Brightlingsea took the long trip down to East Sussex on a grey overcast day with only five of the side who played in the reverse fixture in September.

Lewes is a lovely place and the ground is sunken down and protected from the elements. A healthy crowd of 402 turned out with plenty of families supporting their local side. The home side also play in red and black, so Regent were in white shirts with red shorts and socks.

With social media commenting that Regent now field more players with first names beginning with “J” than any other in the League, they lined up with four Jakes, one James and a Jerry with Turner; Pip, George Forrest, Jake Thompson, and Jake Gould; Finn, JT, Jerry Kamanzi and James Crisell in midfield; and Romario and Jake Clowsley up front. There were no “J’s” on the bench of Gelashvili, Bugg, Akhbar, Byrne-Hewitt and Mudd.

From the start Regent were more inclined to get on with it and whilst Lewes had a pre-match huddle Regent stared them down with Romario Dunne bouncing around in the centre circle eager to get on with leading the line.

Signs of things to come were apparent at the start when Lewes kicked off poorly and gave away a free kick. An alarm was triggered nearby but the home side didn’t think it was anything to do with them.

After eight minutes a Jake Gould run down the left won a corner, which Romario took and Jake Turner headed in but the referee saw a reason that nobody else could to rule it out.

Regent kept pressing but had a narrow escape when a further free kick led to a quick Lewes break away with Pip Boyland going down after making a block.

Still Regent kept the pressure on, with Romario Dunne providing a much greater physical presence up front. After 25 minutes he was booked for going too far, and but generally Regent kept going forward and winning free kicks in good positions.

As the first half came to a close Regent won another corner through Finn O’Reilly and Jake Clowsley delivered deep to the far post where Jake Thompson was on hand to nod the ball home.

Second half

Pip Byland tried to come out for the second half but was unable to start and so was replaced by Mo Gelashvili.

Early on Regent could have gone further ahead when a Lewes defender back headed a Finn O’Reilly throw in just wide of the post and a Jake Turner free kick was well saved by the Lewes ‘keeper.

Lewes were unable to get back into the game and even a series of substitutions made little difference to their play. The referee seemed unhappy that one of the Lewis players came on wearing a black undershirt but was satisfied when he pulled the sleeves up.

Meanwhile Regent kept going for a second with a JT free kick deflected wide and George Forrest putting ball narrowly wide. At the back Charlie Turner was untroubled except for one cross which was cleared with a single punch to the half way line.

Tempers frayed as the half progressed and Regent players were brought to the ground as Mo Gelashvili was substituted after 74 minutes and then James Crissell went down with a knee injury and was stretchered off after 84.

By this time the home crowd were leaving and even though 6 added minutes were announced the Regent defence held firm with one particularly good block by Jerry Kamanzi until the referee blew for full time.

Match Verdict

Regent bounced back from Tuesday night’s debacle in Basildon and fully deserved the three points. The home match against Lewes was lost from a winning position and from then on things started to unravel. Perhaps winning the return will mark a strong finish to the season?