Regent Pegged Back By Ill Disciplined Cheshunt

Brightlingsea Regent hosted Cheshunt on a first of a two match bumper bank holiday weekend, a game of two halfs saw Regent lose a two goal half-time lead.

Regent took the lead early on inside 10 minutes when a beautifully flighted Jake Turner free kick met the head of Kieron Baker to direct his header past Cheshunt Goalkeeper Richard Haywood and give the R's a dream start in the game.

Regent could have doubled their lead in the 12th minute when a similar free kick again from Turner was put into another dangerous area, this time Haywood in goal for Cheshunt managed to get a fist on the ball and Cheshunt managed to clear the danger.

Cheshunt looked for an equaliser as there was drama at both ends, firstly in the 17th minute Cheshunt got forward and a chance fell to John Nzengo whose effort was cleared off the line by Russell Malton only for the ball to come back to Joe Kizzi whose half volley rattled the Regent post.

Regent cleared their lines in the same phase of play and a long ball diagonal ball was placed in the path of Brightlingsea's Tom Richardson who shrug off the Cheshunt defender only to be wiped out by the on coming Cheshunt Goalkeeper Haywood around 20 yards from goal. Haywood was shown red for his challenge, and Cheshunt were forced to use Striker Billy Jones as the stand in Goalkeeper for the remainder of the game.

In the 36th minute the R's made their numerical advantage pay as they doubled their lead. Some clever play down the right hand side got Ricky Griggs moving forward as he took on the Cheshunt defenders, he found his way into the box to slot a cool finish past Jones in goal and make it 2-0.

HT 2-0

With a fairly even start to the second half, Cheshunt got forward and got one back on the hour mark. Regent failed to clear their lines and a ball what should have been cleared was only spooned up into the air in the box for it to land to Cheshunt danger man Tom Bruno, who smashed a volley into the corner of the net giving Ollie Bowles in goal no chance. 2-1

Regent should have killed the game off, with some dominant forward play in the 70th minute. A cross field pass by Jake Turner played Aaron Condon out wide on the left, he then send in a delightful ball which met the head of Tom Richardson but it then went agonising inches wide of the back post!

The 75th minute Cheshunt began to really push for the leveller, firstly a corner was cleared to the edge of the box with the ball sitting down nicely for Cheshunt's skipper Dave Kendall to hit a volley which looked as if it was heading for the roof of the net only to denied by the sharp reaction of Ollie Bowles to tip over!

Just 5 minutes later Cheshunt were awarded a penalty, as Cheshunt got forward, Regent allowed the ball to bounce in the box and the tricky customer John Nazengo got to the ball first ahead of Ricky Griggs and was allegedly taken down heading towards goal. the Substitute Liam Hope stepped up and dispatched the penalty 2-2.

The penalty caused some confrontation in the net and Cheshunt's Joel Stevens was sent off for raising his hands to Regent skipper Matt Cripps as Cheshunt looked to retrieve the ball, forcing Cheshunt to play out the last 10 minutes with 9 men.

Both sides looked for the winner with a couple of half chances at each end, but the game was played out to a draw and a point a piece.

Regent: Bowles, Griggs, Jake Gould (Kelly 51), Reakes, Josh Gould, Cripps, Malton, Baker (Barnett 67), Richardson, Turner, Condon (Clowsley 85).
Subs: Clowsley, Barnett, Ayling, McDonald, Kelly
Goals: Baker (10), Griggs (36)
Booked: Kelly
Man Of The Match: Turner

Cheshunt: Haywood, Clemo (Heather 45), Pullen (Hope 45), Kizzi, Kendall, Illsley, Nzengo, Bruno, Jones, Hallett, Stevens
Subs: Hope, Cooper, Heather, Marshall, Smyth
Goals: Bruno (63), Hope (81).
Booked: Nzengo, Bruno, Heather
Reds: Haywood, Stevens

Attendance: 102
Referee: Sean Kilbourn