Regent welcomed league leaders Worthing on a sunny January afternoon. With storm Brendan a fading memory it was a perfect afternoon for football with no wind and a clear blue sky at kick off.

Kem Izzet started with what appears to be his preferred line up of Charlie Turner; Boyland, Forrest, Cripps, Gould; Dunne, Jake Turner, Kamanzi and Clowsley with Barnett and Bugg up front. Mo Gelashvili, Brice-Wiffen, Byrne-Hewitt and O’Reilly were substitutes.

The referee spent what seemed to be an age before blowing for kick off and was then dis-satisfied with Regent’s routine and required a re-start.

The early exchanges were even with both sides trying to play similar styles although it was already evident that Worthing were more proficient in their approach. But after ten minutes a very heavy challenge saw Regent Captain Matt Cripps carried off with a serious leg injury which required him go to hospital.

Mo Gelashvili came on and a there was an immediate scare when Turner had to block but saw the follow up header go over the bar. Worthing attacked in numbers and at pace up front and took no chances at the back, so much so that after half an hour of even play the Worthing supporters in the stand speculated that the game would be decided by a single goal.

Moments later Regent let things slip and the defence was left unbalanced leaving Worthing with a man over and Alex Parsons was able to run through and put the ball past Charlie Turner.

Regent were forced to come forward but this gave more chances to Worthing on the counter-attack and as the first half came to a close a slip by a defender forced a desperate lunge to recover the ball and the Worthing forward went down, leaving the referee an easy decision to award a penalty kick which Oliver Pearce put away competently leaving Charlie Turner with no chance.

Second half
Regent started the second half in determined style and came close after just two minutes when George Bugg was denied by the Worthing goalkeeper, who turned out to be on loan from Premier League Brighton.

Regent appeared to have moved to more of a 3-4-3 formation and this led to further one on one chances for Worthing players but, perhaps because of the challenging switch from an artificial pitch to a grass surface, they managed to miss them all. Worthing relied on their impressive goalkeeper who denied George Bugg again and then saved a superb free kick by Romario Dunne which was heading for the top corner.

After 65 minutes Worthing gave a text book demonstration of how to score from a corner as Pearce powered through the defence to get up and nod the ball down so that it bounced up into the roof of the net.

At 3-0 up the game was effectively over and although attempts by Jordan Barnett and a free kick by Jake Turner threatened a consolation goal the Worthing supporters were paying more attention to the progress being made by local rivals Bognor Regis Town in their match against Folkestone Invicta, Worthing’s nearest competition in the promotion race.

Match Verdict
Regent continued their improved style of play from recent matches but came up against an impressive attacking side in Worthing who played with all round pace and ability.

Fortunately, none of the sides around us managed to get a point either and the main concern will be continuing the relegation battle without Matt Cripps for several weeks.

An away trip to bottom side Wingate and Finchley next week will determine a lot in the relegation battle.

By Paul Ketchley