A bit of a shorter (and earlier) post this week, as I am off on my annual football travels with my Dad and Our Kid this weekend. This year we are off to Marseille to watch the mighty L’OM.  Watch this space in the coming weeks for a full write-up of our adventures in the south of France.

Back to matters Orient and isn’t it nice to have the feelgood factor back amongst the Orient fanbase? Building on the hard-fought win at Stevenage last week with another two wins has brought a smile back to my face, as I am sure it has all of yours.

The victory over Peterborough at home was an interesting one as other than when Jimmy-Jay Morgan pulled one back for the visitors with 5 minutes to go, we seemed comfortably in control of the game. If we are being completely honest, it was a first half that really needed one of the teams to find the back of the net. While the fact the opener came from Jack Simpson may have been somewhat unexpected, the breakthrough just before half-time felt critical.

In the second half it was the substitutes that made all the difference. Theo Archibald’s blistering surge from deep inside his own half all the way up the right flank was simply brilliant to watch, his calm and accurate cut back to set up fellow sub Tyreeq Bakinson to slam home was perfect. It was the sort of incisive counter attacking football that has been conspicuous by its absence from Orient’s play for quite some time.

At Plough Lane on Tuesday night it was a classic example of the clichéd “game of two halves”. When we opened the scoring through Dom Ballard (who else?) just quarter of an hour in, we should have been able to control the match from there, but once again sloppy defensive mistakes proved to be our undoing. All through the first half Wimbledon’s right winger Junior Nkeng had been causing us problems, and it was no surprise that he was the catalyst for the Dons’ turnaround just before half-time.

First Nkeng showed a clean pair of heels to our flat-footed defence in chasing onto a flick over the top before poking the ball home. Then just minutes later it was all too easy for him to get to a looping cross from the opposite flank first and head home.

Going in at the break 2-1 down after taking the lead felt not only cruel but also worrying given how on too many occasions this Orient squad has gone down with a whimper. In the end it was to turn out to be a stirring comeback.

Less than 3 minutes after the restart Dom Ballard drove onto a cutely flicked through ball from Charlie Wellens to level the scores with his second of the evening. We took the lead when James Morris slid home a cutback from Demitri Mitchell and then sealed the victory on 70 minutes when Ballard notched his third hat trick of the season, following in from a shot from range from Theo Archibald that was parried by the keeper. That is now 21 league goals for Ballard, a frankly stunning return from a striker playing in a team that has struggled so often this season.

The three victories in a row have lifted us up to 16^th in the table and created a little bit of distance between us and the dropzone. As we know though there is still work to be done, starting with the visit of Wycombe Wanderers to E10 on Saturday. Another 3 points would not only be very welcome but would also feel like another step towards ensuring our safety.

Up the O’s!