Regent boys go marching on

On Sunday we travelled to Hemel Hempstead to play our 2nd round FA Vase tie versus London Lions. The Lions use the pitch at Hemel which meant a change of day for the fixture. The Geez Terry and Webster had ordered a coach for the game and so off we travelled 50+ strong for a tough game against the Lions who had only suffered 1 defeat in the league. After watching them last week though I believed we could get a positive result. Webster had a full squad to choose from with the exception of Tevez who was beginning a 3 game ban. The same team was selected from the previous game and we started the game rather nervously giving the ball away in dangerous areas but after 10 minutes we settled and Ricky Griggs was beginning to gain some ground and earned us a corner. His corner was cleared but returned to Ricky whose touch then cross was perfect for the lethal Jake Holman to head in to the top bins to make it 0-1. We committed a cardinal sin though and within 5 minutes gave the ball away twice in our final third and were punished. Jake Holman made an absolute worldie of a tackle but their player reacted quicker to fire home and make it 1-1. Despite this we continued to look very dangerous going forward and Philbo when played through at an angle fired over. Beeson produced a good save from their tricky winger when he did well to create space. After 30 minutes we restored our lead with some good play through midfield found Pagey whose cross was collected by Liam Whittaker, his deft touch with the outside of his left foot nestled in the bottom corner to make it 1-2. We nearly increased our lead before half time but Pagey headed wide when rising well. HT 1-2
The home team came at us hard and went close to equalising after 2 minutes but the striker headed wide when free. Ricky Griggs then had to be changed after a couple of tough tackles and absolutely no protection from a frustrating Referee performance. Ryan Salter came on and this gave us a little more solidity and Pagey again went Close. Philbo playing a quality ball but Pagey had a little too much shoulder on his header and it looped on to the top of the goal. Shortly after a Philbo corner was headed down by Jake Holman but once again Pagey was wide, this time with his shot from 12 yards. It then looked a game defining moment in the 70th minute. Philbo’s direct run saw him clearly fouled in the penalty box but both the Ref and Assistant dismissed a stonewall penalty, the Assistant claiming it’s not his job to give these decisions? The home side within a minute had equalised with a neat finish from their striker to make it 2-2. The mentality within the group has changed over the past few months though and rather than moping we took less than 5 minutes to regain the lead. Clarky played a ball through to Scott Page who controlled and held off the defender before slotting home to make it 2-3. Charlie and Liam both came on and we held on to the lead without any dramas to book a place in round 3. FT 2-3
The boys fully deserved their win against good opposition but on the day I felt we carried a larger threat. The coach trip back was decent with Chairman Terry buzzing and Morley and Hughesy’s singing to everyone. We then took this to town with their singing definitely better than their dancing. Some strange pictures floating about involving a rather large sex toy!! No insertions before I left. Webster celebrated the win by going up town with his hair styled like Jedward. #wierdo