When the fixtures for this season were announced back in June, I suspect I was far from alone in earmarking the away game at Derby (along with Burton, Portsmouth and Barnsley) as the standout away trips. Maybe it was the fact that our injury-addled squad really has nothing to play for, as well as another 3-0 humbling at the hands of the Rams, but as we walked away from Pride Park on the way back to the station I couldn’t shake off a feeling of being slightly underwhelmed.

Despite the best efforts of East Midlands Railway and their “brilliant” approach to not having seat reservations in operation (do they ever?), we managed to arrive on time after securing a couple of seats with a table, sadly the same wouldn’t be the case on the return journey.

Once we arrived in Derby we headed straight for the Alexandra Hotel where the Easy Lovers (Paul, Phil Bailey (no not that one!), Harry Kane “lookalike” Mark, Gary and John) were already in situ having discovered that this was the only pub around the station that was letting away fans in. As a result the railway-themed pub was packed out with Orient awayday regulars.

The ground is on the other side of the station from the pub but is easily reached in about 20 minutes or so via a relatively pleasant walk. Once you arrive the previous stature of the club becomes completely clear, and you realise that it was designed with at least the Championship in mind. The sheer proliferation of burger vans around the perimeter only reinforces this fact.

Having enjoyed it so much at Fratton Park we had opted for safe standing again, however despite the over-the-top number of stewards (honestly I don’t think I have ever seen anywhere near as many even in top flight away ends!), the only function they seemed to provide was to check that you had a ticket correctly corresponding to the section you were trying to access.

As a result there was the often experienced effort of trying to find a suitable spec when yours had already been taken. I also heard a number of accounts of groups of friends separated, and others having to stand in the stairways. I realise that trying to organise football fans is a lot of the time akin to attempting to herd cats, but surely they could have made a better job of it.

Right from the off it was the home side that was in complete control of the match and within 10 minutes they had opened the scoring. A corner played in from the left hand side evaded Sol Brynn’s reach and was bundled in by Kane Hemmings, our defending could at best be described as statuesque to say the least.

Eight minutes later it was 2-0. From another corner, this time from the other flank, Sonny Bradley got in front of Tom James all too easily and steered the ball home from close range. You could feel the deflation all around the packed away end, the game was all but gone at that point and we hadn’t even got going.

At the break Dan Agyei replaced the, once again, anonymous Khayon Edwards and offered us more going forward than we had mustered in the opening 45 minutes. Another harsh reminder of how things may have panned out differently if Agyei had been available for all but two brief spells of the season. Sadly we still never seemed like we had it in us to even pull one back, if anything Derby seemed to ease off content that the three points were safely in the bag.

In the 86^th minute from another corner (surprise surprise!)  Bradley was afforded plenty of time at the back post and nodded in Derby’s third, crowning a thoroughly disappointing afternoon. I don’t think any of us expected to go to Pride Park and nab all three points, it just felt like something of a reality check and as clear an indication as we have had of the level we need to be aspiring to if we are to give ourselves a chance of delivering on the Board’s ambitious plans for the future.

Speaking after the match a disappointed Richie Wellens summarised that “the players have been unbelievable this year, but they’re probably just on their last legs…we’ve just run out of steam a little bit”.

Watching on it was clear that Derby were a level above us in terms of their power and pace, and the sheer size of a 30,000+ crowd made it feel a bit like a cup tie away from home against a bigger club. While it was disappointing to not be able to really compete with a more experienced team, it is also important to remember how far we have come this season.

We started the campaign hoping to survive, we settled into the challenge, had a brief flirtation with the play-offs after a really good run of results, and ultimately a frankly ridiculous number of injuries to some of our best players has forced us to settle for a top half finish. Can any of us truly say we are unhappy with the way things have panned out? Our first season back at this level has always been about consolidating our position in the third tier and we have very much done that.

There are of course just two matches remaining (seriously where has the season gone?): at home to Fleetwood tomorrow who are six points from safety with two matches to play, and at 18^th placed Shrewsbury the following week. On the face of it there isn’t a lot to play for, but wouldn’t it be nice to cement 10^th spot (or even 9^th if our old friends Stevenage lose both of their remaining games!) with two victories?

Up the O’s!