When I first sat down to write this piece on Tuesday afternoon, I was all set for a deep dive into where it had gone wrong for Orient after three consecutive league defeats to start the 2024/25 campaign. Then we had the performance and result at the Den on Tuesday evening, which not only saw us progress to the third round of the League Cup for the first time in a long time, but also gave us all a bit of a fillip after those three hard to take results.

Birmingham and our tough start to the season.

Being completely honest, while I was hopeful that we would put in a decent performance and maybe nick a draw out of it, I never really truly expected us to beat big-spending Birmingham. Having said that though, I think we pretty much matched the Blues, and in many ways we were our own worst enemy, again.  

Sadly the first Brimingham goal was the result of another error by Zach Hemming, who tried to play a pass out to Jayden Sweeney but succeeded only in playing in Birmingham’s Keshi Anderson, who worked a one-two with Alfie May and slotted the ball into the unoccupied net.

The fact that Hemming started against Millwall again just a few days later suggests that Richie and the coaching staff have decided that the only way to help him out of this difficult run of form is to keep playing him in the hope that he will come good. Although quite how that makes Sam Howes feel is anyone’s guess! While the Middlesborough loanee didn’t have a lot (anything?) to do against Millwall, getting through the ninety minutes error-free while earning his first clean sheet with the club hopefully will have given him a boost.  However, I digress.

It was encouraging the way that we got ourselves back into the match against Birmingham with an equalizer just seven minutes after we had gone behind. Ollie O’Neill’s pressure forced Brum’s keeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell to lose possession, we worked the ball to Ethan Galbraith on the edge of the area who set himself and rifled home.

Parity was to only last for six minutes however, a defensive mix-up between Jordan Brown and Brandon Cooper allowed Alfie May (who else?) to steal in and do what he does best– slotting the ball home. Questions could perhaps be asked of Hemming once again in the way May seemed to get round him all too easily, but for me the big mistake was the mess up in the heart of defence.

The rest of the match was one of few chances and little goalmouth action and we had to settle for another narrow defeat against one of the teams favoured for promotion. On the face of it played three, lost three makes for depressing reading, so should we be concerned about how we will fare for the rest of the season?

The first thing we have to accept is that it is very early days with a long way to go and with, inevitably, twists and turns aplenty all the way through to the end of the campaign. We also have to remember that we lost all three of our opening league games last season before steadying the ship and even flirting with the play-off spots.

We have a number of new players and others returning from longer term injury and it will take time and work on the structure of the team before we see the set-up that Richie is looking for. For example, while I have remained steadfast in my belief that Dan Agyei is best deployed as a central striker, his cameo in a slightly wider role against Birmingham and the way he tormented the left hand side of Millwall’s defence on Tuesday evening has made me revisit that view.

Perhaps the biggest consolation for me though has been the way we have competed in all three league matches so far and it has been errors and perhaps a slice or two of misfortune that have undone us. It is easy to say that we could be sitting here with two or three points, possibly more, from our matches so far, but for me it rings true to an extent. 

All of which is to say we probably needed a performance and result like we got on Tuesday evening.

Millwall Away

Living on the Isle of Dogs, just like Charlton, a trip over the river to The Den is a relatively straightforward for the missus and me. With South Bermondsey station being closed, the only decision we needed to make was whether to head to Surrey Quays or Canada Water and walk from there, or whether we would jump on the DLR for one stop to Cutty Sark and get a bus from there. In the end, as a result of the nice and sunny weather we opted for the latter and were sitting outside the Gate Clock in Greenwich at approximately 5:20pm. There’s nothing like an easy life as they say!

I had actually been to Millwall on a couple of times previously but that was a good few years back. While it was one of the first newbuild stadiums after the Taylor Report, it feels like a proper football ground, the sightlines are excellent and there is usually quite a lively atmosphere.

The one thing that has drastically improved is the food and drink options with facilities both outside the turnstiles and an open air area behind the away end. Although they might want to revisit the cooking instructions on the pies as the ones we had were beyond beyond nuclear hot!

With multiple changes to the starting lineups by both sides, it was difficult to know what to expect from the match. If anything though it was the O’s that started the better. When Dan Agyei put us ahead after less than quarter of an hour, it was no more than we thoroughly deserved.

As stated earlier, Agyei was a constant threat to the Millwall rearguard and seemed to cause them problems every time he got on the ball. Honourable mentions should also go to: Omar Beckles and Brandon Cooper who stood firm all evening as Millwall tried to force their way back into the match, Darren Pratley who was a steely presence in the centre of the park, and Jayden Sweeney who looked like the left back that we all hope he will become.

I know it is only the League Cup and that Millwall like ourselves probably have more important priorities, but it was a really fun evening and a good win, thoroughly enjoyed by the reported 1700+ travelling O’s who created a brilliant atmosphere all the way through. Our reward of course is a trip to face Premier League Brentford at their new ground, personally I am looking forward to it and hoping for another highly enjoyable local midweek evening awayday.

Shrewsbury and the need to get points on the board  

Next up of course is our first proper awayday of the season, as we head to Shrewsbury where we ended the last campaign back in April. It would be ridiculous at this incredibly early stage to call the match “a relegation six-pointer”, but it really feels like it is a game we need to win and win well.

Taking nothing for granted of course but this feels like the perfect opportunity to get ourselves going in the season with a solid performance, hopefully a few goals, and none of the defensive lapses that have cost us so dearly so far this season. Here’s hoping!

Up the O’s!