Daryl McMahon made made four changes to the side that won 1-0 at Tonbridge Angels with Nathan Bertram-Cooper coming in for the injured Ryan Scott. Charlie Pegrum, Makai Welch and Darren McQueen dropped to the bench with George Saunders, Ollie Muldoon and Tommy Wood making the starting eleven.
Aveley got the game underway, kicking towards the club house.
Angelo Balanta latched onto a stray Brooklyn Kagonbolo back pass after only three minutes but James Holden was quick to recover the situation. After David Kawa had seen an effort clear the bar by some distance the Urchins took control. Will Greenidge was fouled and Charlee Adams took the freekick but Holden saved well. The resulting corner fell to Tommy Wood and Holden saved again. Another corner was fed into the middle with Nathan Bertram-Cooper slicing his effort wide.
Hornchurch weren’t to be denied however and took the lead on twenty two minutes. Giles Phillips won a header from a throw-in, Balanta flicked it on to Tommy Wood who squared to Greenidge and he made no mistake cutting inside the fullback and firing left footed across Holden into the far corner.
Balanta then saw an effort deflected wide for a corner which was fed in by Adams and headed over by Bertram-Cooper.
On the stroke of half time and in a rare visit to the Hornchurch last third the Millers were awarded a freekick 25 yards out. With the penalty area bustling with 6 footers Alfie Lewis chose to shoot low but his tame effort bobbled into the side netting.
Half Time: Hornchurch 1, Aveley 0
Charlie Pegrum replaced George Saunders at half time.
A quiet start to the second period burst into life on fifty two minutes when an Adams freekick was glanced goalward by Wood but the ball hit the post and rebounded to safety. Darren McQueen replaced Ollie Muldoon and was soon in the action, outpacing the defence but his shot was across goal and wide of the far post.
Kagonbolo saw a header drift wide before an effort by Imran Uche cleared the bar as the Millers tried to press but the Urchins always looked the more dangerous and Pegrum almost doubled the advantage with a firm shot which Holden again saved well.
But with five minutes remaining the pressure finally told. Adams swung in the Urchins’ ninth corner of the day, Holden, under pressure from McQueen could only punch the ball to the feet of Harry Gibbs and the big defender made no mistake, powering the ball into the back of the net to double the host’s advantage and seal another three points.
