Aveley 2
(Odelusi 37′, Hughes 82′)
United 1
(Ash 87′)
United’s winning run came to an end on Saturday, as The Gulls slipped to a 2-1 defeat at Aveley’s Parkside Stadium.
Goals from Siju Odelusi and substitute Charlee Hughes put The Millers in charge, and despite Brad Ash’s late response, it wasn’t enough to deny the home side a memorable victory.
Torquay boss Gary Johnson made one change to the side that triumphed 2-1 over Braintree on Bank Holiday Monday, with Dillon De Silva replacing Lewis Collins in the starting line-up, whilst new signing Luke Pearce was named amongst the United substitutes.
The first half hour was a keenly-fought affair, with both sides trading proverbial punches in pursuit of finding a breakthrough.
Mark Halstead was the first goalkeeper calling into action midway through the half, producing a fine full-length parry to keep out Alex Hernandez’s low strike, before opposing glovesman Jonathan North responded moments later, diving across his line to keep out Ollie Tomlinson’s downward header from a Jack Stobbs free-kick.
As the match edged past the half-hour mark, Aveley began to gain a measure of authority on proceedings though, with Odelusi’s right-wing cross feeding Hernandez, who sent a powerful header crashing against the crossbar.
United failed to heed that warning however, and on 37 minutes, The hosts took the lead.
A neat passing move down the right saw the lively Jon Benton bring the ball forward before sending in an inviting low ball across the face of goal, where the sliding Odelusi stabbed the ball past Halstead and into the net.
Things nearly got worse a minute later, with Halstead producing an instinctive save to palm Matt Rush’s ferocious volley over the crossbar, before The Gulls’ No.1 completed a hat-trick of saves against Hernandez.
The deficit remained at the break, and unfortunately there was little sign of parity being restored upon the resumption.
Neither side were able to carve out much in the way of clear-cut chances, but as the game entered its final quarter, it was the home side who looked likelier to amend the scoreline.
Benton and Eduino Vaz both fired decent chances wide of the target before Aveley appeared to put the result beyond all doubt in the 82nd minute.
A swift counter-attack saw Matt Rush and Benton combine before completing the switch of play for left to right by playing Hughes into space inside the box, with the striker firing through a crowd of despairing legs to make it 2-0.
Just when all seemed lost, Johnson’s men finally threatened a fightback.
After a number of set-pieces failed to find their target, Stobbs’ corner towards the penalty spot produced just the sort of chaos required, and despite repelling Tomlinson’s initial header, Ash was ideally placed to bundle the ball home from close-range.
Unfortunately that effort failed to spark the grandstand finale that the travelling Yellow Army craved though, and when Aaron Jarvis header over from six yards out in the fourth minute of stoppage time, a disappointing afternoon for all in yellow was confirmed.
A disappointing result, no doubt, but as is so often the case, United won’t have to wait long for their chance of redemption, with Farnborough visiting Plainmoor on Tuesday. Tickets for this fixture are available HERE.
AVELEY: 13. Jonathan North, 2. Jason Ring, 3. Eduino Vaz, 4. Siju Odelusi, 5. Jalen Jones, 6 Harry Gibbs (c), 7. Matt Rush, 8. Garrett Kelly, 9. Alex Hernandez (12. Charlee Hughes, 69′), 10. Jon Benton (14. Connor Witherspoon, 84′), 11. Nana Kyei (15. Jonathan Ngenzo, 84′).
SUBS NOT USED: 16. Tommy Davis, 17. Kenny Aileru.
Yellow Card / Red Card: Ring 28′, 88′
UNITED: 1. Mark Halstead (c), 3. Dan Martin (21. Dean Moxey, 76′), 4. Tom Lapslie, 6. Ross Marshall, 9. Aaron Jarvis, 11. Brad Ash, 15. Finley Craske (18. Will Jenkins Davies, 62′), 16. Shaun Donnellan, 17. Dillon De Silva (19. Luke Pearce, 58′), 23. Ollie Tomlinson, 27. Jack Stobbs.
SUBS NOT USED: 14. Brett McGavin, 22. Rhys Lovett.
Yellow Card: Marshall 24′, Ash 90′
Attendance: 727