BRIGHTLINGSEA Regent’s poor run of Bostik League premier division form continued as a late penalty brought heartache for the R’s at Leatherhead.

A 2-1 loss meant that Tom Rothery’s side have now lost their last four league outings and their latest would have been a tough one to take.

Brightlingsea trailed at half-time as former Braintree Town man Jack Midson fired the hosts into the lead in the 21st minute.

It seemed as though Regent had rescued a point as Sam Ashford scored an 83rd minute leveller, but there was to be a late twist in the game.

Matt Cripps was sent off three minutes after the equalising goal for a foul on Midson, who picked himself up and scored from the penalty spot as Leatherhead claimed all three points.

In division north, it proved to be a good day for HEYBRIDGE SWIFTS and all of the damage was done during a productive first half against visiting Brentwood.

It was a third win in a row for Swifts and their 3-1 success took their tally to 12 goals in that three-game winning run.

Luke Callander got them off to a good start with an opening goal from a penalty in the sixth minute and strikes by Ryan Henshaw and Harrison Chatting in the five minutes before the break put them in a commanding position.

Brentwood did pull one back in the 83rd minute, but Luke Foster’s strike was nothing more than a consolation for the visitors.

MALDON & TIPTREE were involved in an Essex derby as they travelled to Canvey Island to face one of their rivals in the race for the play-offs.

The south Essex side went ahead when James Walker scored an eighth minute goal and a second from Ryan Charles on the stroke of half-time gave them breathing space at the break.

Joe Ellul made sure there would be no chance for the Gulls to coast in the second half as another ex-Braintree players halved the deficit in the 48th minute, but that was as close as Maldon got as Canvey held on to win 2-1.

Another Essex derby took place at Aveley’s impressive Parkside ground where Grays Athletic hosted WITHAM TOWN and the side from the south of the county came out on top again.

This time it was more comfortable as Grays repeated the scoreline from when the two sides met in the reverse fixture earlier in the season and won 4-1.

A three-goal burst in five first-half minutes proved devastating for Witham as Grays striker Tommy Wade scored in the 34th and 37th minutes, before Kieran Bishop added a third on 39 minutes with a spectacular overhead kick.

Bishop made it 4-0 with ten minutes of the game to go and while Shamido Pedulu scored for Witham in time added-on at the end, it was scant consolation for the visitors.