Aveley 2, Canvey Island 5

JAY Curran claimed a hat-trick of penalties and the impressive Simon Thomas a brace as the Gulls flew into the next round at lower league Aveley.

It looked like it would be a far from straight forward afternoon for Danny Heale’s in-form Ryman Premier side when Ross Wall side-footed the ball under the advancing Josh Vickers to give their Ryman One North hosts a 12th minute lead.

But they drew level from the penalty spot midway through the half when Adam Flanagan was adjudged to have fouled Thomas from behind, and Curran slammed the resulting spot kick down the middle and past Jack Giddens to level.

Home fans thought it was a harsh decision but Canvey made the most of it and almost went in front soon after when ex-Aveley man Sheldon Sellears turned inside Kallon Nurudeen and smashed a shot against the bar.

They did take the lead soon after, though, as Ashley Dumas picked out Thomas unmarked in the penalty area and he took a steadying touch before firing home off the post.

It was a game in which the next goal looked like it would be crucial and it went to Canvey eight minutes after the restart when the highly-rated Jay Leader hung out a leg and chopped down Thomas inside the box for a more obvious penalty, and Curran riffled it past Giddens again.

Substitute Junior Ogedi-Uzokwe squandered a great chance to get Aveley back into it when he volleyed Wall’s nice through-ball high over the bar with just Vickers to beat.

Then Canvey sub Harrison Chatting poked an effort against the foot of the post before they made it 4-1 with yet another penalty.

This time Teddy Nesbitt fouled Emeka Onwubiko right on the edge of the box, and Curran opted for power again to beat the beleaguered Giddens.

It was an unusual hat-trick treble, although not unheard of in recent Canvey history as Rob King successfully converted three spot-kicks in a win against Hornchurch in a Ryman Premier game almost exactly three years ago.

It became 5-1 four minutes from time when sub Jay Nash broke forward and played in Thomas, and the big striker side-stepped Flanagan before rifling the ball inside the post against his former side.

Aveley claimed a soft consolation goal in injury time when Junior Appiah floated in a free-kick which Wall nodded down for Kabit Jeeto to stab home from close range.

It was pretty lax defending but did little to spoil Canvey manager Danny Heale’s day, and he was content to reflect on their third straight win.

He said: “Aveley supporters might take issue with the fact we got three penalties but we hit the bar and the post too, so I don’t think they can have any complaints about the score-line.

“And when it comes to the penalties, well, people have to stay on their feet and if they dive in they risk giving away penalties.

“But I think overall we thoroughly deserved our win and we look forward to the next round now.”

Billericay Town 2, Leiston 0

TWO fine late goals put Billericay through to the next round with their second victory over Leiston in five days.

It was a closer game than Town’s 4-1 win in the Ryman Premier on Tuesday, but ultimately the same result as Ricky Sappleton and James Robinson struck in the final eight minutes at New Lodge.

Sappleton fired home a first-time shot from Sean Bonnett-Johnson’s headed set-up with five minutes to go, and Robinson crashed home a left-foot volley from the edge of the box.

Billericay keeper Billy Lumley also made two important saves at 0-0 to help his team keep their first clean sheet of the season.

AFC Hornchurch 1, East Thurrock United 1

ROCKS will play Hornchurch for the third time in 10 days tomorrow night at Rookery Hill in an FA Cup replay.

John Coventry’s side were heading through when Tom Stephen’s 60th minute penalty put them 1-0 up on Saturday.

But sub Carl Rook levelled for the Urchins with about 10 minutes to go to set up a replay.

Rocks gave a much better account of themselves than a week earlier in a 3-0 defeat to their Ryman Premier rivals, and they’ll be confident of progressing from the replay.