EXTENDING their unbeaten Ryman League division north run to a tenth game may have been the perfect antidote to Brightlingsea Regent’s disappointment of dropping out of the FA Trophy.

Regent bowed out of the Trophy a few days before at Harlow, but bounced straight back with a 2-1 win at another side in a rich vein of division north form, Tilbury.

The Essex derby was sealed in Brightlingsea’s favour by Russell Malton’s 50th minute goal after strikes from Robbie Rees and the Dockers’ Joe Nightingill had left it 1-1 at half-time.

Regent manager James Webster admitted that his team were hanging on at times in the latter stages, but he was pleased to see them extend their unbeaten league run to ten games.

Webster said: “We just have to take each game as it comes and take as many points from them as we can.

“We are in a good position now and we are playing some good stuff, but we had to show a different side to us in this one.

“We had to show some grit and determination and it’s a game that we may have lost last year.

“The boys bounced back from the Harlow game with a good result and the boys who came in showed me that we have an even better squad than perhaps I thought we did.”

The win saw Brightlingsea stay second but they have squeezed the gap to one point behind leaders MALDON & TIPTREE, who could only draw at AFC Hornchurch.

George Purcell gave the Urchins the lead and the Jammers were thankful to Rhys Henry for an equaliser five minutes from time as they took a point from their trip.

There was also a draw for WITHAM TOWN, but they dropped two places to 12th and would have been frustrated at the end as they conceded twice in the dying stages.

Goals from Usman Adeniji and Tim Monsheju put Witham 2-0 up at the break and they held on to that until the 84th minute, but two strikes in the final six minutes by Jason Hallett rescued a point for third-placed Cheshunt.

HEYBRIDGE SWIFTS saw a five-game unbeaten run ended when they lost 3-1 at homw to Dereham Town.

George Cole’s 41st minute goal for Swifts made it 1-1 at half-time, but two Daniel Beaumont goals in the latter stages won it for the Norfolk side.