Craig Bussens' goal after just six minutes set the tone for an awful afternoon for the visitors, with Bussens capitalising on a slip from Teddy Nesbitt to dink past Jack Giddens.

Luke Tuttle's thunderbolt was then followed up by a goal from Shaun Bammant as he latched onto another defensive lapse from the Millers to all but kill the tie off before half time.

There was some improvement from Justin Gardner's side in the second half, but it didn't stop the hosts from increasing their lead when Bammant smashed home unmarked at the far post to make it four.

Junior Appiah, who had earlier seen goalkeeper Andrew Wilton deny him with an expert point-blank save, continued his rich vein of scoring form by grabbing a consolation with just over five minutes remaining.

But in the final minutes of the match Aveley's misery was compounded when Bussens grabbed his second late on to inflict on the Millers their biggest defeat of the season.

The performance left Millers boss Gardner stunned in his post-match interview saying “if I don’t put it down to that – being a ‘bad day at the office’ – we’ll be here all night talking about individual errors.”

And after looking so solid and assured in the win over Erith & Belvedere just six days previously it was a total contrast in performances this time around, although the opening goal for the hosts came more out of misfortune than from any defensive frailties.

A low cross from left to right was flicked up and into the air by Jay Leader. The change of direction on the ball wrong footed Teddy Nesbitt who slipped whilst trying to turn, allowing Craig Bussens to nip in a loop the ball over the onrushing Jack Giddens after just six minutes.

It was a nightmare start for the Millers, but it appeared to set the tone for what was to ultimately be a disappointing afternoon.

Dereham, who were promoted as champions of the Thurlow Nunn League last season, had appeared to have found their feet at Ryman League level and were in a decent run of form having won three and drawn one of their previous four league outings.

And their confidence showed as they continued to threaten the Millers who themselves were unable to carve out any openings.

Prior to the win over Erith, Gardner went to watch Dereham play at Romford and noted that their forward men liked to strike from distance.

Any warnings he gave prior to kick off to his players weren’t quite enough as Dereham’s second came from that exact situation. Luke Tuttle received the ball 30 yards from goal and rocketed a strike past Giddens to double the host’s lead.

Tuttle’s cracking strike meant that Aveley now had a mountain to climb, but that mountain became that much steeper when Shaun Bammant made it three before the break to all but wrap up the points for the hosts.

A long ball over the top split Leader and Ryan O’Rawe too easily, allowing Bammant to steel a march on O’Rawe and slot past Giddens to round off a miserable 45 minutes for the visitors.

The second half saw a shift in personnel as Nesbitt swapped places with Derek Duncan and went into the centre of midfield, and after such an abject first half the Millers showed some improvement in the second period and created a couple of early chances, both falling to Junior Appiah.

The Aveley winger forced Andrew Wilton into making a comfortable save early in the second half. Then moments later Appiah latched onto a flick header from Aaron Gayle but he somehow couldn’t find a way past Wilton from close range.

If the Millers were to have any hope of salvaging something from this match it was imperative that they scored the next goal in this contest, but after Appiah’s missed opportunity at one end, Dereham put the final nail in the Millers coffin up the other end by adding a fourth through Bammant.

A short corner routine saw Tuttle get to the by-line before digging out a cross. The ball in was pushed up into the air by Giddens towards the far post where Bammant was stood unmarked to smash home the volley and make it 4-0.

To their credit Aveley continued to fight despite being four goals down and Appiah was unfortunate not to see his long range effort sneak in after being deflected and well saved by Wilton. Wilton then made a save from Gayle’s follow up before Rashid Kamara blazed over.

With the points all sown up, Wilton was on a mission to keep hold of his clean sheet and pulled off another good save, this time from Gayle, as he tipped over the striker’s header. But Aveley did eventually spoil Wilton’s clean sheet as Appiah found the net with five minutes remaining.

A long ball from the back found its way to Danny Hopkins who done well to evade his marker and bring the ball forward. The Millers captain then threaded a perfectly weighted ball into the path of Appiah who cut in onto his left to strike past Wilton to continue Aveley’s run of scoring of every competitive game this season.

There was, though, still time for another goal in this one and the final passage of play summed up the day for the Millers. Nesbitt cut inside brilliantly to curl one past Wilton only for it to come off the inside of the post and away. Less than a minute later Dereham scored a fifth.

An over-hit free kick from Aaron Kay found its way to Tuttle on the left wing. The striker crossed the ball back into the area to find Bussens unmarked to head home from close range and end a turbulent afternoon for Gardner’s men.

A dejected Gardner gave a frank and honest assessment of his side’s performance after the game.

The Millers boss said “I thought our whole midfield was flat today. There was no urgency, no energy.

“I’ve had to put our left back in centre-mid for the last 20 minutes and I thought he was the best player on the pitch after that. It’s hugely disappointing.

“Apart from their first goal, the other four goals we’ve gifted them. Even though the guy scored from 25 yards, top corner, I warned the players. I went and watched them (Dereham) last Saturday and I’m telling them exactly what they’re going to go and they go and do it. It’s just suicidal.”

Aveley: Jack Giddens, Danny Hopkins (c), Teddy Nesbitt, Jay Leader, Ryan O’Rawe, Ibrahim Manasary, Rashid Kamara, Aryan Tajbakhsh (Jason Twum 57’), Ade Yusuff (Aaron Gayle 17’), Derek Duncan (Sam Holloway 73’), Junior Appiah