Regent Boss Tom Rothery had this to say on his latest two recruits “Joe and I have a bit of history from this time last season when we tried to sign him at Needham Market, it fell through at the last minute and in all honesty Joe had a rough spell last season as he failed to settle anywhere.

When Pip and I met him the biggest thing I wanted to know was Joe was going to commit and really look to settle at Brightlingsea.

He did well when breaking through at Braintree and had good spells at Bury Town and AFC Sudbury on loan, after going back from these clubs to Braintree he’s really failed to produce what I believe he can and we hope that’s what he can do now.

I think at 20 we can now get the best out of Joe and he can really show what ability he has and bring the goals, assists and quality he has in the final third to the Regent.

Matt is another young player and like Joe has excellent quality on the ball. I think he’s something that we really needed last season with his ability to get beyond a Billy Hunt when Billy drops in to get on the ball and add goals from our midfield areas with his ability to make third man runs.

He has good pedigree having come through the academy at Spurs and then breaking through the Braintree Academy into the Braintree First Team like Joe, before then not being able to really get a regular run of games in the First Team.

I’m excited about the energy and dynamism Matt will add to our midfield and I’m really optimistic that both players will add a lot to the team and I personally think the Regent faithful can be positive and upbeat about another two excellent signings, they are both young and hungry to succeed and show what they can do at Brightlingsea Regent”.