Regent faced Bognor Regis on a wet, windy afternoon deprived of various players due to suspension, injury, and an FA Cup call up by a parent club. A line up of Turner; Gilbert, Bennett, Mitchell-Nelson, Goldbourne; Byrne-Hewitt, Durling, McDonald, Booth; McKenzie and Kinali was supported by just two subs, in Jake Thompson and Zac Smith-Walter. On fire striker Ken Feyi was ruled out and a rumoured new signing failed to appear after problems with paperwork.

161 spectators turned out including an impressive 30-40 who braved the long trip from West Sussex despite the weather and uncertainties around fuel supplies.

None of this was helped by difficult conditions with alternating patterns of squally wind and rain which were to continue throughout the match.
Bognor kicked off and the first quarter of an hour was fairly even although Regent survived some scares and neither Marcus Goldbourne not Lewis Byrne-Hewitt were able to take advantage of some opportunities.

The visitors went ahead after 21 minutes when a neat exchange on the right was cut back to give Ashton Leigh a clear opportunity which he made no mistake in putting away.

Regent nearly equalised shortly after when Byrne-Hewitt got away down the left but Kinali wasn’t able to put the chance away.

Regent were under continual pressure for the remainder of the half but, as players found it increasingly difficult to keep on their feet as the pitch began to cut up, they went in at half time only one-nil down.

Second half

Regent made no substitutions at half time although it seemed necessary to give Marcus Goldbourne the chance to inject more creativity in midfield if Regent were to equalise.

After some early pressure from a long shot from Max Booth and a header just wide from Miles Mitchell-Nelson Bognor began to threaten again and Charlie Turner was forced into two athletic saves before Ashton Leigh doubled the Bognor lead after 57 minutes.

Further scores came in the 68th 81st and 82nd minutes and although Regent made substitutions there were limited options to change things whereas Bognor were able to make various substitutions which enabled them to vary their formation and present a new set of challenges to the home side.

Match Verdict

Regent were comprehensively outplayed in a match in which various players had to play in positions which didn’t suit their strengths. Too much pressure was heaped on the defence because the midfield could not match the possession that Bognor enjoyed and provide service to the strike force.

By Paul Ketchley