After Aaron Gayle had given the home side the lead after just six minutes it looked like Justin Gardner’s side were in for a routine win.

But after failing to convert any further chances in the first half they were punished when Tony Martin equalised in peculiar circumstances.

Martin sent a free kick towards goal which appeared to be comfortable for Jack Giddens, but the goalkeeper got his angles all wrong leaving the ball assuming it was going wide only for it to nestle in the back of the net.

After that the Millers failed to stamp any authority on the game. And although Ware didn’t look like grabbing a winner of their own, nor did Aveley.

Danny Hopkins had arguably the best chance to snatch a win when he skied over inside the penalty area and deep into injury time Chinedu McKenzie – making his Aveley debut – scuffed an effort into the hands of Kwame Fordah which all but summed up the afternoon for the home side.

In all, it was an afternoon to forget for Gardner and his team who wanted to build on their impressive win over Billericay in midweek with a positive result in the league.

But the Millers’ inconsistency once again reared its ugly head as they put in a similar performance to that that they did against bottom side Waltham Forest last month.

On that occasion two goals either side of the break was enough to cause an upset, but everything seemed to be going in the right direction when Aveley went ahead after only six minutes.

A threaded through-ball from Brian Okwera ran perfectly for Aaron Gayle who had stayed onside. The striker, who scored his first goal for the club on Tuesday night against Billericay, calmly slotted the ball past Kwame Fordah to put the home side in front.

It was the perfect of starts for Aveley and would have settled any lingering nerves against a side who on paper the Millers should beat comfortably.

But football isn’t played on paper and Ware battled manfully to stop Gardner’s side grabbing a second which, even at such an early stage, was likely to put the game out of site of the visitors.

With the stop start nature of the game, thanks to fouls left right and centre being intertwined with constant offsides, the game wasn’t allowed to flow with neither side able to get any sort of rhythm.

Aryan Tajbakhsh had the best chance to double Aveley’s advantage, and if it wasn’t for some last ditch defending from Nick Burtenshaw who done well to block Tajbakhsh’s effort he may well have put the home side two up.

However, just past the half hour mark Aveley were punished for their inability to turn the screw as Ware drew level, although Jack Giddens will not want to be reminded about how it came about.

A free kick on the far left was given after Danny Hopkins blocked off Tony Martin. Martin took the resulting free kick which was sent towards goal and appeared to be a routine stop for Giddens, but instead found the back of the net.

It appeared that the Millers goalkeeper thought the ball was going wide, when instead it went inside the post and levelled the match to the bemusement of the few inside Mill Field.

It was a shock to the system for Aveley who had hardly been troubled up until that point and now they were required to go again to find a way back in front.

Junior Appiah – who had all but gone to Chelmsford before performing a U-turn earlier in the week – had a low effort blocked and Tajbakhsh went close with a free kick on the edge of the box but failed to hit the target.

Gardner sent his side out early in the second half in the hope that what instructions he had given them would cause a reaction from his side who were in desperate need of a win to keep in touch with the play-off chasers.

But in the second half Aveley lacked any cutting edge, which is something that has been missing in a number of games this season.

The final ball was going astray as well as the Millers laboured and struggled to break down a dogged Ware defence.

It wasn’t until beyond the hour mark till Aveley managed a meaningful effort on goal when Chinedu McKenzie got on the end of a low cross from Tajbakhsh only to shoot over the bar.

Danny Hopkins knows he should have done better when a Siao Blackwood long throw was flicked on and fell to the central midfielder inside the area. But he, like McKenzie, blazed over.

Although Ware never looked like threatening to grab a winner of their own and cause a shock win just like Waltham Forest had done earlier in the season, they continued to defend manfully, holding Aveley off.

At one point they even brought on their substitute goalkeeper to play out field when Rhys Madden was sent on in place of the goal-scorer, Martin. But even then Aveley couldn’t find the breakthrough.

Deep, deep into stoppage time the Millers carved out one final chance to snatch what arguably would have been an undeserved three points when the ball found its way to McKenzine on the edge of the area, but the striker – who signed from Waltham Forest earlier in the week – dragged his shot harmlessly into the hands of Fordah.

That final opportunity all but summed up Aveley’s disappointing afternoon as they slipped to 12th in the league, nine points off the play-off places and looking forward to facing former Millers, Alex Read and Junior Dadson’s Harlow Town next Saturday.

Aveley: Jack Giddens, Siao Blackwood, Sam Holloway, Jay Leader, Gbenga Sonuga (c), Danny Hopkins (Dean Pennant 74’), Rashid Kamara (Chinedu McKenzie 57’), Brian Okwera, Aaron Gayle, Aryan Tajbakhsh, Junior Appiah (Jason Twum 67’)