Regent fans found more new names and faces to get used to in a new management team and a raft of players from White Ensign FC who came in to rescue their season as further players exited trough the revolving door of changes.

There was little optimism about facing a Bowers and Pitsea side who recently ran League 1 Lincoln City to a close result in the FA Cup but a decent crowd of 169 was swelled by a sizeable and noisy contingent who had made the trip from Basildon.

Regent fielded Louis Hawes in goal, newcomers Andy George and Zack Littlejohn alongside Ribchester and Mack Miskin at the back; Kane Gilbert, Charlie Durling, Rudy Rocha and Luke Skinner werein midfield and up front Dom Locke partnered Valter Rocha. New signing Dan Gilchrist was on the bench alongside Fiavien-Howard, Page and Vasileiou.

Bowers kicked off but from the first few minutes it was clear that this was going to be a much more even match and Dom Locke showed his intentions with a fierce shot early on which tested the keeper.

After ten minutes Regent won a corner and although it led to nothing the ball was funnelled back and moved down the right hand side to give Valter Rocha a chance to shoot from distance. The ball bounced in front of the keeper and into the far corner.

For the first time in many weeks Regent were not chasing the game and the rest of the half was fairly even in terms of chances although Chris Ribchester was booked for a high boot and Kane Gilbert followed him for persistent fouling. As the half drew to a close Regent won a free kick and Valter Rocha was unlucky to see a goalbound header well saved.

Bowers started the second half energetically and forced a number of corners but Regent played some neat football and after ten minutes played Dom Locke through in front of goal to put away a second.

Regent continued to pile on the pressure and convinced the Regent supporters to declare they would score in a minute, but chances to do so were spurned or saved. Bowers were offering little threat, passing the ball out of play and sending in corners which went straight into the side netting. As time ran out Bowers made a number of substitutions to turn things around.

With the final whistle approaching the talk in the stand was all about how to play out time and see the game to its conclusion when Regent failed to clear the ball in the area and Bowers scored what seemed to be a consolation goal. Immediately afterwards an attempt to play ball down the line came off a Bowers winger who ran through to cross for a headed equaliser. From the re-start someone tried a long shot which the ‘keeper couldn’t hold on to and within three minutes Regent went from being 2-0 up and comfortable to being 2-3 down and out of the points.

It was a massive turnaround in the closing minutes. Regardless of the result though the performance was much improved from recent outings and there was enough to see that the new players, especially Dom Locke, added a lot to the overall performance which gives optimism for the upcoming matches.