I had originally started writing this piece on Thursday morning last week after Orient’s brave and resolute performance up at Edgeley Park, which saw them hold their nerve and win through on penalties against a very good Stockport side. However as tends to happen from time to time, life conspired to get in the way and distract me from all things Orient. Thankfully things seem to have calmed down now, and it looks like I am going to be fit enough to get myself to Wembley on Sunday.

Thinking back to last week’s play-off semi-final triumph, the first thing to say is that it was a really even contest between two well-matched sides. While Stockport may have just about shaded the first leg, and we were somewhat (very?!) fortunate with Charlie’s Kelman’s opening goal, overall we acquitted ourselves very well and the tie was still very finely balanced going into the second leg.

Ahead of the trip to Stockport, I have to admit that I was fully expecting them to come flying at us from the outset and to try to wrestle control of the tie. Well what do I know? Instead it was us that started the match on the front foot, and when the returning Ollie O’Neill gave us the lead with just 2 minutes on the clock, there was chaos in our living room, which was undoubtedly surpassed in the away end up in Greater Manchester.

In a funny way though taking an early lead in such an important match actually increases the tension. Now that we had something to hold onto, the clock seemed to start to move in slow motion, and the intensity of the situation weighed heavy on the nerves, as we knew that one slip and we would let the hosts back into it.

Having Jordan Brown back patrolling the middle of the park and snuffing out potential Stockport attacks, and Jack Currie returning at left back to deal with Jayden Fevrier who had been so lively at Brisbane Road, allowed us to control the game more effectively than we had been able to the previous Saturday.

That’s of course not to say that Stockport didn’t have their first half chances, big centre half Fraser Horsfall was a threat from the numerous set piece balls into the box, just as he had been at Brisbane Road. There were chances spurned from Isaac Olaofe and Ibou Touray, to name but two, and Josh Keeley made a couple of decent stops.  

Just before half-time we could, and probably should, have doubled our lead. Charlie Kelman got on the end of looping Ollie O’Neill corner only to see his glancing header bounce down off the crossbar and in front of the goal-line. If that had found the back of the net, it would have given us some very welcome breathing space, but in the end we had to settle for a 1 goal lead at the break.

Kelman again nearly found the second goal at the start of the second half, only to see his effort on the run saved well by Corey Addai in the Hatters’ net. From there the game was the very definition of what Australian rugby league fans call an “arm wrestle”. However with just over quarter of an hour left to play Stockport finally found the breakthrough they had been searching for. Olaofe cutely backheeled a ball into the box past Keeley and into our net. 1-1 on the night, 3-3 on aggregate, and still all to play for.

While I had been fairly calm throughout both matches, this was probably the point when I started to fear the worst. Stockport were very much in the ascendancy, and it felt very much that if they could find another goal that might spell the end of our promotion dream.

All through the second half the missus was absolutely adamant that if it were to go all the way to penalties then, given our track record of having won three already this season, we would win the shootout. Of course, we nearly didn’t make it that far as right at the death Olaofe wasted a glorious opportunity, blasting his effort over the bar after outmuscling Omar Beckles on the edge of our area. I have to admit my heart was completely in my mouth at that point, but we had survived once again.

Extra time was just as attritional, the longer it went on, the more inevitable penalties seemed to be. Josh Keeley made a couple of decent stops and Bailey clipped the outside of the post for the hosts, but in the end this epic tussle was to be decided from 12 yards.

While shootouts are always nervy affairs, I think we have all seen enough of Josh Keeley this season to feel confident in him saving at least one of the efforts he faced. So it was to prove. Tom James looked like the coolest man in the place when he tucked away our first one, while Ollie Norwood converted Stockport’s first, Sean Clare with his stuttering run-up made it 2-1, before Keeley worked his magic grasping Jack Diamond’s weak effort low to his right.

Azeem Abdulai slotted home our third and when Ryan Rydel, who looked like he would rather be anywhere else in the world than where he was, saw his effort come crashing back off the post, all Ethan Galbraith had to do was slot his kick home to send Orient through to Wembley. Was it really in any doubt? You just knew the young Northern Ireland international was the right man for the job, and when he found the back of the net it sparked utter pandemonium amongst the Orient faithful.

I don’t mind admitting at the time I also felt quite emotional, as I am sure many others did. It wasn’t just the joy of how far we have come this season, and under Richie Wellens, but also the journey the club has been on since the last time we graced Wembley in the League 1 play-off final 11 years ago. It has simply been incredible: from the depths of despair at Wembley in 2014, to the doldrums of relegation out of the Football League and almost the very end of the club as we knew it, to being back on the verge of potentially reaching the Championship. It has been a hell of a ride!

So Charlton at Wembley it is. I think it is probably fair to say that given the relative form of the teams and the fact that we beat them recently, that most of us would have been happier to be facing Wycombe on Sunday. However, even though the Addicks beat us in both of the league games this season, they were both hard-fought battles: the first at the Valley was settled by a very late winner in the August sunshine, while the home game was snatched away from us by two almost identikit goals from set-pieces in added time; we were triumphant in the Vertu Cup thanks to two late goals of our own.

I guess all that tells us is that the final is almost too close to call. Yes, we will have to be mindful of the undoubted threat they carry from set-pieces, but might the stereotypical wide open spaces of Wembley allow our forward players to stretch the Charlton defence and to create chances of our own?

Given how far we have progressed this season, and how we have more than competed in a division crammed with bigger stature clubs with much greater financial resources, then there has to be belief that this team might just be capable of achieving even more of the unexpected. A few weeks back Richie Wellens “encouraged” us all to throw off the “Little Leyton Orient” tag and to start to believe in our team. The manager, staff and players have done their bit, now it’s time for us as fans to get behind our boys and to show them that we have faith in where they and the club are going.

Without wanting to put a negative spin on things, there is of course the chance that we don’t make it this time, and Nigel Travis admitted on the LO Down podcast this week that this opportunity may have come along a little earlier than planned. Whatever happens on Sunday afternoon, the positive trajectory of the club is inarguable, and the future appears to be very bright. Although it has to be said that David Gandler has some act to follow!

Like all of you I’m sure, I am already nervous and excited and cannot wait for Sunday to come around, hopefully, whatever happens, it will be an unforgettable day. I am sure I will see some of you around the ground in what feels on a personal level like the first time in a very long time. Until then…

Up the Mighty Mighty Wembley-bound O’s!