Off the back of an undeserved defeat against Bowers & Pitsea on Saturday, Ryan Salter made five changes to the starting lineup, with the likes of Dan Rowe and Harry McDonald serving their suspension, and many others unavailable for selection through injuries.

Three new faces entered the starting eleven, with Billy Wales and Harvey Taylor-Evans making their Brightlingsea Regent debuts, whilst Charlie Turner returned between the sticks after leaving Aveley. Luca Terminiello and Joe Watson likewise entered the eleven.

The opening ten minutes were a cagey affair, neither side was able to find the cutting edge to break the deadlock in the opening few minutes.

However, this trend certainly didn’t last for long, as Brightlingsea bagged the opener in the 11th minute through Joe Watson. Successfully beating the AFC Sudbury man to the ball, Watson drove forward into space down the wing, evading the on-rushing defender, before firing into the opposite corner in style to give the R’s an early lead.

Sudbury retaliated promptly, going inches away from an equaliser. Following on from a crunching tackle, Sudbury fired a curving free-kick into the box, which Emmanuel Zion cleared over the bar before Kyran Clements could get a touch at the far post, only just missing the top corner!

Once again AFC Sudbury went close, as Tom Maycock skipped past Emmanuel Zion’s challenge to pull into space, but his shot was too tame, ultimately being parried out for a corner by the returning goalkeeper Charlie Turner.

Unfortunately for the R’s, the resulting corner saw AFC Sudbury pull the scoreline back on level terms, with the corner finding centre-back George Chenery, whose connection from the header was enough to evade the Regent players guarding the goal line, despite their best efforts.

Regent went agonisingly close a few minutes further down the line, thanks to a short corner being whipped into the box, and despite lacking a touch from a red shirt, the AFC Sudbury shanked the clearance completely, however, the post saved the defender’s embarrassment.

A competent, yet uninspiring performance concluded the first half, with the R’s arguably dominating in regard to opportunities in positive areas, but none close enough to threaten the AFC Sudbury goalkeeper Finley Iron.

The crossbar was slammed for a second time in the game shortly after the break. Via Eddie Barker’s free-kick from just over the halfway line, a powerful header unmarked from the Sudbury player narrowly missed the top-left corner, ultimately reverberating against the crossbar.

Ryan Salter’s first substituions all came in one cluster in the 69th minute, as Jake Clowsley, Daniel Brock and debutant Makhi Johnson-Reid entered the pay, replacing Luca Termineillo and Ben Sargeant.

AFC Sudbury proceeded to utilise set-pieces once again, as Eddie Barker’s direct free-kick sailed wide one minute later, and Regent grabbed a chance for themselves from a distance, however the shot was way too high to test the Sudbury goalkeeper.

The opposition’s best chance of the second half to claim the three points occurred after AFC Sudbury substitute Archie Jolland displayed some fancy footwork on the edge of the box, before cutting back to Eddie Barker, who's shot wasn't as accurate as intended, leading to a serious goalmouth scramble, alongside a penalty shout that was waved away.

Ultimately, that was that, and referee Thomas Whay blew his full-time whistle, as the R’s settled for a point. With no game this weekend, our next fixture is against Lowestoft Town on Tuesday 6th October.