After an enforced home break from the weather and Christmas, Regent welcomed league leaders Folkestone Invicta on a dry, mild January afternoon in front of a crowd of 164.

Regent welcomed Charlie Turner back in goal; Boyland, Cripps, Forrest and Jake Gould at the back; Finn O’Reilly made a home debut alongside Turner, Barnett and Dunne in midfield; George Bugg and the returning Jake Clowsley formed the attack. Byrne-Hewitt, Gelashvili, Brice-Wiffen and Wrighton-David provided the bench

Invicta kicked off and for the first ten minutes looked every inch league leaders playing neat, fast, attacking football and were only denied the lead by a headed goal-line clearance by George Forrest whose speed in mind and body blunted the visitors’ attack.

Regent established themselves after the first ten minutes and started to match the leaders in midfield forcing Folkestone defenders to kick the ball high and out of the ground to ease the pressure. The only goal attempts were long-shots by Dunne and Barnett neither of which troubled the Invicta goal keeper.

The first half settled into a midfield battle with an acrobatic save by Charlie Turner when the ball was clipped towards the top corner and then a Pip Boyland free kick was headed just over the bar at the other end. As the first half came to an end Invicta got a free kick in a dangerous position just outside the Regent penalty box but the ball was easily collected by Turner in goal.

When the sides went in level at half time the Regent supporters sensed that they were the match of their high flying opponents and that the first half was at least a moral victory.

Second half
Regent replaced Finn O’Reilly, with Lewis Byrne-Hewitt going upfront for the second half and Jake Clowsley dropping back to play wide on the right.

Folkestone began the second half with more intensity and hit the bar from a corner in the opening minutes but also started to pick up yellow cards as first Callum Davies and then Ronnie Nolan were booked.

Both sides were very lively and after 20 minutes Regent were saved when Charlie Turner turned a fine shot away for a corner to save the day once again. The referee had booked Finn O’Mara for dissent and Michael Everitt for a foul, whilst Jake Clowsley, who had been the subject of some heavy tackles, dived in on a Folkestone player and was lucky to only get a yellow.

Mid-way through the half Jake Turner threaded the ball through to George Bugg who took the ball across the area, turned and put a left footed shot just wide of the post. This was the clearest scoring opportunity for either side in the match.

As both sides pressed for further scoring opportunities Folkestone’s Alfie Paxman went into the book in the last ten minutes and Regent had to defend resolutely. They were helped when Paxman, who had just been cautioned, went in heavily on Jake Clowsley and was shown a red card.

More determined defending by the Regent back four got the match to ninety minutes and saw out the four minutes of added time. Even then, the referee had not finished taking names and showed substitute Chinedu McKenzie a yellow card for dissent as the Folkestone players walked off the pitch.

Match Verdict
This was another good, lively performance by the Regent boys who matched the league leaders in every department.

In a match of few chances and many bookings the Regent back four had held firm for the full 90 minutes and Jake Turner and Jordan Barnett had matched Folkestone in the centre of midfield. The pace of Clowsley, Bugg and Byrne-Hewitt had unsettled the Folkestone defenders.

By Paul Ketchley