on and Mochalski tried his luck from distance. Girling could only parry the effort out, but the visitors reacted the quickest and were able to clear their lines.

Chances were at a premium as the half drew to a close, but Sykes failed to test Girling when he received the ball from a long punt forward by Hughes, and took a couple of nice touches before firing high and wide of the goal.

Half time | Aveley 0-1 Tilbury

The Millers made one change at the break with Gelashvili making his debut in place of James Goode.

Set pieces seemed to be the main source of Aveley’s early second half attacks, with Steve Sheehan warming the hands of Girling as he directed Clark’s free kick goalwards with 52 minutes on the clock.

Sheehan was in the thick of the action in the attacking third as another Clark set piece fell to him in the box but his shot was deflected away from danger, with the Millers appeals for handball waved away by the referee Gerry Heron.

Sach directed another Clark delivery straight at Girling, but that was as good as it got for the hosts who struggled to cause the Tilbury backline any further danger.

Jack Mochalski was the first player to be cautioned in the match with just under a quarter of an hour to go, as several niggling tackles from the visitors went without a booking, much to the frustration of the Millers faithful.

The visitors then doubled their lead, and effectively sealed the win when they were awarded a penalty eight minutes from time.

Lewis Smith got his shot away at the back post, but was caught by a late tackle from George Winn, and Heron pointed to the spot.
Moses made no mistake from the spot, despite Hughes going the right way.

And the visitors added further gloss to the win with just four minutes left on the clock as Cameron Brodie fired a fierce shot past Hughes to seal the victory for the Dockers, who remain on top spot of the league, while it meant the hosts have lost back-to-back home league games.

The Millers will be hoping to show a positive reaction at the weekend when they host Witham Town at Parkside.

Full time | Aveley 0-3 Tilbury

Aveley XI | David Hughes, Jason Ring, George Winn, Connor Witherspoon, Harry Gibbs, Steve Sheehan, Bradley Sach, James Goode (Morishi Gelashvili HT), George Sykes, Jack Mochalski (George Allen 84’), Alex Clark.

Unused substitute: Jack Chawner.

Cautions | Jack Mochalski 76’.

Tilbury XI | Harry Girling, Ryan Boswell (Oli Spooner 83’), Eljay Worrell, Cameron Brodie, Darren Phillips, Lee Burns, Tony Stokes (Charlie Kendall 67’), Lee Noble, Brian Moses, Ola Ogunwamide (Marlon Agyakwa 87’), Lewis Smith.

Unused substitutes | Thomas Barton, Brendan Ocran.

Cautions | Lee Noble 85’

Goals | Tony Stokes 21’, Brian Moses 82’ pen, Cameron Brodie 86’.

Attendance | 397