This is the first part of two posts this week, well it isn’t every week that Orient are in the play-offs after all!

Back in the depths of winter when we were looking to book our summer holidays, the missus (somehow?) convinced me that we would be ok to go away in the first two full weeks of May, as she reckoned there was no way that Orient would be in the play-offs. At the time the O’s were very much in the doldrums, and I doubt you would have found too many fans who would have disagreed with that assessment.

Fast forward to May and after completely knackering my back, we had to postpone our trip until later in the year, with the saving bonus that at least we would be able to watch Orient’s promotion campaign, albeit on TV. Even now I am sure the better half is still sceptical about whether I have just been faking the whole thing, just so I didn’t miss out!

As we said heading into last Saturday’s match (Orient Nerd Weekly Ramblings- Orient’s Unexpected Qualification for the Play-Offs makes it Even More Special.), our play-off semi-final against Stockport was a very difficult one to call. Sure, County had finished the season in third spot, had been in a good run of form, and had ended our long unbeaten run with a 1-0 victory at Brisbane Road at the beginning of February. However, even though we had finished 9 points behind the Hatters, we had ended the season as the form team in the division, winning all of our final 6 matches.

The only real team news was that Jordan Brown, who has seemingly been struggling with some form of knock or niggle since we beat Stevenage at home, wasn’t judged to be fit and was replaced by Azeem Abdulai. Although rather intriguingly it was to be Jamie Donley that dropped deeper into the middle of the park, with Abdulai given a more attacking brief. Other than that it was the 3-centre back set-up again, even though, as he stated after the match, Richie Wellens really doesn’t like that set-up.  

As expected, from the outset the match was something of a cagey affair with nether side seemingly wanting to take too many risks in case they were caught out and surrendered the momentum of the tie. Then on the half hour mark, Orient opened the scoring thanks in no small part to a rather large dollop of good fortune.

Sean Clare headed a half-cleared ball back into the area, where Charlie Kelman was waiting all on his own to gather and fire home. At the time I remember thinking that there may have been a hint of offside to say the least. If it had just been the header from Clare then it would have been a very close call; but Omar Beckles seemed to get a touch on Clare’s header which if spotted would have made the whole argument moot. As they say: in knockout football you need a bit of luck, and we certainly got ours there.

No matter how fortunate it was, we went in at the break 1-0 to the good and more than matching our opponents. However just 15 minutes into the second half, the game was to turn completely on its head.

First Stockport were (rightly, it has to be said) awarded a penalty when REG inexplicably slapped a ball into the box away with the palm of his hand. Quite what he was trying to do wasn’t exactly clear. Oliver Norwood dispatched the spot kick, and it was 1-1.

Then just 5 minutes later Fraser Horsfall was the first to react to a free kick into the area and nodded home to give the visitors the lead. Our defence was somewhat flat-footed to say the least.

Even though it felt like a bit of a body blow to concede twice in quick succession, we didn’t panic and stuck to our task. We had a shout for a penalty when Charlie Kelman seemed to be tripped in the box, but I guess given how lucky we were with our opening goal, these things maybe do even themselves out.  

Then with just 2 minutes remaining we were awarded a penalty of our own.  Ollie O’Neill’s effort from Dan Agyei’s cross hit Horsfall on the arm, and while it may not have seemed as obvious as the one we gave away; it definitely merited the award. Kelman of course tucked it away and the tie remains finely balance going into tonight’s second leg.

Speaking after the match gaffer Richie Wellens suggested that the game “ebbed and flowed” but also rued the fact that he didn’t bring Tom James and Jack Currie on and switch to a back four earlier, as Stockport were starting to build some real pressure at that point.

It’s an old cliché but it really is “half-time” with all to play for between two pretty evenly matched sides. Fitness, specifically that of Jordan Brown, Tom James and Jack Currie, will obviously inform Richie’s team selection, and it is important to recognise that it might turn into a long evening.

There is still every reason for us to believe and let’s hope that in this week’s second post (due out on Friday as usual) we are contemplating a trip to Wembley. With a bit of luck, if that were to be the case, I might be able to make a long overdue return to watching Orient in the flesh with the aid of a healthy supply of painkillers of course!

Up the O’s!