Aveley 1-3 Bowers & Pitsea

(Peart 70': Nyanja 56', Manor 66', 81')

From Parkside

Isthmian North

AVELEY’S first competitive fixture at Parkside ended in defeat as Bowers & Pitsea secured a 3-1 win.

Fahad Nyanja and a brace from Lewis Manor resulted in the visitors collecting all three points on the opening day of the Isthmian North season, while Jordan Peart got on the scoresheet for the hosts.

Harry Gibbs was given the first booking of the match after 27 minutes following a wild challenge on Jamie Salmon. But Bowers could not profit from the free kick as Millers goalkeeper Rhys Madden collected the flighted ball from Salmon with ease.

Jake Gordon created an opening on the edge of the away side’s penalty area thanks to a good first touch, but his curling effort could only force Bowers’ summer signing Callum Chafer into a routine save.

James Thomas then went over under a challenge from Harry Gibbs, but referee David Harrison waved away the penalty appeals after adjudging the wing-back to have gone down to easily.

Christy O’Donoghue passed up the last opportunity to break the deadlock in the first half, as the attacking midfielder was the first to a half-clearance in the Bowers penalty area. But O’Donoghue’s first time volley was brilliantly blocked by Bowers skipper Martyn Stokes and diverted to safety.

Soon after the break, it was the home side who were appealing for a penalty.

The ball appeared to bounce up off the artificial turf and strike Ben Sartain on the arm. But the referee waved way the claims and O’Donoghue’s resulting cross just eluded the leaping Ross Gleed.

And with 56 minutes on the clock, Rob Small’s visitors took the lead.

Thomas’ impressive cross into the penalty area found Nyanja, who headed home to go down in history as the first goalscorer in a competitive clash at Parkside.

And 10 minutes later, Bowers doubled their lead.

Tony Stokes, who joined Bowers during the close season from National League South side Concord Rangers, sent a dangerous cross into the Aveley penalty area and Manor outmuscled his man and found the corner of the net with a powerful header.

But just four minutes after going two goals down, the Millers halved the deficit. New Aveley captain Jack Barry’s pull-back found Peart, who smashed the ball past Chafer.

However, Manor made the three points safe for the visitors with nine minutes to play.

The striker expertly directed Lewis Clark’s long throw into the far corner, giving Madden no chance and allowing Bowers to make a winning start to the Isthmian North campaign.

Aveley: Madden, Gibbs, Woodward, Spillane, Barry, Pinto, Gordon (Preston 45), Gleed (Bolle 62), West (Mitchell 62), O’Donoghue, Peart

Bowers & Pitsea: Chafer, Hine, Nyanja (Cook 76), Stokes, Clark, Leahy, Thomas, Salmon, Manor (Perry 90), Sartain, Stokes (Brown 80)