Regent hosted Carshalton Athletic on a bright sunny day with a strong swirling wind blowing the length of the pitch. The visitors had won the reverse fixture 6-1 earlier in the season so a tight game was expected

No changes were made to the Regent line up from Tuesday night with Turner in goal, a back four of Reid, Littlejohn, Thompson and Mvemba; Locke, Bell, Durling and Carlos Rocha in midfield and Blair and Barnby up front. Chris Gregan was added to a subs bench of Gilbert, Flood and Ribchester.

It looked as though Carshalton won the toss and decided to play with the wind in the first half and so Regent kicked off. Once again Connor Barnby got off to a bright start and got away from the defence early on, only to see his shot blocked and Aaron Blair unable to put the rebound away.

It soon became apparent that the swirling wind was going to play a major part on the match and Carshalton pressed forward with the wind behind them in the early exchanges. Mostly though the ball ran away from their forwards in the wind whereas Regent struggled to get the ball forward as it held up in the wind. There were few clear chances for either side even though the visitors were awarded several free kicks in dangerous positions. Jake Thompson was booked for bringing an opponent down and Charlie Durling seemed to regularly be in need of treatment following robust exchanges.

Even at half time the match had a nil-nil draw written all over it.

Second half
The second half began as the first half ended and Charlie Durling lived dangerously when the referee surprised the home crowd by taking no action after one challenge.

The first flash of any quality came when Wyan Reid got away and kept the ball on the ground which led to a good shot and then a Carlos Rocha header and Aaron Blair shot nearly unlocked the defence. Sixty minutes in and Regent were in the ascendancy with Jake Thompson nearly getting on the end of a cross into the box and then a horrendously shanked clearance held up in the wind and nearly resulted in an own goal by the visitors.

As the half progressed Regent became as dominant as Carshalton had been in the first, but in spite of Wyan Reid’s dynamism, Carlos Flood’s creativity and Aaron Blair’s pace up front they couldn’t create a clear opening.

Breakaways by the visitors were halted by tackles which led to bookings for Zak Littlejohn and Charlie Durling but the main spoiler was the wind and when the referee blew the final whistle neither side had managed to force the opposition ‘keeper to make anything more than a routine save.

Match Verdict
Not for the first time in recent games Regent took a point from an opposition which had chalked up a big 6-1 score against them earlier in the season and looked more than able to hold their own against opposition.

The next seven games are effectively cup finals in a battle to stay at this level but in recent games Regent have shown themselves more than able to ccompte against the higher teams in this league.

By Paul Ketchley