Regent's Josh Gould headed narrowly wide during the first half of Tuesday's 2-0 defeat against Worthing, at the Taydal Stadium

BRIGHTLINGSEA Regent suffered a dent to their play-off chances after a 2-0 defeat against Worthing tonight.

The sides met in an eagerly-anticipated Bostik League premier division contest at the Taydal Stadium.

Regent went into the clash on the back of an explosive run of just one defeat in ten matches.

It was a sequence that featured eight wins and had seen them rocket from the relegation zone to 11th, just three points behind fifth-placed Merstham.

They had also won their previous five matches at the Taydal Stadium.

However, they knew were in for a tough contest against a Worthing side sitting just above them in the table, with both sides locked on 38 points.

And on this occasion it was the visitors who returned to Sussex with maximum points in the bag, thanks to a goal in each half from Ollie Pearce and Jalen Jones.

Regent made a slow start and were punished in the tenth minute.

Worthing worked the ball in from the right and Pearce drilled a low shot past keeper James Bradbrook.

Regent responded well to the early setback and fashioned a couple of notable chances.

Centre-half Josh Gould saw a header drop just the wrong side of the post from Aaron Condon’s corner.

Billy Hunt then showed quick feet to make space for himself and spray the ball out wide for Condon.

However, from a decent position on the left of the box, the former FC Clacton front man lashed high and wide of Kleton Perntreou’s goal.

Hunt tried his luck from a distance but a defender charged it down and the ball was easily smothered by the Worthing keeper.

Regent, who brought on Billy Jones for Jordan Barnett after the interval, were determined to make a positive start to the second half and Ricky Griggs cut in from the right before unleashing a powerful, angled effort that was turned behind by Perntreou.

However, another bodyblow awaited as Worthing added their second in the 67th minute.

Jones gobbled up the chance, heading home from close range after a corner.

Reuben Mudd replaced Condon for the last 15 minutes but Regent’s hopes suffered a further blow when Jake Gould received his second booking and was dismissed in the 81st minute.

Worthing climbed to fifth, and into the play-off zone, as a result of their success, which was watched a crowd of 189.

Next up for Tom Rothery’s side is a trip to third-from-bottom Wingate and Finchley on Saturday.