Brightlingsea Regent began their pre-season schedule in an impressive manner at Billericay Town’s New Lodge, beating Essex Senior League side Hutton FC 2-0, thanks to two second half goals from Gianni Ashley and Jake Clowsley.

This pre-season friendly represented the first appearance for several new signings for Ryan Salter’s squad, whilst simultaneously providing an opportunity for those contracted to Brightlingsea Regent’s squad prior to regain full-match fitness.

Regent dominated the possession for the opening few minutes, controlling the tempo and limiting Hutton’s opportunities on the ball, with Hutton gradually growing into game as the minutes ticked by. A large chunk of the opening quarter was categorised by promising looking positions for both sides; that ultimately resulted in nothing.

Regent’s opening clear cut chance of the contest came from Dan Rowe, stationed near the penalty spot, with the shot comfortably saved down low by Hutton’s goalkeeper, and just minutes later, Hutton nearly gifted Regent an own goal after a lapse at the back, which saw Tom Cottle-Wood's cross almost headed into the top-corner by their own centre-back.

An ever-so controversial hydration break followed (albeit this one arguably did feel necessary), off-the back of a Barcelona-Esque piece of tiki-taka passing move that was narrowly fired wide of the post, in what would have been a brilliantly worked goal.

The new-boy upfront Mekhi McKenzie was presented with three excellent chances to open his account before the break, however, was unfortunate not to see any of his efforts cross the line.

The first of those followed on from a mix-up in possession at the back, capitalised on by the Regent number nine, pushing further into the box, before causing a scramble in the penalty area before the loose ball was eventually fired over from close range. Shortly after, Tom Cottle-Wood cut the ball into the box, thanks to some clever wing-play along the byline, but McKenzie’s touch was slightly overhit, allowing the goalkeeper to claim comfortably. Rounding off his impressive spell, he narrowly headed wide from a routine corner, in what was Regent’s last chance before the break.

Hutton's opening clear-cut opportunity occurred just before the half-time whistle, however, they were denied through an excellent stop from Regent goalkeeper Ollie Pipa, followed by some solid defending to deny any rebound.

Half-time saw Brightlingsea opt for an overhaul in personnel, utilising six half-time switches, and before long, Brightlingsea Regent broke the deadlock, thanks to new signing Gianni Ashley, who found himself in space at the edge of the box in the 48th minute, taking a wicked deflection to edge the ball past the Hutton goalkeeper.

Only ten minutes after the opener, Regent doubled their advantage, when half-time substitute and last campaign’s top scorer Jake Clowsley turned the defender closing him down, leading to Clowsley calmly slotting home after just the goalkeeper to beat.

Yet again, Hutton made minor defensive errors, this time misjudging a header, allowing the Brightlingsea frontline to benefit and create a promising attack, but the shot didn’t quite have the pace on it to trickle over the goal line.

Despite seeming on the back foot for a majority of the game, Hutton carved out a couple of opportunities in the latter staged of the game, with the first of those rattling the crossbar from a pacy shot, before a scramble in the box resulted in Ollie Pipa just about grabbing the ball.

Soon afterwards, Hutton’s number nine displayed some flashy dribbling, with the shot less-so successful, slamming the body of their teammate, before exclaiming a comedic sounding “nooo” at quite some volume and resulting in a goal-kick.

Unfortunately, the dying embers of the friendly weren't quite so entertaining, catergorised by an uneventful end made up of heavy tackles, over ten minutes of extra time, and many injury delays, albeit unsurprising as it is the opening pre-season game back!

Brightlingsea will move onto Tuesday in good spirits, where we face Stanway Pegusus at home.