The first evening fixture at North Road brought a visit from local rivals Bishop’s Stortford on a damp misty evening which was more like late autumn than the end of summer. A good crowd of 212 turned out to watch.

Regent lined up with Charlie Turner in goal, Jamie Bennett, Chris Ribchester, Jake Thompson and Billy Wales at the back, Charlie Durling, Harry McDonald, Max Booth and Marcus Gouldbourne in midfield and Lewis Byrne-Hewitt with Ken Feyi up front. Five substitutes were named although only Dean Ager, Kane Gilbert, Reggie Gregory and Zach Smith-Walter were visible from the far side of the pitch.

Regent kicked off and played towards the Regent Road end, so presumably they lost the toss. Once again, they started out on the front foot and both sides played with a fierce pace and high intensity which continued throughout the first half.

Early doors a cross by Lewis Byrne-Hewitt nearly resulted in an own goal by the Bishops Stortford defence and then Byrne-Hewitt produced a superb cross which went right across the opposition goal but nobody seemed inclined to take responsibility to put it away.

In the first 20 minutes the only risk to Regent was a back header from Ribchester which Charlie Turner had to gather under a heavy challenge.

The game was being played at a fast and furious pace in midfield and neither side had really threatened the other’s goal but just when you got the idea that defences were dominating and that both Jake Thompson and Chris Ribchester were solid rocks at the back, Stortford went ahead. It came from a long through ball which pinballed around, was flicked on and Stortford’s Ryan Charles found himself through on goal. He calmly knocked the ball away from the on-rushing Turner and tapped the ball into an empty net.

The rest of the first half followed the pattern of the previous half hour and apart from a good Gouldbourne run and a Feyi cross there were no further chances for either side.

Second half
Regent made no changes at the break and there was a sense that if they could get a goal back then all would be to play for.

Unfortunately, the game was settled by two defensive errors early in the second half. Anyone who had seen Everton’s scoring burst against Burnley the previous night on Sky could not fail to see the similarity as Regent gave golden opportunities to the opposition which were gratefully accepted. So, two goals in two minutes meant that it was effectively game over five minutes into the second half.

Regent started to change things round as Kane Gilbert and Dean Ager came on but Bishops Stortford kept up the same level of pressure and intensity they had shown throughout.

A window of hope appeared when Kane Gilbert was fouled in the penalty area and Ken Feyi confidently dispatched the resulting penalty. But then another defensive lapse when a weak back pass was pounced on and put away leaving Bishops Stortford home and dry at 4-1 up.

Match Verdict
Unfortunately, Regent have only themselves to blame for making two fatal errors at the back which lost them the game in the first five minutes of the second half. Then, when they had the chance to get back in the game from the penalty, another error resulted in the coup de grace fourth goal.

Things might have been so different had someone been prepared to put themselves on the line to put away Byrne-Hewitt’s first half cross and then it would have been the visitors who would have had to come forward and find an equaliser. Hopefully Regent will be able to maintain their good record against Lewes when they visit on Saturday.

By Paul Ketchley