AVELEY 3 CROYDON ATHLETIC 0

Croydon Athletic returned to action on Friday with a squad of players who, despite only meeting for the first time on the night, held out for 81 minutes at Aveley before losing 3-0.

Dave Garland and Bob Langford were back in the dug-out as caretaker managers almost two years since they were sacked and replaced by Tim O'Shea, while captain Jeremy Williams was the only player to remain from the Rams' last match three weeks ago.

Williams led by example throughout the match getting in the important tackles and helping out the fair proportion of young Academy players who made starts.

The Croydon defence were impressive with newcomers Cody Best and Callum Donaghey looking good for the Rams’ future.

The match itself was pretty even in the first half, with Rob George’s shot for the away team coming off the top of the crossbar and another long range effort just skimming the bar.

With Aveley’s chances being dealt with well by the Croydon defence, a 0-0 scoreline was encouraging for the Rams at half time.

The second half saw Dan Moody’s goal attempt go just wide and Julian Thompson’s great cross in on the 54th minute fell nicely for Moody, only for his shot to rebound off one of his own team mates when it looked goalbound.

However, Aveley seemed to get the upper hand as the match went on and had several chances that tested keeper Glynn Shimell, who pulled off a few good saves.

With the Croydon management beginning to believe they could actually get something out of the game, Aveley went ahead in the 81st minute, followed by another goal two minutes later.

The Rams’ dreams were shattered by an 86th minute penalty, given rather controversially for an alleged handball when the Rams’ defender was on the ground.

Aveley came away the 3-0 victors, but the Rams won a lot of fans for their whole-hearted performance, and the management team will take a lot of positives and be planning their next match away at Hendon on Saturday.

Croydon Athletic: Glynn Shimell, Cody Best, Helger Orome, Callum Donaghey, Jeremy Williams, Robert George, Kevin Sefaah (87 mins Rob Depeazer), Julien Thompson (60 mins Zak Henry), Joe Nwoko, Dan Moody (72 mins Jack Turner), Danny Elgar. Subs not used: Adam Peck, Dan Dudley.