This is likely to be a relatively short post given that there is only one match to review, and Orient (thanks again to the football powers that be!) don’t have another match until next week, as the result of yet another international break.

Going into the game at Blackpool last Saturday on the back of 5 defeats on the bounce, we just needed to find a way to win a match and give everyone around the club, and of course us the fans, a lift. Being totally and completely honest, as Richie said in his post-match interview, “we got away with one”. If we didn’t have Josh Keeley and Charlie Kelman then we mostly likely wouldn’t have won the match. Thankfully we do, and we did.

Nothing much happened for the first half hour of the match, then almost from out of nowhere we found a spark of creativity. Ethan Galbraith played a corner short to DJ, who cleverly worked space for himself before firing in a pinpoint cross that Charlie Kelman finished with a glancing header from inside the 6 yard box.

Blackpool should have levelled the score before half-time: REG did his best to deal with a long punt from the goalkeeper but succeeded only in playing in Ashley Fletcher, the Blackpool forward rounded Keeley, but then inexplicably clipped his effort over the bar with the goal gaping. It was a horrendous miss but an incredible relief to all of an Orient persuasion. Then just moments later Keeley did well to save low from Rob Apter and we went in at the break a goal to the good, somewhat (very?) fortuitously, it has to be said.

At the break Jack Simpson had to go off with a back injury and was replaced by Brandon Cooper. As the second half got underway, Keeley was called into action almost immediately pushing away an acrobatic header from Niall Ennis. Then just past the hour mark Blackpool found an equalizer as Sonny Carey showed clever footwork to drive into the area and fire home.

The deflation amongst the travelling support didn’t last very long however as just two minutes later Kelman made it 2-1 when he poked home a cross from Dan Agyei from the right. From there a combination of resolute defending including a move to three central defenders with Darren Pratley performing heroically, more wasteful finishing by Blackpool, and some more outstanding saves from Josh Keeley, saw us somehow secure all 3 points. It certainly wasn’t pretty, but it was a win that we unquestionably needed heading into a period of nearly two weeks off.  

That’s now 14 league goals and 18 in all competitions for Charlie Kelman so far this season, a player it is probably fair to say hasn’t always looked like a natural finisher. Listening to his interview on the excellent Orient Outlook podcast this week, it seems clear that he is a very dedicated trainer, and his ongoing development and improvement is down to both his own hard work and the coaching that he has received with Orient. Sadly he remains under contract with QPR with an option for a further year onto his existing deal, so unless something completely unexpected transpires we might just have to enjoy his goals while we still have him.

As impressive as Josh Keeley has been throughout the season, there was a little bit of criticism coming his way in recent weeks, especially after we conceded two goals from corners in added time against Charlton. So it was great to see him back to his shot-stopping best against Blackpool: making a total of 7 saves, some of them absolutely crucial to the end result. We also seemed to have got ourselves more organised in defending corners which Keeley inevitably played his part in

The win sees us remain in 9^th place in the table, 5 points off 6^th. While qualification for the play-offs feels like a bit of a stretch after that recent run of 5 defeats, it is still possible. Of our remaining 9 matches we face 6 teams in the bottom half of the table and only 3 in the top half (Barnsley, Wycombe and Huddersfield). If we could go on another run like we did over the autumn and winter then we could put ourselves in a very good position. However it plays out I am just focusing on enjyoing the remaining games and seeing where it takes us.

Next up is of course familiar foes Stevenage, next Thursday (WTF?). In many ways after snapping our losing run it would have been good to have another match tomorrow to build on that momentum. However we know the recent heavy schedule has taken its toll on the players, so the rest, extra time on the training ground and perhaps the opportunity for some of our injured players to return, may prove beneficial in the long run.

Up the O’s!