On a gloriously sunny Sunday morning Leyton Orient women’s walking footballers turned up to take on both Arsenal and Tottenham in this mini-round robin set of friendlies. Unfortunately Tottenham only had three players so Orient lent them a few players to make up a team.

The first game of the day saw Arsenal take on Leyton Orient and Orient were quickly out of the blocks with an excellent flowing move up to Ahlstrom who neatly slotted the ball past the Arsenal keeper. The game then became an end to end affair with both teams attacking well but being cancelled out by resolute defences. There were chances at both end which were either well saved, came off the woodwork or went just past the upright. The second half saw more of the same with some good pass and move football by both sides but no positive end result. Final Score: Arsenal 0 v 1 Leyton Orient (Ahlstrom).

Next up for Arsenal were Tottenham who were assisted by a couple of Orient outfield players plus Hyatt in goal. Considering that half the Spurs team hadn’t met before they started the match they did exceptionally well to hold a well disciplined Arsenal team to a goalless draw. Final Score: Arsenal 0 v 0 Tottenham.

It was now Leyton Orient’s turn to take on Tottenham and despite all their best efforts and numerous chances on goal they just could not make the break-through. As is frequently the case in these situations, a late strike on goal by Ireland of Spurs snatched the win. Final Score: Leyton Orient 0 v 1 Tottenham (Ireland).

Arsenal now took on Leyton Orient and again neither side could make the decisive strike on goal with both goalkeepers pulling of some heroic saves. Again there was some good pass and move football but over an hours match play had taken it’s toll on the legs. Final Score: Arsenal 0 v 0 Leyton Orient.

The final game of the day saw Arsenal take on Tottenham and by now the early Spring heat and the nearly 90 minutes of football really had drained the energy out of the women. There was still some good passing and there was certainly no lack of effort but both defences were on top and both goals stayed intact. Final Score: Tottenham 0 v 0 Arsenal.

All in all this was a hugely enjoyable morning’s walking football played in entirely the right spirit of fun and friendship. It was also obvious that the Orient women had been improving the match play since they first started. Well done all. As Sherrille Hyatt put it ‘Really enjoyable today. Beautiful sunshine. Good humour. Games played in fantastic spirit. Thanks to everyone involved. More Sunday mornings like this please.’

Also a big thanks to Alison Kay, Charmaine Bent and Sherrille Hyatt who helped out the Tottenham team and to Len Cheston and Mick Mullins with helping to set up and Mick Mullins with his expertise on the referees whistle.

Leyton Orient Walking FC Squad: Mary Mullins, Andree Selner (Cpt), Charmaine Bent, Johanna Ahlstrom, Sally Jones, Sherrille Hyatt, Ann Matthews, Tora Gregory-Sayce, Alison Kay.

Goal Scorer: Ahlstrom.

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Image © Copyright Trevor Ridley