Brightlingsea hosted Lewes on an early autumn afternoon. The pitch looked pristine following recent rainfall and a blustery wind blew across the ground. A crowd of 142 included a fair number of supporters who had made the long trip from East Sussex.

Brightlingsea lined up with Charlie Turner; Ricky Griggs, Matt Cripps, Jake Gould, Charlie Lindoe; Joe Yaxley, George Doyle, Jake Turner, Romario Dunne; with Lamell Howell and Billy Hunt up front. Ace Howell, Adam Hampson, Amir Berkane and Pip Boyland were on the bench.

Lewes, playing in an all blue change kit, kicked off, and both sides started brightly with Matt Cripps cutting out a good chance for the Lewes centre forward and Billy Hunt winning an early corner.

The deadlock was broken after 14 minutes when Regent won a free kick half way inside the Lewes half when George Doyle was fouled. Charlie Lindoe took a left footed kick and found Matt Cripps jumping with the Lewes centre half and, as the two of them tussled in the air, his header looped into the corner of the net to give Regent the lead.

Lewes came back and won two free kicks in dangerous positions but hit the first one into the wall and then Charlie Turner was able to palm away the second.

The match was still very even, and after 27 minutes Romario Dunne was shown a yellow card for a tackle from behind which was seen as unacceptable in spite of his managing to play the ball.

After 35 minutes Dunne pressured the Lewes defence into making a series of backpasses to their goalkeeper. Dunne kept going, and forced the keeper into a poor kick which went straight to Billy Hunt who drove forward and hammered the ball against the right hand post of the Lewes goal.

From the rebound the ball was cleared out to Ricky Griggs on the halfway line who went on a run through the Lewes defence, skipped past two tackles, cut inside and hit the ball into the opposite corner of the goal for a 2-0 lead.

Lewes almost came back into it after 38 minutes when Dayshonne Golding skipped down the right hand side and dinked a cross to centre-forward Peter Gregory who, with the goal beckoning, skied the ball high over the bar.

At half time Regent found themselves 2-0 up and under no apparent threat from a disjointed Lewes side.

Second half
Neither side made any changes during the interval but it was obvious that the Lewes half time team talk had emphasised the need to keep possession and make more of their passing game.

Lewes were still unable to make anything of their chances and Billy Hunt went close again when a chip shot which was creeping in under the bar was tipped over by their keeper.

Shortly afterwards Lewes won a throw just inside their half and worked the ball too easily across the pitch to the impressive Dayshonne Golding who cut inside and scored inside the near post.

A series of substitutions followed and Amir Berkane and Ace Howell replaced Joe Yaxley and Romario Dunne as Lewes enjoyed a period of sustained possession.

Still Regent were able to hold on to their lead until the 82nd minute when a clearance from the back was taken down the Lewes left and a cross into the box was handled by the Regent defence. Kayne Diedrick-Roberts dispatched the inevitable penalty, sending Charlie Turner the wrong way.

Momentum was now with Lewes and Regent were forced to come forward which created more openings at the back. In the 90th minute a Regent attack was broken up and long clearance from the Lewes defence found Mongoy on the right-hand side of the pitch and, with two attackers against three defenders, his cross found Olajuwon Adeyemo who got between final two defenders to squeeze the ball into the net for a last gasp winner.

Match Verdict
Regent will wonder how they managed to go from a dominant position at the end of 45 minutes to lose this match.

Once again too many lapses in concentration and defensive errors in the closing minutes were evident. The first half performance shows how they can play but they were unable to sustain that level for the full ninety minutes and beyond.

They will need to bounce back on Tuesday night against Enfield.

By Paul Ketchley