A goal in either half from Kenny Aileru and Tom Beere secured the points for the hosts. Keeper Harrison Chamberlain wasn’t really troubled all afternoon by Canvey Island, with the comfortable victory for the Millers putting them joint top of the league keeping the pressure on leaders Dover who have a superior goal difference

The playing conditions at the Artic Stadium were perfect and after a slow start to the game, Valley started to take control. After a long spell of sustained pressure they finally broke the deadlock in the 25 minute. Barney Williams deep cross to the far post eluded everyone and fell to Aileru who stepped inside the defender and smashed his right footed shot into the roof of the net. The home side continued the dominate possession for the remainder of the first half and would have extended the lead but for a fine save by Gulls keeper Bobby Mason.

The visitors struggled to make any impact on the match and when they did have any possession in the final third they came up against a brick wall in the form of the Cray defence. Aileru almost extended the lead shortly after the break when he was laid in by Danny Waldren but his shot was blocked. However, they didn’t have to wait long for the second goal. In the 54th minute Aileru found Beere unmarked on the edge of the box and the midfielder calmly curled the ball past the advancing Mason into the bottom corner.

Valley created further chances with Adam Coombes and Marcel Barrington both going close with their efforts and substitute Andre Coker forced the visitors keeper Mason to make a good save with his legs. In the end Valley didn't add to the scoring but will be pleased with another clean sheet and the three points.

MAN OF THE MATCH – Kenny Aileru - Cray Valley (PM)

Millers: Chamberlain, Williams, Oshilaja (c), Bowry, Chambers, Barrington, Beere (Anau 88), Waldren (Black 66), Cumberbatch, Aileru (Coker 82), Coombes (Ademiluyi 72) Sub not used: Vigor
Cautions: Coombes

Gulls: Mason, Gilbert, Stephen, Salmon (c), Wallace (Hope 88), Ronto, Adebiyi, Hubble, Sach (Kastrati 82), Foxley, Darrell (Whitelaw 59) Sub not used: Wakefield
Cautions: Darrrell, Foxley, Whitelaw

Additional match report courtesy of Valley supporter Preston Willott
Cray Valley PM 2 - 0 Canvey Island
Att : 268
"Beero Buries the Islanders!"

This was one of those days when I just had that warm feeling that we were in for a good day before a ball was even kicked. Whether that was down to a very surprising ( but welcome ) 3 points for Preston NE midweek away at Watford, the excellent 80s tunes that my stepson was selecting as "in-house car DJ" on our way in, or just the overall positivity of the Millers situation being firmly involved in another promotion tussle, or possibly a combination of all 3, I couldn't tell .......... but the unusually heavy traffic on the A2 coming into town didn't dampen my mood one bit and as we were slowly pulling into the carpark at The Artic , seeing the watery sunshine reflecting off the puddles , I was buzzing with positive vibes and felt inexplicably confident that the 3 points were already ours

A change of ends after the toss saw us drift down towards the Quag End to take up station in one of the recently installed covered terraces to watch the first half. The opening quarter of an hour or so was one of those slightly scrappy phases of football where neither side hit the ground running, passes went astray and the visitors put together the odd move that threatened our defence without actually really testing Chamberlain in between the sticks.

After that period we started to see the Millers settle down and we started to see those trademark runs down the flanks from Tom Chambers and Barney Williams, and the visitors visibly started to drop deeper, and having tried a few shots on goal beforehand, Barney Williams fooled the defence by floating a measured cross over everybody that found an unmarked Kenny Aileru who then advanced on goal, beat his man and despatched a sweetly hit shot that found the top corner of the net for 1 - 0 on 25 minutes

The next 20 minutes was pretty much all Millers pressure, and if it wasn't for a bit of 'Lady Luck' smiling on the Canvey defenders getting in with last minute desperate blocks, I think we'd have been out of sight and Adam Coombes in particular can consider himself unlucky not to have got on the scoresheet.

A brief period of possession for the visitors just before half-time did have me concerned about falling for the sucker punch at that critical time, but they failed to really find a meaningful effort on goal and into the second half it was pretty much more of the same from the Millers and had there been any nerves anywhere , they were surely quelled on the 54th minute when Tom Beere was fed in by the energetic Aileru and from the edge of the box he took time to aim and stroke the ball past the helpless 'keeper who'd advanced off his line but to no avail ; Beero had taken time to pick his spot and had gone for accuracy rather than power and at 2 - 0 I felt pretty sure that was indeed the game secure.

In the bar before the game, I'd predicted a 3 - 1 win for us ; we all knew from the 4 - 4 game at Canvey that they had goals in them, but with our improved defence i was sure we'd limit them to just the one ..... but now as I dreamily allowed my gaze to admire the pinkening hues of colour on the little fluffy clouds as daylight started to bid us farewell for the day, you could have ( almost ) persuaded me to mortgage the house on the final score being 2 - 0 ...........and so it proved despite the best efforts of Marcel Barrington and Andre Coker somehow we didn't add to our tally.

The referee blew for full time without the visitors really having a meaningful shot on target , and The Millers took the 3 points to keep momentum going at the top of end of the table and sends us with confidence into the mouth watering top of table trip to Billericay next weekend !!

C'Mon the Millers !!!!!!!

Post Match Interview: Barry Moore - Cray Valley (PM) Assistant Manager
https://www.crayvalleypmfc.com/videos/post-match-interview--barry-moore-gives-his-opinion-on-the-millers-20-victory-against-canvey-island-fc-25125-207862.html

Player Interview - The season so far - Tom Beere
https://www.crayvalleypmfc.com/videos/tom-beere-tells-us-all-about-his-first-season-with-the-millers-following-the-home-win-against-canvey-island-25125-207962.html

Match Photos: Romana at Inspire Socials
https://www.crayvalleypmfc.com/photos/millers-v-canvey-island-25125-photos-inspire-socials-1128326.html