Aveley 3-4 Kingstonian
K'S BEAT MILLERS IN A THRILLER

Alan Dowson commented, after a remarkable 4-3 win for Ks, that with his side 3-1 down he thought Aveley may have repeated the 6-1 destruction of Ks from the second week of the season. There were indeed three more goals but they all came for Ks, giving them their first win by that scoreline for 16 years and allowing them to cling on to second in the league.

Ks looked delighted by the manner of the win, in a game where they had been second best for much of the ninety minutes. From 3-1 up Aveley should have killed the game off but failed and the introduction of Dean Lodge made a huge difference to Ks' fortunes.

Home goalkeeper Ollie Morris-Sanders had an early taste of the difficult day he would endure, spilling an early cross from which John Fletcher fired wide. The Millers soon took control of the game though, with prolific striker Martin Tuohy firing over from distance and Rob Tolfrey saving from Steve Butterworth.

The pressure told in the 30th minute, when Butterworth turned in a Sherwin Stanley cross to give Aveley a deserved lead. Somehow, Ks salvaged an equaliser on the stroke of half time, in slightly fortunate circumstances. Christian Jolley jinked through the home defence into the penalty and cut the ball back to Bashiru Alimi. His effort hit the post but Carl Wilson-Denis was on hand to slam the rebound into the roof of the net and lighten the mood of Dowson's half-time team talk.

Soon after the break, Ks were behind again though. Stanley was played in on goal and beat Tolfrey with a superb lob from distance, a fine goal in a game which was at times lacking in quality. Five minutes later and Ks fans felt it was game over when Ryan Edgar put the finishing touch on a Tuohy cross to give the Essex side a 3-1 lead.

Ks were in no mood to quit though and after Jolley fired over, it was a penalty, for a handball in an unthreatening situation, which got Ks back in the game. Bobby Traynor kept up his immaculate record from twelve yards this season, sending Morris-Sanders the wrong way and halving The Millers' lead. Seven minutes from time, Ks' persistence paid off, when Wilson-Denis headed a Lodge corner back across goal and Traynor headed home to complete the comeback.

Ks were not done though and grabbed an injury-time winner to send the visiting fans home delighted. Traynor's effort from twenty yards appeared to be going wide, but Lodge stuck out his heel and flicked the ball into corner of Morris-Sanders' goal to complete an improbable turnaround and help Ks to home in on the playoffs.