my $datex = qr/\[            # match open square bracket
                 [FMSTW][a-u]{2} \s  # match day of week
                 [ADFJMNOS][a-y]{2} \s+    # match month
                 \d+ \s+ \d+:\d{2}:\d{2} \s \d{4} , \s+   # match date, time, year
                 \w+         # match username (could be more explicit)
               \]:/x;        # match closing bracket, colon

my @text_blocks = split /($datex)/, $textfield;
my $initial_junk = shift @text_blocks unless ( $text_blocks[0] =~ /$datex/ );

my %entry = ( @text_blocks );
print "DATE=> $_   STRING=> $entry{$_}\n" for (keys %entry);