Regent faced near neighbours Billericay Town on a coolish late summer’s afternoon. Not so long ago Billericay harboured aspirations to much higher things but after a couple of seasons in the National League South their star set and here they are back in the Isthmian Premier.

They still have an impressive following and the good weather meant a bumper crowd of 291 turned out.

Regent mostly kept faith with the side that started at Hastings with Andy George coming back into the back four and Ollie Sotoyinbo making his home debut up front along with Dom Locke. Harrison Carnegie and Luke Woodward were on the bench.

Billericay kicked off and it immediately became apparent that number 18 Anthony Jeffrey was going to be a handful for the defence as he immediately won a corner.

For the first ten minutes it looked as though the match would be one way traffic as Billericay penned the hosts back into their own half but they made nothing from their territorial advantage and gradually Regent found a threatening outlet in the form of Sam Jeremiah’s pace down the right hand side.

Several times, Jeremiah provided the outlet from the back and he was unlucky not to find anyone on the end of dangerous crosses into the box.
Half way through the half Jeremiah collected another clearance and this time a Skinner layoff saw Connor Barnby hit the post.

Regent were showing plenty of intent by now and it looked increasingly likely that one of these breakaways would make a difference. It nearly did so when Billericay became increasingly physical in stopping Jeremiah’s forays and Dom Locke lined up a free kick. Locke’s delivery found Zak Littlejohn but the ball bounced high onto his knee and went wide.

As the half came to an end Billericay had their best chance of the afternoon forcing Charlie Turner into making his only real save of the match.

Second half
Ollie Bell replaced Luke Skinner at half time.
Dom Locke’s free kicks were becoming increasingly threatening and early on this won a corner which Locke took. This time Littlejohn connected to head into the net. For the fifth time this season Regent scored first.

Luke Woodward replaced Locke after 60 minutes and Billericay brought on veteran striker Dickson to get back on terms.

Billericay played with more intensity for ten minutes but the Regent defence was resolute and after another corner came to nothing Charlie Durling collected a Turner clearance and played it through to Ollie Sotoyinbo who slotted the ball past the ‘keeper to double the lead.

The overall pattern of play continued with Billericay pressure and yet another good attempt by Jeffrey which fizzed over the top corner of the goal but whilst they were well drilled in some set routines, there was too much reliance on individuals to make an opening rather than effective teamwork. Regent countered by hitting them hard and fast and although Jeremiah had to go off his replacement, Michael Salako, had the chance to make it 3-0 but couldn’t find the target.

In the end, Billericay simply ran out of ideas whilst Regent displayed resolute defence in which every shot was blocked and the ball shepherded was away from danger. As the clock ran out their keeper shanked the ball out of play and the referee had seen enough.

Match Verdict
This was a massive turn around from Saturday’s performance at Hastings, in which every Regent player played a magnificent part. A combination of resolute defence and incisive attack gave them a landmark victory against illustrious neighbours.

By Paul Ketchley