No bite as Regent crash out

Brightlingsea Regent made the long journey to North Greenford to take on London Tigers in the First qualifying round of the FA cup as they looked to make history, reaching the furthest stage in the FA cup already any win would have seen them improve that record. A disappointing performance despite controlling large spells of the game on a tough pitch ultimately ended in disappointment with an injury time winner putting pay to Regent. A delayed coach trip followed by a missed turn off to the ground and a missed first half penalty should have all pointed to an injury time defeat that eventually saw the R's out but despite their performance it still looked like Regent had enough to book a name in the next round. London Tigers had different ideas though and their victory now puts them into the next round where we wish them the best of luck.
Webster was without Phil Kelly who was banned for the game and had Amir Berkane also unavailable after a late call off due to illness, TJ Amass was also unavailable still recovering from a back injury whilst Jake Gould had decided to book a weekend away in a caravan in Gt Yarmouth, shocking behaviour but Princess was happy!!
Both teams started the game slowly and most of the play was untidy in the early stages. The home side had the first chance from a set piece after 15 minutes with Luke Avenell saving well high in the far corner to tip over. Regent did settle and after 25 minutes had good control in the game with Jake Turner and Luke Avenell seeing a lot of the ball, Jake Turner was found on the edge of the area but his half volley was inches wide. The Referee shortly after awarded Regent a free kick after the keeper was adjudged to have collected a back pass, the ball from Josh Gould was again met by Jake Turner but his first time volley was again narrowly wide. Despite good control in the game Regent were unable to test the home keeper but this changed with Ricky Griggs jinking past the defender before being brought down after 42 minutes, Ben Newson stepped up but the keeper dived low to the bottom corner to palm away. HT 0-0
The second half again started off slowly for both sides, the pitch was very difficult and did make it hard for any real fluid play in the game. London Tigers thought they had taken the lead on the hour mark but the number 9 had fouled the Regent defender before chipping over Luke. Webster made his first change on 65 minutes with Sean Bartlett replacing Jermaine Osei and again Regent slowly had started to have better control in the game with the Tigers relying on direct play and largely this was handled well but going forward the R's despite having better possession couldn't find any quality in the final third. Webster made his second change after 76 minutes with Jack Johnson coming on for his debut and he made an immediate impact with a direct run and cross but the Tigers were able to clear for a corner, the resulting corner was put into a great area by Jack Johnson and Matt Cripps met the cross but could only fire over from 6 yards. Webster made his final change with Charlie Durling coming on and the Tigers also made changes and their direct play was causing more problems as they began to pick up some second balls. With injury time being played the home side scored from their first effort in the second half on target, the Referee awarding a soft free-kick on the edge of the area which was struck into the wall before the skipper hit the rebound into the bottom corner to make it 1-0. Regent tried to get a late equaliser and saw a corner cleared off the line and nearly the Tigers caught the R's on the break but a second would really have been over generous. FT 1-0
A disappointing defeat for Regent but no time to dwell on it as they welcome Burnham Ramblers to North Road on Tuesday night.
uptheR's