Well wasn’t that just typically Orient? We beat two teams above us, both of whom are very much involved in the play-off push, to start the week and then follow that up with a flat performance and another frustrating defeat against a Bristol Rovers team who really didn’t do very much to trouble us.
Before getting into the details of the match (as if any of us really want to relive it?!?!), it was a strange start to proceedings for the missus and me last weekend. Ever since I launched my book a couple of months back, the better half and some key members of the Supporters Club had been “encouraging” me to do a signing session in the Club before a match. As someone who hates self-promotion in any form I desperately tried to avoid it, my excuse being that it would interfere with my pre-match routine, which is of course complete and utter anathema to any self-respecting football obsessive!
In the end the voices of logic and reason won out, and thanks to Linda’s reassuring words that I really shouldn’t worry about being rushed off my feet, I found myself perched in Somme Corner of the Club with 20 books for sale. Thanks to the efforts of all involved, with special mention to Keren, Linda and Barri, and especially Kay’s efforts in basically trying to cajole anyone she could into buying a copy, we managed to sell all of them and generate another £200 for the JE3 Foundation. With huge thanks to everyone who bought one and all those who stopped for a chat about what the book is all about.
If you haven’t had the chance to pick up a copy yet, then worry not as I am planning on putting some more behind the bar in the Supporters Club, and we are hopeful (after an opportune conversation with chief executive Mark Devlin) of getting some in the club shop. Plus of course you can still pick one up from Amazon by following the link below, it really is for a very worthy cause:
So onto the match, was it me or did the whole performance just feel a bit flat? Despite enjoying 62% of the possession, having 17 shots, and 18 corners, we couldn’t find the goal that could have proven so decisive. Bristol Rovers for their part stuck to their game plan and took the lead on the half hour mark when veteran striker Chris Martin did what he does best, nipping in front of our statuesque defenders and getting the slightest nick on a free kick into the box, diverting it past Sol Brynn.
In response Richie Wellens brought on Max Sanders and Khayon Edwards at the start of the second half for George Moncur and Ollie O’Neill but try as we might we still couldn’t fashion any decent opportunities and in the end the game trundled towards an inevitable-feeling defeat. Even a very late red card for James Wilson didn’t help, and the Orient faithful were left rueing another frustrating home loss.
Speaking after the match Richie suggested that he felt our players “looked tired” and also revealed that the reason that Ollie O’Neill was removed at the break was simply down to fatigue. In fairness our current injury list means that the same relatively small group of players are being asked to put in the requisite effort match by match with little option in terms of rotation. The gaffer also suggested that the two games we have lost recently, against Burton and now Bristol Rovers, have come on the back of us playing on the preceding Tuesday when our opponents have enjoyed a clear week in the build-up.
In the case of O’Neill, while it might seem a ridiculous assertion that a 21-year old football player is tired, it is important to remember that these are his first steps in senior football and that was his sixth consecutive start in just over four weeks. Although Richie did suggest that the player should have perhaps been more honest about how he was feeling going into the match, but also attributed the fact that he hadn’t down to inexperience.
In addition to fatigue, Orient Legend Peter Kitchen made a couple of very valid points in his regular column in the Yellow Advertiser this week when he suggested: “Equally of concern however is that we continue to come unstuck when we encounter the lesser teams who pack their defence, get everyone behind the ball and park the bus. This highlights for me there is still room for improvement, especially the need for more vision, guile and better decision-making from midfield and for us to be more direct and decisive when opportunities arise in the final third.”
As ever I think Peter has hit the nail on the head in that it seems to suit us more when teams want to try to play us, think: Portsmouth, Bolton, Oxford, and even Barnsley although we lost, in recent weeks. Similarly this is on the whole a relatively young and still developing side, so perhaps we need to accept that this has been a season of progress and building for the future as much as striving for as high a spot in the final table as possible.
Last Saturday’s defeat coupled with Blackpool’s win at Shrewsbury saw us swap places with the Tangerines again and drop back down to ninth. While we are only six points off sixth place and the final play-off spot, albeit having played a game more than our old friends Stevenage, it just feels that finishing in the top six may be beyond us for this season. Especially considering how depleted our squad is and some of the games that we still have to come.
Next up is of course a trip to familiar territory for yours truly- although strangely I have only been there once previously to watch football, with a visit to the DW Stadium to face Wigan. That is of course followed by a home game against a struggling Port Vale side and then a trip to Stevenage. These next three games might not be quite as pivotal in our season as we may have hoped, but if we can consolidate our top ten position then I think we can all be pretty happy with that. Of course I might be completely wrong, we might just win all three and then we can all start dreaming about the play-offs, Wembley and the Championship! Only joking…or am I?
Up the O’s!
football nerd 
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