Regent lined up with Jessup in goal; Fahad Nazor, Boyland, Cripps and Forrest at the back; Turner Maybanks, Dunne and Yasseir Nazor in midfield; Bugg and Howell formed the attack. Emerson-Eade. Mahon, Carvell, Barnett and Hunt were on the bench.

In a drab first half of contrasting styles there were few chances. Regent tried to play the ball along the ground but gave the ball away too often and Histon played a traditional long ball game. Neither defence was troubled except for a well taken Histon free kick which was blocked by Jake Jessup for a corner.

The pacey George Bugg, who had been blocked off earlier at the end of an impressive run by the corner flag, was replaced by Billy Hunt after 37 minutes.

Midway through the half the promised rain showers arrived on a cold wind which blew across the ground.

The second half began with more intensity by both sides and gradually Regent got on top of their opponents. Billy Hunt posed a much more robust threat to the physical Histon defence and a good through ball by Jake Turner saw Hunt take his trademark left foot shot which went past the post.

A squall of very heavy rain fell for five minutes which made conditions difficult and where the ball had once sped through off the grass it began to hold up on the wet ground.

Then Yasseir Nazar, who had been combining well with brother Fahad and causing a threat on the right-hand side got clear once again and his fierce shot rebounded off the crossbar.

In the 76th minute the deadlock was broken when Yasseir got clear once again and played the ball across to Jake Turner on the far side of the box who passed the ball back centrally for Billy Hunt to rifle the ball home. It was a stunning strike.

Histon tried hard in search of an equaliser but to no effect and after four minutes added time Regent went through to the next round

Match Verdict

Further improvements by Regent both individually and collectively offered promise for the upcoming league games. The defence kept a clean sheet, JT was dominant in midfield, Romario has become an impressive dead-ball specialist and Billy rediscovered his scoring touch. Two wins in a row will boost confidence in advance of Saturday’s trip to Leatherhead.