Building on the win at Reading a couple of weeks back, this last week has been another positive one for Orient with an away win at previously undefeated Stockport, followed by a creditable draw at home to perennially favoured for promotion Peterborough.

Going into the match last Saturday at Stockport, I was hopeful of us picking up a hard earned point but far from confident. In part that was due to the Hatters’ unbeaten start to the campaign, but also there was a bit of a worry that as well as we had acquitted ourselves against Bolton, Charlton and Birmingham, we had come away from all three of those matches without a single point.

Having never been to Edgeley Park before I was really looking forward to it as an awayday.  It is easy enough to reach Stockport by train, even if it does mean running the gauntlet of potentially very late cancellations by everyone’s “favourite train company” Avanti West Coast. As we were making our way up, I got a message from Des from the Stockport fan site The Scarf My Father Wore, asking if I would be up to answering a few questions alongside a Stockport fan for the site’s match report? (please see link below)

Once you arrive, the ground is only a 10-15 minute walk away and there are a few pub options en route. We decided to give The Armoury a swerve as there was a sign saying it was for home fans only and an ominous looking bouncer on the door. In fairness he was more friendly than the stewards at Brentford(!), and happily pointed us in the direction of the away fan friendly Nelson Tavern just down the road. The Tavern wasn’t the most salubrious of establishments, but the staff were very friendly, the beer was reasonably priced, and the unexpected sunshine allowed us to sit outside and catch up with a good few of the travelling Orient faithful.

As we set off towards the ground we happened upon the Wellens family: Rick, Irene, Anthony and his daughter, who had had a much easier (and cheaper!) trip from Manchester. We chatted away as we walked before we headed off in search of the away end while they went to collect their tickets.

Once inside we were relieved to find that, contrary to the guidance on Football Ground Guide, there was in fact beer on sale to away fans, and the missus fell completely head over heels in love with the pies. So much so that she bought two more at half-time to take home with her.

As you can imagine Edgeley Park is a proper old school football ground with one huge stand behind one of the goals and an open terrace behind the other. The only gripe from those of us of a nerdy football obsessive nature was that the away fans are housed along one side. Mind you given the lack of a roof at one end, that would be less of an issue on less clement Northwestern weather days!

Unexpectedly Orient got off two a blistering start, two goals from Ethan Galbraith before we had even played 20 minutes gave us our just reward. Credit to Stockport they fought hard to get themselves back into the match, but we got to half-time with our two goal advantage very much intact.

Jack Diamond’s goal five minutes after the restart sparked a brief flutter of concern for yours truly, but when Dan Agyei’s first league goal of the campaign made it 3-1 just seven minutes later, that was the result pretty much sealed. Sean Clare put the icing on top of the cake ten minutes from time, firing home from a tight angle after clever interplay with Agyei down the right flank. Clare again impressed initially in central midfield, and then as a wingback when we moved to three central defenders after Diamond’s goal. On the whole it was a very positive result and a very enjoyable awayday.

Link to Scarf My Father Wore Match Report– County 1 Leyton Orient 4 – The Scarf My Father Wore (substack.com)

On Tuesday evening we entertained Peterborough in another tough fixture. The Posh hadn’t been at their absolute best to start the season winning three, drawing one and losing two of their opening matches, but anyone who knows anything about League 1 football will have them as one of the teams likely to be in the play-off mix again come May. As such it represented another challenge for the O’s to rise to and it was very pleasing that we did, and very nearly won it.

Rather unsurprisingly, gaffer Richie Wellens named an unchanged side for the third league match in succession. A couple of weeks back (Orient Nerd Weekly Ramblings- Might a settled starting eleven be the key to Orient getting on track in the season?) I touched upon a settled team perhaps being the key to getting ourselves up and running for the season, and it certainly seems to be panning out that way. Though part of me did wonder whether Dominic Ball might at some point replace Sean Clare in the middle of the park, with the latter moving to wing back?

Right now though Clare’s form is such that to move him or drop him to the bench would be harsh. With Tom James finding the net in competitive action for the first time in more than a year, he is also making a strong case for continued inclusion on the right hand side of our backline.

It was another positive start for the O’s, the thing that really stood out in the opening quarter of the match was the intensity of our pressing; that combined with our crisp passing and the fluidity of our movement helped us establish an early grip on the game. Peterborough’s approach in response was to try to use early balls to their wide players to try and expose our backline, Omar Beckles in particular stood up and dealt with pretty much everything that came his way.

Twenty minutes in we made the breakthrough, Tom James cut in from the right, evaded a couple of attempted challenges and curled the ball home with his left foot. It was no more than we thoroughly deserved.

Frustratingly, two quick goals just before half-time: the first when Malik Mothersille broke down their left slid a low ball across the face of goal for Kwame Poku, Peterborough’s biggest attacking threat up to that point, to turn home from close range; the second when Mothersille converted a penalty after Rickey Jade-Jones was felled by Zach Hemming in the area, saw us go in trailing at the break.

Orient came out fighting in the second half Ollie O’Neill fired a shot into the side netting just 30 seconds after the restart, and then just minutes later Charlie Kelman seized on a loose ball in the box and slotted home. That was Kelman’s third league goal of the campaign and his fourth in all competitions, demonstrating his development since his first spell with us a couple of seasons ago.

Neither side could find a further breakthrough and while the draw felt like a fair enough result, if anything Orient slightly shaded it and can rue the two goals conceded at the end of the first half for preventing us from making it three wins on the bounce.

There is no respite in the fixture list as next up of course we face Wrexham (desperately trying to resist referring to them as the “media circus”!). Credit where it is due though, the Red Dragons seem to have adjusted well to life in the third tier, they currently sit top of the early table after winning five and drawing one of their opening seven matches, with their only defeat coming at Birmingham a couple of weeks back. However what Orient have shown since getting ourselves back on track against Reading should give us every hope of getting another positive result. Here’s hoping!

Up the O’s!