The Millers boss said afterwards that "for the first time I can say tonight that I'm really looking forward to next season" having watched his side fall to their fifth defeat in six this April.

With traffic problems causing a number of the players and coaching staff to be late to the game there was little time to prepare which Maldon capitalised on by taking the lead through Leon McKenzie inside 10 minutes.

Although Lee Weemes equalised when Jack Giddens was unable to hold onto the strikers initial effort, Maldon went on to lead 3-1 at the break thanks to goals from Junior Appiah and Ollie Berquez.

Paul Seymour then put the gloss on the score line late on before Jay Leader saw red for a second yellow card on an utterly miserable night for the Millers.

The last time Aveley visited Park Drive they were riding the crest of a wave that had gotten them into the play-off semi-finals a year on from being relegated from the Ryman Premier division.

Although the Millers went on to lose the tie 3-1 that night, Justin Gardner was immensely proud of what his side had achieved that season.

This time around though Gardner stood motionless at the full time whistle as he looked over at his fallen charges on what had truly been a night to forget.

With all the bad luck that has befallen Aveley over this season already, more was to follow when an accident on one of the main roads leading into Maldon resulted in some of the players and staff arriving late.

It meant that the Millers were unable to complete their warm up and it showed in the early stages against a side who currently have Jack Stevenson, Spencer Harrison, Jack Giddens and Junior Appiah on their books having all previously played at Aveley.

But it was just the latter two – Appiah and Giddens – who took to the field against their former boss and Appiah came within inches of opening the scoring, hitting the bar inside the first 90 seconds.

It was to be a sign of what was to come in the opening half as the home side took the lead after just nine minutes, after Nathan Koranteng lost possession with Aveley trying to play out from the back.

The ball eventually found its way to Leon McKenzie, via a blocked effort from Ryan Wade, with the journeyman striker lashing the ball past Kalin Artakiev to give Maldon the lead.

Appiah – who had scored 10 goals for Aveley before leaving for Maldon in November – was causing all sorts of problems with his pace down the wings, but it was his strength that created a chance of a second for Maldon when he shouldered Alfred Kamara off the ball before crossing for Ollie Berquez who missed the target.

But despite creating very little in forward areas, Gardner’s side showed some resolve to bring the scores back on level terms through Lee Weemes.

A chipped ball over the top from Paul Burnett allowed Weemes to be through on goal. The striker tried to volley his effort first time past the advancing Giddens, but wasn’t able to get a decent connection.

It wasn’t to matter however as Giddens failed to gather the miss-hit strike from Weemes who then slotted the ball into the unguarded net to equalise midway through the half.

With the Millers now back in the contest having gone behind early on, the last thing Gardner would have wanted his side to do would be concede again quickly.

Unfortunately his wish was not to come true as, almost inevitably, Appiah scored against his former club to restore his new side’s lead.

After Michael Shaikly stole the ball from the feet of Brian Okwera, the midfielder released it first time into the path of Appiah who beat Aratkiev to the ball, lifting it over the goalkeeper and into the net off the inside of the post.

The ease in which the goal was scored was the most concerning part of the goal for Gardner who must have known that Appiah would come back to haunt him, and things went from bad to worse when Berquez doubled Maldon’s advantage.

Appiah played a defence splitting pass that found the run of McKenzie, allowing the striker to round the goalkeeper but miss the target, hitting the foot of the post, only for Berquez to be on hand to mop up.

In recent weeks it’s been the second half of matches that have proved the most action packed, but on this occasion it was certainly the first half as more chances were created before the break to add to the four goals already scored.

Glen Golby – returning to his old club – saw his looping header from a corner cleared off the line before Appiah let one fly from distance late on which had to be well tipped over by Artakiev.

Maldon began the second half like they had the first, creating two early chances. The first fell to Berquez who rounded the goalkeeper after being played in by McKenzie, but failed to keep the ball in play, and the second came from Wade who forced Artakiev to show good hands with a low effort.

If Aveley were to have any chance of getting back into this contest they had to score the next goal and came close when Karl Blake floated a cross into the centre which got the slightest flick off Weemes, only to be cleared by Tommy Spillane before Golby could finish at the far post.

But that was to be as good as it got for Aveley who failed to test Giddens in the second half, and the rubber stamp was put on the victory for Maldon when they added a fourth late on through Paul Seymour.

The substitute had the simple task of putting the ball into an empty net after Appiah found McKenzie with a delicate through ball. The number nine nicked the ball past the on-rushing Artakiev to lay the ball on a plate for Seymour to tap home.

With Gardner and his side now just wishing for the final whistle the Millers’ misery was compounded when Jay Leader went in with a high footed challenge on McKenzie. Having been booked late in the first half the referee brandished the second yellow and Leader walked.

When asked what was going through his mind when the full-time whistle blew, the Millers boss responded with “I was embarrassed.”

He continued by saying “I can sit here and give you a list of excuses. Not warming up till 7.40, players turning up late, that doesn’t help.

“We’ve just to go to keep digging deep and finish as best we can at the end of the season, but it’s the first time I can say I’m really looking forward to next season.”

Aveley: Kalin Artakiev, Adetayo Osifuwa, Alfred Kamara (Karl Blake 52’), Jay Leader, Glen Golby (c), Brian Okwera, Kyle Asante, Mathias Bakare (Michael Begg 74’), Lee Weemes, Paul Burnett, Nathan Koranteng (Femi Orenuga 64’)