There seemed to be something a little bit different about the O’s performance up at Carlisle last Saturday. Maybe I am reading too much into it, but it looked from our vantage point that, perhaps mindful of the way that Carlisle had had such success with a counter-attacking approach in their previous league match at Bolton, that we didn’t want to concede space behind us to allow them to break into.

Instead, pretty much every time Carlisle were in possession, we seemed to want to drop to the halfway line and to challenge them to break us down. It didn’t make for pretty football and there was quite a lot of scrappy play and loose ball, but it did the job for us and got us the result that we wanted.  

Excluding the Lincoln game (more on that later) that is now five wins and two draws in our last nine matches after starting the season with three straight defeats. While it is still too early to look at the league table in any truly meaningful sense, it is enough for 17 points and 10^th spot. While there have obviously been a few ups and downs, I think most of us would have settled for a start to life in League One like that.

Speaking after the win in Cumbria, Richie seemed a little bit disappointed about the performance but felt that it was a “pleasing clean sheet [and] pleasing win”. When asked to comment on recent form he confirmed: “I’m pleased with our last nine games because our points return has been promotion form after a tough start.”

Personally, while I wasn’t too worried by the start that we made, it is nice to see things coming good and the squad really starting to adjust to life at the higher level. There is obviously still a very long way to go, and it certainly won’t all be plain sailing, but it is important to enjoy the way we are acquitting ourselves at the moment.

Next up is the visit of Barnsley to E10 and what feels like our biggest test for a little while. The Tykes are unquestionably one of the bigger clubs in the division and always seem to be in and around the play-off / promotion mix each season. Last season of course they were beaten by Sheffield Wednesday in the play-off final itself, while this time out they have made a decent enough start: winning seven and drawing one of their opening dozen matches.

In Devante Cole, son of former Newcastle and Manchester United striker Andy, they have the division’s leading goal-scorer with a highly impressive 9 goals in those 12 games. They have won 6 of their last 8 matches and sit 3^rd in the table. A bit like when we faced Portsmouth a couple of months back, this feels like a game where we are going to have it all to do to get a positive result.  Having said that however, the way we have been playing over recent weeks, Fleetwood aside of course, should see us go into the game with the confidence to at least give it a go. It will be an interesting test to see how far we have developed since the start of the campaign.

Of course the other major talking point of the week has been the EFL’s decision to deem it necessary to replay the game against Lincoln in full. Fairly obviously the news hasn’t exactly gone down well in the Orient camp, with Derek Reynold’s family actually calling the decision “devastating”, “heartbreaking” and “disrespectful”, I have to say it is impossible to disagree.

The problem that the EFL have, just like the way their matchday officials so ineptly handled the tragic events on the night itself, is that they simply weren’t prepared. As Richie said in his interview: “There’s no rule, the rule is you play on…you would think they would have these things in place.”

Quite why there is no rule in place is anyone’s guess. Without wanting to be callous there is a risk that things might happen (floodlight failure, adverse weather, crowd trouble etc., as well as medical emergencies) that could cause a match to be abandoned, so why on earth the governing body hasn’t got a contingency plan in place is simply baffling. To then take more than a week and a half to make the decision that most people suspected they were going to make all along, is frankly inexcusable. It’s almost as if the powers that be don’t want to take responsibility for running the game!

To make their handling of the matter even worse, there was no real explanation of their decision-making process, the statement simply said: “Having considered all relevant factors relating to the decision taken by the match officials and club stadium staff on the night, alongside the options available to them in accordance with the Regulations, the Board felt the most appropriate course of action was to reschedule the fixture in full.” For the EFL trying to play on on the evening and now prioritising replaying the match in full makes it feel that for them football and getting a conclusion to the match is more important than someone’s life.

They will no doubt try to defend their position as trying to protect the integrity of the competition. However, coming from an organisation that: allows parachute payments to be made to clubs relegated from the Premier League; continues to fail to operate an effective fit-and-proper-person test; turns it back on clubs who are struggling financially but at the same time allows clubs, especially in the Championship, to spend way beyond their means; and has destroyed one of its own cup competitions by allowing Premier League B-Teams to participate; it rings very hollow. It was obviously very different (and certainly horrific) circumstances, but even the bastion of sporting integrity(sic) that is UEFA saw sense and decided not to insist on replaying the Belgium – Sweden Euro 2024 qualifier that had to be abandoned on Monday evening.

On a slightly more positive theme, it was of course the draw for the First Round of the FA Cup on Sunday, and while Carlisle at home may not be the most exciting draw we could have got, wouldn’t it be nice to have a bit of a run in the competition this year? I heard a stat on the Orient Hour in midweek that Orient have only made it to the third round of the world’s oldest cup competition twice in the last ten years. While obviously Richie and the players will make sure that the league is the priority, for us fans (and certainly Nigel and the board!) wouldn’t it be really good to have a run in the competition with maybe a day out or two at one of the very big boys?

Up the O’s!