I don’t think anyone was expecting an Orient performance like the one we put in at Fratton Park last Saturday! From start to finish, and from one to eleven, the O’s really took the game to Portsmouth and the league leaders had little in the way of response.

Even though we were already two goals to the good, Sol Brynn’s save of Colby Bishop’s weak penalty felt very much like the turning point of the game. If that had gone in just five minutes before the break, then you just knew that Pompey would have come at us in the second half with renewed belief. As it turned out however, we were able to see out the game comfortably enough for a thoroughly well deserved, if unexpected, victory.

Such was the performance of the team as a whole, that it is pretty much impossible to single out any individual specifically, but the front three demonstrated what I think Richie has been trying to do with the way we set-up. There was a menace and threat about our attacking play, the midfield got on top of their opponents right from the kick-off and Dan Happe and Omar Beckles in particular handled whatever Portsmouth threw at them.

As good as each one of the players was, it is the return to fitness of Dan Agyei that really seems to have lifted us to another level. It now seems clear that the intention was always to deploy him as the central striker, and with two goals in his last two matches he is already making a huge impact, and it is almost scary to think that there may be even more to come from him. Equally, Shaq Forde seems to have really found his niche as a wide forward on the right hand side in the continuing absence of Jordan Graham.

Speaking after the match, a clearly over-the-moon Richie Wellens reflected on an impressive performance saying: “I’m proud of all the players, the last five or six games have been an accumulation of what we’ve been doing all season, but we haven’t been able to play the way we wanted to play.”

Injuries and illness consistently impacted our start to the season, but it really feels as if we have turned a corner and are now looking like a team that can not only compete against, but actually impose our approach and our style of play on the top teams in the division. There is obviously still a long way to go but we seem to be improving match by match.

The dramatic (and let’s be honest: slightly fortunate!) late win at Cheltenham, seemed to spark us back into form after some frustrating performances. In our last 6 matches we have picked up 13 of a possible 18 points, scored 10 goals while conceding just 4, and kept clean sheets in our last 4 games, which is encouraging form by anyone’s standards.

Beyond that though it has been the freer flowing style of football and the greater attacking threat that has been food for encouragement for the Orient faithful. The turnaround has quite clearly been helped by being able to deploy almost all of our first choice players and for the most part in their most suited positions.

We now sit in 10^th spot in the table and while the play-offs may, for now, seem an overly optimistic ambition, we are starting to consolidate a solid mid-table position. With 20 games remaining there is still a long way to go, but if we can continue to pick up points at a higher rate than we managed in the first half of the season, there is every reason to be optimistic for the remainder of the campaign.

Next up of course is another big test against Bolton at home tomorrow afternoon. The Trotters have won their last four matches, although of course were unable to complete their match against Cheltenham last week tragically due to a medical emergency in the crowd. A situation that is sadly all too eerily familiar for Orient fans, and we can only pass on our condolences and thoughts to Iain Purslow’s family and friends. Bolton sit in fourth position in the table but have games in hand on those above them.

Before last weekend, and with the way we were put to the sword in the opening 10 minutes at their place just before Christmas, I would have genuinely feared for how we might cope with playing a strong team very much in form. However if we can impose ourselves and the way we want to play on the visitors, just as we did at Portsmouth, then there is every reason to believe that we might get something out of the game. 

We also got our first bit of transfer activity this week with the club confirming the permanent signing of Brandon Cooper from Swansea City, who of course was with us on a half-season loan. As we said last week, putting his reckless red card against Derby to one side, his contribution in steadying our backline when he came into the side at Exeter should not be forgotten. Whether we see any more additions to the squad, ideally in forward areas, remains to be seen, but this feels like a sensible and forward-thinking move.

Here’s hoping for a big performance and another positive result at Brisbane Road tomorrow, I am pretty sure we are all absolutely desperate to carry on the feelgood factor. 

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Before signing off for this week I just wanted to thank everyone who has purchased a copy of my book this week, the response has been incredibly positive and as at the time of writing it was sitting at number 6 on the Amazon Football Fan Books chart:

With all proceeds going to the Justin Edinburgh JE3 Foundation, if you are able to purchase a copy (either E-Book or Paperback), it really would be very much appreciated, details are as follows, or you can follow the link on the pinned post at the top of this blog page:

Thank you for your support and Up the O’s!