After a weekend off and a practice match on Tuesday Regent hosted Cray Wanderers on a grey November day.

After recent rain the ground looked heavy but no wind meant a perfect afternoon for football with a crowd of 157 swelled by Colchester’s match against Bradford being cancelled.

Regent welcomed George Forrest, on loan from Crawley Town until the end of the season at centre-back and wide man Yasseir Nazor on the bench.

They lined up with Charlie Turner in goal; Fahad Nazar, George Forrest, Matt Cripps and Jake Gould at the back; Romario Dunne, Jake Turner, Pip Boyland and Reece Dobson in midfield; with Billy Hunt and George Bugg up front. Josh Gould, Mo Gelashvili, Elliot Johnson, Lamell Howell and Yasseir Nazor were on the bench.

Cray playing in amber and black featured squad numbers rather than a 1-11 system. A centre back played in a protective face guard as Harry Kane once did. Clearly, they aspire to higher things.

Cray kicked off and controlled the first 20 minutes whilst Regent tried to play the ball along the ground but far too often ended up mis-controlling or giving the ball away.

Meanwhile Cray showed good organisation and intent on both wings with Joel Rollinson threatening and nutmegging Jake Turner with ease.

Regent were under constant pressure with clearances simply being picked up by the Cray defenders who re-cycled the ball to create further pressure. Up front there was little joy for the Regent forwards and after some hefty challenges George Bugg went off after 19 minutes to be replaced by Yassier Nazor.

Just when it looked like Regent had weathered the storm Matt Cripps got booked for a foul, and from the free kick the ball was floated into the penalty area, nodded down and Cray centre forward Taylor slammed the ball into the roof of the net.

Two minutes later another long diagonal ball was pumped over Fahad Nazar’s head to a Cray forward and a desperate recovery tackle conceded a penalty. Charlie Turner dived left but Joe Turner stroked the ball to the opposite corner to double the lead. Two poor tackles led to two goals in two minutes and the game was all too far away.

Regent changed to 4-3-3 but all they could manage was a powerful run by Forrest, a cross by Billy Hunt, which evaded everyone, and half chances for Reece Dobson and Yasseir Nazor.

Too many passes were over-ambitious and easily cut or mis-placed to cause any threat to the well organised Cray defence.

Second half
Cray brought on Charles Etumnu at half time and the early period of the second half followed the pattern of the first with Regent under constant pressure and Cray re-cycling to ball forward from clearances.

The game became fractious and after 58 minutes Cray were awarded a free kick after Cray’s Ben Mundele was tripped and Fahad Nazar was shown a straight red card for kicking the ball at the prone player.

A re-organisation saw Lamell Howell replace Reece Dobson and for the final half hour Regent appeared re-invigorated and took the game to Cray.

Romario Dunne and Lamell Howell injected pace and energy into the midfield and eventually Regent created their best chance from a Jake Turner free kick only for the ball to go for a corner.

Cray were well organised and always able to keep control with a man advantage to see the game out so Regent were unable to get any consolation for their efforts in the last period.

Match Verdict
Another failure to score sees Regent deep in the relegation zone. With rumours of incoming signings imminent it remains to be seen how quickly the improvement in the style of play can be continued.

The trip to Carshalton on Monday night will be a tough challenge but a more winnable fixture at home to Cheshunt next Saturday will show the progress since the defeat in the FA Cup.

By Paul Ketchley