HAT-TRICK hero Sam Bantick felt Aveley’s impressive start was imperative as the Millers secured a 3-0 victory over Mildenhall Town.

Bantick scored all three goals - with them being his first successful efforts since joining from Coggeshall Town - as James Webster’s Isthmian North promotion chasers overcame the strugglers at Parkside.

And Bantick insisted Aveley learnt from their poor start to the clash against Witham Town a few weeks earlier as they looked to secure a valuable three points.

“We knew they were down near the bottom of the table and so if we started quickly and got an early goal it would make everything a lot easier,” said Bantick.

“When we played Witham a few weeks ago we started quite slowly, which made it hard for us.

“They went 1-0 up and then camped in, which made it a lot harder for us.

“We knew we had to get out of the blocks quickly.

“We scored an early goal and, from there, we created a lot of space.

“At the end of the day, we won 3-0 but it could have been five or six.

“It was all about how we started the game.”

Bantick put Aveley ahead from the penalty spot after Bobby Vaughan had been brought down by Mildenhall goalkeeper Jake Hayhoe.

The attacker doubled his tally nine minutes before the break and then completed his hat-trick soon after the hour mark.

But Bantick felt he could have finished the encounter with more goals to his name after passing up other opportunities.

“I could have had five goals at least I think,” added Bantick.

“I always say that if you miss a chance, you’ve hit the target and the goalkeeper makes a good save, then you can’t do anymore than that.

“You can’t score every chance you get.

“I have got 22 goals this season but I was obviously on the bench for a lot of the time at Coggeshall, so it’s nice to be back on the pitch and scoring goals.”