After the disappointment of Saturday’s defeat to Heybridge, Gardner’s side started brightly but went behind against the run of play when Matt Gulfer scored direct from a free kick.

From then on Aveley failed to muster much in the way of goal scoring chances and the writing was on the wall when Elbi – who had only been on the field for 14 minutes – was sent off for an apparent stamp on Matt Waldron.

The hosts took full advantage of their extra man and secured what could be a vital three points in their fight against relegation when substitute Calvin Poku curled a delightful second in injury time.

It was a bad day at the office for Justin Gardner and his side who will now likely be without Elbi for up to seven matches following his second red card for violent conduct in a week.

But after not being able to back up their win against Thurrock with a positive result against Heybridge on Saturday, Gardner’s made four changes to his side to face Barkingside who were in the midst of a relegation tussle.

Jay Leader returned from a three game absence with a broken nose to partner Glen Golby in the centre of defence, with Brian Okwera reverting to his normal role in midfield.

Lee Weemes and Oyetunji Oyewale replaced Elbi and Kyle Asante, with Joseph Tabiri making his full debut in place of Nathan Koranteng.

And with Gardner looking for a reaction from his side following the defeat two days prior, his side started the game quite quickly with Oyewale having a shot blocked inside the first minute.

The Millers kept their early tempo up and Paul Burnett almost caught out Chris Clark in the Barkingside goal with his corner that was tipped onto the crossbar before being cleared off the line.

Moments later and Tabiri sliced an effort from distance harmlessly wide when he should have done better in what had been a bright start for the away side.

But having been the better team for the opening quarter of an hour, the Millers fell behind to Barkingside’s first real effort on Stevie Sutton’s goal.

A free kick was awarded just outside the area for a foul on Matt Gulfer by Okwera. From the resulting free kick Gulfer – Barkingside’s captain – curled the ball up and over the wall and into the bottom corner with Sutton unable to get enough of a hand on it to keep it out.

The goal was a sickener for Gardner’s side as the goal had come completely against the run of play, but the Millers reacted well to going behind and were getting joy down both flanks without being able to find the final ball.

Barkingside weren’t having the same issues and should have been two ahead when Chaz Liddiard beat the offside trap. Sutton came haring off his line and managed to get just enough on the ball to deflect Liddiard’s strike wide of the post for a corner.

Aveley were continuing to take the game to their hosts, with the odd Barkingside effort sewn in, but the final ball was completely missing, especially from Aveley’s wide men.

Oyewale’s pace on the left was causing Barkingside problems and a ball over the top from Okwera saw him put on the afterburners to get away from his man, but the winger’s shot was comfortable for Clark.

But it was the hosts who were outshining Aveley in terms of cutting edge and Barkingside had a couple of great opportunities to increase their lead as they ended the half the stronger of the two.

Joe Ellul played in Steve Carvell down the left, with the striker getting to the by-line to flash a cross across the face of goal with no sky-blue shirt being able to apply a finishing touch.

And Ellul came close to scoring against the side he left Barkingside for earlier in the season when a corner from the right went right across the face of goal and was just missed by the diving centre half.

After both Leader and Weemes saw yellow early in the second half, Barkingside had the first clear chance of the second period when Gabriel Onireti wasn’t able to apply the finish to a drilled cross from the right.

Gardner’s side were still failing to find that elusive final ball and made a double change just after the hour mark with Asante and Elbi coming on for Weemes and Tabiri.

And the change coincided with Aveley creating their best change by a mile when Asante beat the full back for pace down the right and finally found a ball into the box.

But what his cut-back needed was a finish and Oyewale will be kicking himself that he wasn’t apply to put the ball in the back of the net from close range as Asante’s cross went through the legs of the Aveley number 11 and was desperately cleared.

At times the Millers were making life needlessly difficult for themselves by giving the ball away on a number of occasions. But they were starting to find inroads in behind the Barkingside back-line with Elbi unfortunate not to get a better contact on an Asante cut-back whilst under pressure.

As the game entered the last knockings, frustrations were starting to show and for Elbi his frustration boiled over when he was given a straight red card for an apparent stamp on Matt Waldron.

A long ball forward towards Elbi was being shielded by Waldron who went down under slight contact from the striker, winning a free kick. In the tangle of legs that followed Elbi appeared to leave his foot in on the centre half which was enough for the referee to brandish the red card.

It was Elbi’s second red in the space of a week and the striker will now face a lengthy absence from the side when his back to back suspensions kick in next week.

But that was the least of Gardner’s worries as the Millers boss sent on Mathias Bakare for Burnett as a last throw of the dice to try and snatch a point.

In the final minute the 10-men of Aveley had a late chance to get a decent delivery into the box when Asante was fouled by Ellul on the left touchline.

Bakare swung the ball into the near post towards Glen Golby, but Barkingside cleared comfortably before trying to spring a counter-attack.

And just into injury time Asante came within a whisker of getting an arguably undeserved equaliser when he got the wrong side of Ellul and flashed a shot inches past the post and into the side netting.

But two minutes into the four added on Barkingside’s wrapped up the victory when substitute, Calvin Poku, scored a delightful second.

Cutting inside from the right, the substitute struck a curling effort with the outside of his right boot past Sutton and in to send Gardner’s home with more questions than answers following back to back defeats.

After the full time whistle, assistant manager Mickey Leslie said “Barkingside battled harder than us, showed more commitment, a lot more fight, and on this particular night we didn’t do ourselves any favours.

“I think we can do a whole lot better and the players know that. It was just one of those things – an off day.

“We didn’t get going and that was it. It looked like it was going to be a 1-0 game and we kept on pushing trying to get back into the game and right at the end we let ourselves down.”

Aveley: Stevie Sutton, Adetayo Osifuwa, Taylor Nathaniel, Jay Leader, Glen Golby, Brian Okwera, Paul Burnett (Mathias Bakare 82’), Billy Holland (c), Lee Weemes (Petrit Elbi 63’), Joseph Tabiri (Kyle Asante 63’), Oyetunji Oyewale