Regent travelled down the A12 on a bright cold day for a Boxing Day encounter with nearest neighbours Billericay Town. In spite of the sun, it was more like the Arctic with a cold wind swirling around the stadium.

Billericay kicked off but immediately lost the ball to a Banton and Zuhdu combination where Regent won an early corner. It set the tone for the first twenty minutes in which Billericay were insipid and Regent dominant. New boy Jason Banton was far more impressive than when he had faced Regent for Herne Bay and all the action was in front of the Billericay goal.

Somehow Billericay survived as well worked opportunities were squandered by an inability to get the ball on target from close range. At the other end Regent played a high line and Charlie Turner had to come out to clear up the long balls that were played through and zipped over the new plastic pitch.

As Regent continued to miss chances at one end Billericay started to work out how to deliver the ball into the area. Having hit the post once mid-way through the first half, they forced Turner into a fine save with five minutes to go.

In added time Regent conceded a free kick on the edge of the area. Time was taken to position attackers and defenders until the ball was hammered straight into the wall. A further free kick was conceded further out in a position where it would be easier to get the ball over the wall and down into a top corner but once again it was hammered into the wall to no effect.

Half time saw the score even but with Regent having had much the better of the first half. Billericay supporters milled around the main stand muttering about an inept performance by their side and speculating about what was being said in the home dressing room.

Second half
Five minutes into the second half Jesse Olukolu replaced Sam Jeremiah on the Regent right.

The pattern of the first half continued with Jason Banton hammering a free kick into the Billericay wall after Zuhdu had been flattened and then seeing his shot well saved after a breakaway and cross by the pacy Olukolu.

As the hour mark approached a routine cross came in from the Billericay left and was cleared into the path of Billericay’s Ebuzoeme, who showed the visitors how to finish and put the hosts ahead.

This changed the dynamic of the game as Regent were forced to press for an equalizer. Olukolu kept powering down the Regent right but the chances he created came to nothing as nobody could hit the target.

Ten minutes later Ebuzoeme doubled his tally as the ball was jinked across the Regent area and slotted into the far corner to put the game further out of reach.

Regent got back into the game when Zuhdu was flattened by the Billericay ‘keeper and put away the resulting penalty decisively.

But things fell apart in three minutes first off when the ball was given away on the halfway line and the defence found themselves outnumbered to make it 3-1 to the hosts and immediately afterwards a mix up in the Regent defence saw Charlie Turner wrong footed and an unfortunate own goal put the game to bed.

Even then Connor Barnby created another golden opportunity when he drove ball across the front of goal only for there to be nobody coming in at the back post to put the chance away.

Match Verdict
Not for the first time this season Regent’s performance wasn’t reflected in the scoreline.

Enough chances were made and missed in the first half to have established a comfortable lead and put the pressure onto Billericay to come forward. The hosts showed how to do it by being ruthless in exploiting the opportunities presented by defensive lapses.

By Paul Ketchley