It was a night to forget for the R’s as they succumbed to a shock 3-1 defat against newly promoted Little Oakley with Joe Watsons late penalty being the only consolation of the match.

It was a night of much anticipation from both sides. Regent came to the Memorial Ground on the back of two respectable draws with a very strong performance against a tough Canvey Island side of which we were unlucky not to take all 3 points. With Little Oakley full of confidence and fire for their first ever match in the Isthmian League North (Step 4). The supporters were also in good spirits before kick off with a large contingent of Regent supporters populating the Little Oakley Club house and bar area prior to kick off.

The match got underway on time and Regent got the first half underway shooting at the Clubhouse end. The Regent fans were in full voice at the other side of the stadium in the stand and we got off to a good start in the first 5 minutes with a few attacks creating a couple of chances early on.

That was not to last long as a corner from Hipkin was knocked down to find former Regent Academy player Dylan Ketley-Gregan who fired in a wonder half volley on 7’ minutes for Little Oakley to put the hosts in front and stun Regent.

It was almost 2 on 25 minutes when Little Oakley again had the ball in the net but the referee blew his whistle for a foul on Roan Tucker in the build-up which resulted in a Regent free kick. Relief for the R’s which would only last all of two minutes with Josh Mcfaull doubling Little Oakley’s lead on 27’ minutes. Shell shocked, Regent struggled to retain possession and create any chances before the half-time mark.

The ref blew for Half-time after 3 additional minutes and manager Ryan Salter made three half time changes with Jake Clowsley (Who was cautioned in the 45+2’ minute), Luca Terminiello and Giani Ashley making way for Tom Cottle-Wood, Dan Rowe and Joe Watson to bolster the Regent attacking power for the second half.

Those changes proved to be ineffective as a well organised, well-structured Little Oakley side cancelled out any potential Regent attacking threat before it even began to develop. The night got worse for Regent in the 66th minute when Luke Mayhew volleyed in Little Oakley’s 3rd goal of the night to put the game firmly out of reach of the R’s, much to the delight of the home crowd, and the dismay of the Regent fans in attendance, who again had not stopped singing all match!

Two defensive substitutions were made in the 71st minute with Marley Andrews and Jensen Mulqueen replaced by Emmanuel Zion and Travis Richards for some fresh sets of legs, but Little Oakley remained resilient in their formation and game plan which was only broken in the 5th minute of added time when Regent won a late penalty. Joe Watson stepped up and slotted it home, but would only be a consolation on what was otherwise, a night to forget for the R’s.

The full-time whistle blew and the icing was put on the cake when a scuffle between the two squads saw Jake Clowsley sent off at the full-time whistle, which will see him miss the Redbridge, Takeley and AFC Sudbury games.

For now however, we dust off, and we go again on Saturday when we travel to Ware for the FA Trophy. More match details around this fixture will be released Wednesday night!

Thanks for all your support last night Regent fans and we will be back stronger!

#UpTheRs