First match of the day was Leyton Orient 60+ against IJVV Ijsselmuiden and the result went to form with Orient hardly getting out of first gear and putting five past Ijsselmuiden with a brace of goals from Schneider and one a piece from Ridley, Sommers and Wahlhaus. Final score: Leyton Orient 5 v 0 IJVV Ijsselmuiden (Schneider 2, Ridley, Sommers, Wahlhaus).
Leyton Orient Reds first match was their quarter-final match against Wentworth Wanderers who they had so carelessly lost to on the Friday. There was to be no repeat result with Adams opening the scoring with a powerful drive from just inside the Wentworth half. Sommers slotted in a second and then a third before Wentworth pulled one back. Stevenson settled any nerves with a fourth to put the tie to bed. Final score: Leyton Orient Reds 4 v 1 Wentworth Wanderers (Sommers 2, Adams, Stevenson).
Leyton Orient Blues quarterfinal was against the Scots, Spartans FC and there was really no chance of an upset. With Myers having little to do in front of goal and what he did have dealing with impeccably, the defence cutting out any danger and Zelkowicz and Ridley always available and pressing the Spartans high up the pitch it wasn’t long before Ridley slotted in the first and then followed it up with a second before turning provider for Zelkowicz to get the third. Spartans FC 0 v 3 Leyton Orient Blues (Ridley 2, Zelkowicz). This result set up an all Orient 55+ semi-final.
Leyton Orient 60+ team were now in action in their quarter final against DBS Eindhoven who they had beaten easily the previous day and there was to be no reversal with two fine goals by Stevenson and a third by Ridley. Final score: Leyton Orient 3 v 0 DBS Eindhoven (Stevenson 2, Ridley).
After a short break the Orient 60+ team played their semi-final match against NAC Oldstars and this was a tougher game with the prize of a place in the final. Orient again played their high pressing game with the defence ensuring there was no room for the Dutch attack. NAC were defending for their lives and after some goal mouth ping pong the ball was cleared against an Oldstars player and rebounded into the net. This then forced the NAC players to push further forward and with that extra bit of space Sommers managed to fire in a second for Orient. Final score: Leyton Orient 2 v 0 NAC Oldstars (Sommers, OG).
The 55+ semi-final now had to be played out between Leyton Orient Reds and Leyton Orient Blues for a place in the Final to meet Chris Waddle’s Hallam. Due to the Orient Red’s skipper, Mullins, being sidelined due to injury the Reds could not field their strongest team and were overwhelmed by a Blues team that were now playing good passing football while defending in depth. With a brace each from Franklin and Zelkowicz albeit that Dunn pulled one back, the result was never in doubt. Final score: Leyton Orient Reds 1 v 4 Leyton Orient Blues (Dunn) (Franklin 2, Zelkowicz 2).
After a short break Leyton Orient Reds had to play in the 3rd/4th place play-off against SV Sportlust Glanerbrug. The Reds put absolutely everything into this match despite missing their skipper and, flagging in the heat, were very unlucky to go down by a single goal. Final score: Leyton Orient Reds 0 v 1 SV Sportlust Glanerbrug.
Sunday 13th May 2018, The Finals
In this first final Leyton Orient 60+ took on RKC Oldstars from the Netherlands. The teams were led onto the pitch in this mini stadium with music playing, flags flying and spectators cheering. The teams lined up on either side of the referees while the national anthems were played followed by the traditional handshakes. This certainly heightened the tension and got the nerves jangling. Finally the kick-off and Orient played their high pressing game with Ridley up front, Sommers in behind. Stevenson, Wahlhaus and Schneider played across the back while Brooks took on the sweeper role just in front of the goal. The Dutch were struggling to cope with the high press and defended resolutely to ensure there were no easy chances. This was a high intensity game with the crowd cheering and the heat beating down. The breakthrough came with an attack down the right, Stevenson found Wahlhaus who got it out to Ridley on the left who spotted a gap and curled the ball into the far corner to put the Os one up. With legs tiring and Oldstars pushing for the equaliser there were some crunching tackles. Unfortunately the Os skipper was sin binned for one minute and it was real back to the wall defending. With Wahlhaus back on and Sommers replaced by Cheston’s fresher legs Orient were holding their own when RKC Oldstars managed to get an overload in midfield, steal the ball off Brooks and slot in an undeserved equaliser just before the final whistle. It was now five minutes golden goal extra-time. With neither team giving anything away the game ended all square and went to the dreaded penalty shootout. Penalties where there is no goalkeeper are taken from the halfway line. Orient were first up and Wahlhaus calmly passed the ball into the net. Oldstars then equalised: 1 v 1. Ridley then stepped up and heartrendingly fluffed his lines. The Oldstars player held his nerve and slotted home: 1 v 2. With all the pressure on him Stevenson then stepped up as cool as a cucumber and passed the ball into the net. This obviously put all the pressure on the Oldstars player to score to win but he missed: 2 v 2. This was now sudden death and although he didn’t want to do it Schneider didn’t let the lads down and converted Orient’s third. The RKC Oldstars finally cracked with a very narrow miss and Leyton Orient 60+ team had won the final.
