Early start for the five intrepid travellers catching the 9:00a.m. train from Liverpool Street to Norwich. Chris Conlan was joined by his wife Sue who is obviously the footballer in the family. Arriving at Colchester the waif and stray Steve Tongue was picked up.

The O’s were down to four fit players with Sicknote Stevenson once again on the sidelines.

Graham ‘no show’ Manicom was a late withdrawal using the excuse that he had a business meeting at Gatwick Airport with an Albanian ‘entrepreneur’. Graham’s best mate Charlie said it could be a very profitable meeting.

Onto the football. The O’s were in a league of four where each team played each other twice. The Orient were joined by two Norwich players, Pete and Ian, who had been playing their regular Friday walking football session which began at 10:30am. Expecting to be at home at noon (when the tournament started) they gallantly agreed to help us out.

The first game was against Barnet B. Two early goals from Pete and Chris Conlan led to a comfortable victory. Final score: Barnet B 0 v 2 Leyton Orient (Conlan, Pete).

Next up were Walton Swifts and in a tight contest a long range effort from Ian secured the win. The clean sheet reflected well on Paul Taylor’s heroics in goal. Final score: Walton Swifts 0 v 1 Leyton Orient (Ian).

The third game was against Norwich A. The O’s were always in the game but it is fair to say Norwich played the better football. A couple of crucial decisions went against the O’s but Norwich were worthy winners. The highlight of the game was John Bancroft scoring with his ‘weaker’ right foot (does he have a strong one?). Final score: Norwich A 3 v 1 Leyton Orient (Bancroft).

The next game was also against Norwich A. In another tightly contested match Conlan equalised late on with a goal described by some (Conlan) as Messi like. Final score Norwich A 1 v 1 Leyton Orient (Conlan).

To put the two games against Norwich into context these were only games they dropped points and conceded goals.

The return against Walton Swift’s was another tight affair with Steve Tongue going close on a couple of occasions. With ten seconds to go the ref on the adjoining pitch blew for time, the O’s players stopped, Swift’s played on and scored the only goal of the game. Final score: Leyton Orient 0 v 1 Walton Swifts.

The final game was the return against Barnet B. Two long range efforts from Conlan and some excellent keeping from Taylor resulted in the victory. Final score: Barnet B 0 v 2 Leyton Orient (Conlan).

All the O’s players put in excellent performances but I am sure like me they would like to express their gratitude to Ian and Pete for making it possible for us to compete.

This was a very well run tournament. Norwich were grateful we competed despite our lack of numbers.

The day was rounded off by first with congratulations to Paul Taylor who was voted Orient’s Player of the Tournament and secondly with total respect to John Bancroft who’s choice of pub for the post tournament debate could not have been bettered.

Final Standings

Norwich A 16 pts
Orient 10 pts
Walton. 7 pts
Barnet B. 1 pt

Leyton Orient squad: John Bancroft, Chris Conlan, Paul Taylor, Steve Tongue PLUS Pete (Norwich), Ian (Norwich).

Goal Scorers: Conlan 4, Bancroft, Pete, Ian.

Location

Norwich