Potters Bar Town bounced back from a shock FA Cup second qualifying round defeat to Romford
last weekend with a resounding home victory against Brightlingsea Regent, which sees them
remain joint top with early season pacesetters Hornchurch and Aveley.

The Scholars started brightly with the first chance coming as early as the second minute when
Finlay Titchmarsh, named player of the month prior to today’s match, fizzed in a cross that was
cleared away at the last moment, and, from the resulting corner Isaac Galliford somehow managed
to miskick from merely a few yards out, seeing his attempt cleared off the line.

This was a sign of things to come and set the trend for a period of sustained Potters Bar pressure
throughout the first half, with the visitors attacking threat nullified to a long range effort from Luke
Woodward which went high over the crossbar.

Quentin Monville was a constant menace down the wing and his pace and trickery saw
Brightlingsea full-back Adalberto Pinto booked early on, before his dangerous cross was headed
away in the six-yard box, and another wicked free-kick soon after caused havoc in the opposition
penalty area, though nobody from the home side was on hand to apply the finishing touch.

It was only a matter of time before the Scholars got the goal that their play deserved and that
moment almost came ten minutes before the break when Monville’s whipped corner was met by
Dejon Noel-Williams at the near post though he contrived to inexplicably smash his header onto
the underside of the bar and out.

The pressure paid off, however, three minutes before half-time, when Titchmarsh drove infield from
right to left and employed Kasim Aidoo on the left who beat his man and fizzed the ball across the
six-yard box, where it was met by a sliding Noel-Williams to ensure the Scholars went into the
break in the ascendancy.

The second half began much as the first had ended, with Potters Bar pressing high. Tyler
Christian-Law, who saw red at the weekend, went into the book early on with an overzealous
challenge on Dominic Locke, whilst Monville continued to torment the away backline and was
denied a penalty following a fierce tackle in the box close to the byline before a driving run by
Aidoo just a minute later was almost parried into his own net by Brightlingsea goalkeeper Charlie
Turner.

It was again Noel-Williams who doubled the Scholars' advantage just after the hour mark, when
Galliford won the ball back deep inside the opposition half and crossed low, where Noel-Williams
controlled it with his right foot and finished on the turn with his right with a low shot that went under
Turner’s despairing dive.

That should have all but secured the three points for the home side, however Potters Bar captain
Frazer Shaw misjudged a seemingly innocuous crossfield ball allowing Jeremiah Samuel to steal in
and slot past Ted Collins to set up a nervy finale.

That goal seemed to wake up the visitors and a few minutes later winger Harrison Carnegie cut
infield from the left and curled a show towards the top corner that Collins dived full stretch to tip
over the bar before Mo Kamara ended a driving run from midfield with an effort that Turner had to
be alert to, and from the resulting corner, it was the impressive Kamara that put the result beyond
doubt.

Turner mistimed a punch with the ball flying up into the air and ricocheting off several players when
it came back down, where it was met by the cool-headed Kamara who curled home low into the
bottom-right hand corner to secure the three points for the Scholars which moves them up into
second place, joint level on fifteen points with fellow early season pacesetters Hornchurch and
Aveley.