The very next final on the same pitch was the Leyton Orient Blues against Hallam and three of the players who had just played in the 60+ final had to do a quick shirt change as they were in the Blues team. Again the teams lined up outside the stadium and entered with music playing, lined up for the national anthem and then the pre-match handshakes. This however was a very different game to the previous final. The Blues defended in depth with Myers virtually camped on the goal line, Wahlhaus, Brooks and Franklin across the back, Zelkowicz playing deep-lying midfield with Ridley trying to close down Waddle and their defensive sweeper. The Os battled bravely and were holding their own while frustrating Hallam’s forward passes but eventually the class of the opposition and the fatigue in the Orient lads legs finally took its toll and Hallam scored with a neat passing move. With Orient now having to push forward a bit more Hallam quickly added another three to their tally but Orient did not give up and in the last five minutes of the match managed to pin Hallam back in their own half and even created a couple of chances of their own. However their was to be no fairy tale ending and Hallam ran out deserved winners. Final score: Hallam 4 v 0 Leyton Orient Blues.
Once all the finals were over there was a big presentation event and first up were the Walking Football 60+ teams, 3rd, 2nd and then 1st. Chris Waddle presented the trophy with music and ticker-tape and the crowd cheering. This was a brilliant end for the successful Leyton Orient 60+ team. Every single player in the Leyton Orient 60+ squad played their part in getting through to and winning the final, the trophy and their medals. It was a fantastic squad effort.
The next presentation was the Walking Football 55+ and Leyton Orient Blues took great pride in accepting their 2nd place trophy and medals as they had pushed themselves all the way to the final only losing the one game to a very good Hallam team. Again the whole squad played their part in what was a valiant effort.
A final mention for Leyton Orient Reds who picked up the Walking Football 55+ 4th place trophy for their heroic efforts through out the tournament especially after losing their skipper to injury.
This was a tournament that was extremely professionally run with everything aimed at making it enjoyable and memorable for the participants.
On behalf of the squad a big thank you to Joe Browne who came out with us as coach and physio and kept some very tired legs going when by all rights they should have seized up – so thanks for the exercises Joe and thanks for the warm-ups and thanks for some of those excruciating contortions I’m not sure those bodies have managed in forty years. :-)
Another person that deserves the thanks of the whole squad for all the work he did in planning, organising, working out the effects of match clashes and who would be available when, is of course Len Cheston. So from all the lads who went to Mallorca a huge thank you Len for your herculean efforts on our behalf that ensured this tournament was such a fantastically successful experience.
Leyton Orient Squad: Bob Adams, Peter Bradley, Tony Brooks, Len Cheston, Stephen Dunn, Keith Everett, Paul Franklin, Mick Mullins, Derek Myers, Trevor Ridley, Gerry Schneider, Terry Sommers, Phil Stevenson, Tony Wahlhaus, Graham Wood, Jake Zelkowicz.
Leyton Orient Reds 55+ team: Bob Adams, Peter Bradley, Stephen Dunn, Mick Mullins (Capt), Gerry Schneider, Terry Sommers, Phil Stevenson, Graham Wood.
Leyton Orient Blues 55+ team: Tony Brooks, Len Cheston, Keith Everett, Paul Franklin (Capt), Derek Myers, Trevor Ridley, Tony Wahlhaus, Jake Zelkowicz.
Leyton Orient 60+ team: Peter Bradley, Tony Brooks, Len Cheston, Keith Everett, Mick Mullins, Trevor Ridley, Gerry Schneider, Terry Sommers, Phil Stevenson, Tony Wahlhaus (Capt), Graham Wood.
Scorers: Ridley 19, Franklin 7, Sommers 6, Schneider 5, Zelkowicz 5, Stevenson 4, Dunn 3, Adams, Everett, Mullins, Wahlhaus, Own Goal.
Fainl Results:
https://leytonorientwalkingfc.teamapp.com/documents/465110-mallorca-tournament-walking-football-final-resultsSee EFDN article at:
https://www.efdn.org/blog/news/leyton-orient-winners-at-the-mallorca-walking-football-tournament/
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