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Aveley 0, Maldon Town 0

SATURDAY'S Ryman Division One North spoils were shared in an evenly contested match where both sides had chances to take the three points in the second half.

Millers had the best chance but Ryan Doyle missed a penalty, and Maldon were left fuming when a late effort was controversially uled out for offside.

Aveley manager Rod Stringer decided to make a few changes to the side that lost comprehensively at Canvey, with Tom Poole given his first start up front.

Former East Thurrock striker Leli Bejada was his partner with Wayne Vaughan dropping to the bench and Ainsley Gasper ruled out through injury.

Maldon looked dangerous whenever they attacked, never-more-so than when striker Steve Wareham was on the ball. Living off of the last Aveley man he often beat the off-side trap but thankfully for the home side he couldn't make the most of his chances.

As early as the sixth minute Wareham had dodged the off-side trap only to be denied by the feet of keeper Adam Rafis.

Poole had an early chance for the home side when he stabbed the ball goalwards from Bradley Barnes' left wing cross but keeper Darren Gould denied him what would have been his first goal in Millers' colours.

Wareham missed a further chance after breaking clear of the Millers' defence and whipping a shot in but it fell just wide of the mark.

Aveley looked to have taken the lead after 31 minutes but John Maskell's shot across goal from Shaz Ahmed's corner in was cleared off the line by Wareham.

At the other end Rafis needed to be on top form to keep out Frank Everitt's free kick. Wareham continued to be heavily involved and was again denied by Rafis at the second time of asking.

Maldon had a golden opportunity to take the lead in first half injury time when Rob Edmans squared the ball to Wareham, who was only denied by a fine last minute block by Maskell.

After the break Millers had the first chance to take the lead when Bajada squared the ball across from the by line but his cross was missed by everyone in the box.

Bajada then wasted a golden chance when put through by Poole, tamely shooting straight at Gould.

With just over a quarter of an hour to go Wareham noticed Rafis off his line and tried an audacious lob but the keeper was able to get back just in time to stop the effort.

Then came Millers' opportunity to take all three points. Shaz Ahmed's ball into the box was handled by Matt Cutchey and a penalty awarded. Doyle stepped up but Gould was equal to it and saved low down to his right.

Substitute Vaughan looked to influence the game in his time on the pitch and could have taken an opportunity when he latched on to a Rafis long ball but was brilliantly denied by Gould.

The visitors could then count themselves unlucky when Wareham's ferocious strike left Rafis stranded, only to see it come back off the bar.

Then controversy struck in injury time. Matt Cutchey's acrobatic kick was poked in by Wareham but the assistant referee adjudged him to have been in an off-side position. The decision was hotly debated but the judgement stood and both sides went away with the share of the spoils.

Aveley: Rafis, Skerritt, Maskell, Doyle, Golby, Wettner, Ahmed, Wheeler, Poole, Bajada (Vaughan 68), Barnes. Subs not used: Kye Ruel, Sean Francis, Sam Holloway, Dean Clark.

Ryman Division One North, up to and ic Sat Jan 12

6:32pm Saturday 12th January 2008

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