After some disappointing results Brett Munyard made some changes in personnel and brought Toch Singh into midfield for a home debut and had Jesse Olukolu and Bradley Russell on the bench. Sam Jeremiah returned on the right-hand side and it was good to see Kane Gilbert back on the pitch in the warm up.

Lewes came out in an Italian-esque white strip with a black sash on a damp, chill afternoon as autumn started to take hold. A good crowd of 252 observed one minute’s silence before kick off.

Lewes kicked off and dominated early possession as Regent allowed them to play the ball around comfortably between their back four. If Regent’s gameplan was to “park the bus”, Lewes knew how to get through the barrier and, after three minutes, forced Charlie Turner to turn over a speculative shot from distance. The warning went unheeded, and five minutes later the impressive Razzaq Coleman de-Graft let fly from the distance and this time the ball went in off the underside of the bar to establish the lead.

Surprisingly, Lewes did not press home their advantage and let Regent back into the game. Baptiste tried a speculative shot in return and then Luke Woodward saw his attempt spilled with nobody on hand to put it away.

Still, it was not clear where a Regent goal would come from until Jerome Anderson picked up the ball in the far corner and set off on a run forward from the back. He just didn’t stop running, then cut inside half way into the Lewes half, ran across the front of the penalty box, and turned back to slot the ball into the right-hand corner of the goal. It was a candidate for goal of the season in any league and got Regent back on terms.

Lewes tried to come back through big diagonal crossfield balls, and Regent had a couple of close shaves, but the hosts were more confident by now and Zak Littlejohn was unfortunate to see a chance go off target as the half came to a close.

Second half
No changes were made at half time but it looked as though stern words had been dished out in the Lewes half time team talk. They attacked with pace and won a series of corners. At one point the Regent penalty box seemed to be full of Lewes players but somehow the defence held and Charlie Turner smothered the ball to avert the danger.

Out of nowhere the game swung again as Baptiste got clear from the halfway line with only the ‘keeper to beat but saw his shot saved and then, after a minor scuffle between Charlie Durling and the Lews captain saw both players booked, Baptise turned provider as he nodded the ball down to Luke Woodward who drilled the ball left of the ‘keeper to give Regent an unexpected lead.

Lewes rang the changes with a series of substitutions and further pressure saw them get an equaliser as the ball was chipped up and nodded in from close range.

In spite of further Lewes pressure towards the end, the home defence did its job and held firm and Regent gained a valuable and unexpected point. The Regent players left the pitch to rapturous applause but the Lewes manager kept his side out on the pitch before what will no doubt be a long ride home

Match Verdict
Regent bounced back and looked far more organised and purposeful than in recent matches. The midfield was stronger and less likely to be over-run. Baptiste worked tirelessly up front to make an opening and the new boys did well when they came on. Let’s hope to see some of the absent faces back in action in the upcoming matches with a trip to troubled Folkestone Invicta coming up next weekend.

By Paul Ketchley