On a sunny but chilly Saturday 27th January morning Leyton Orient Walking FC travelled the short distance up the A12 to Romford Powerleague to take part in the Headway Sports Walking Football 5-a-side tournament. It was soon confirmed that Romford A, Romford B and Orient were the only participants as Watford had apparently pulled out because so few teams were taking part.

The format was 5-a-side on a boarded pitch with each team to play each other team twice starting with a round of twenty minute games and then a round of fourteen minute games, all with a short half-time break. Games were to be played to Essex rules – more about this later.

Orient were first up against Romford A and started with T Weston in goal and an outfield quartet of Rohm, P Weston, Edwards and Cox. Perry and Birnbaum replaced Edwards and Cox at half-time. From the start Romford A looked very comfortable, with good movement and slick passing. Their centre-back, apparently the brother of actress Gillian Taylforth (Eastenders), had a particularly good passing shot on him. Whilst Orient were able to get some decent shots off throughout, our only goal came from a goalkeeping error and Romford A were deserved winners. Final score: Romford A 3 v 1 Leyton Orient (OG).

Orient next played Romford B with a starting line-up of T Weston, Rohm, Edwards, Guerrini and Cox. P Weston and Perry replaced Guerrini and Cox at half-time and then Cox and Birnbaum came on for the last five minutes. Orient dominated this match from the start and Cox scored early on with a hard low shot following a slick pass from Guerrini. Cox then scored with a tap-in and and Edwards stroked in a third. Good goalkeeping and defending limited Romford B to a single goal. Final score: Romford B 1 v 3 Leyton Orient (Cox 2, Edwards)

For the second match against Romford A, Orient lined up with T Weston, Rohm, P Weston, Guerrini and Cox. Edwards and Birnbaum replaced Rohm and Guerrini at half-time. This was very similar to the first match with Romford A again deservedly winning. Final score: Romford A 2 v 0 Leyton Orient.

At this point in proceedings, Orient players were getting increasingly frustrated with the refereeing. Too many infringements (tackles and running) not being punished. The referee was a young member of the Powerleague staff and maybe wasn’t that used to walking football.

For the final match against Romford B, Orient lined up with T Weston, Rohm, Edwards, Guerrini and Perry. P Weston, Cox and Birnbaum replaced Edwards, Guerrini and Perry at half-time. This was very even with both teams having opportunities throughout. Romford B want one-up from a well-worked free-kick. They then scored a controversial second – some of the Orient players having stopped for a foul which the referee again chose to ignore – with Romford B breaking away to score. Frustrated by this and other infringements not being punished, Orient became more physical with a couple of particularly robust challenges coming in from Rohm and, who’d have thought it, Birnbaum. Cox pulled one back but Orient could not find a equaliser. Final score: Romford B 2 v 1 Leyton Orient (Cox).

The games between Romford A and Romford B finished 5-1 and 1-2 so Romford A were crowned champions but the trophy was in the post so they had to settle for a round of applause. Orient retired to the bar for a couple of rounds of drinks and a chat with some of the Romford players.

Following play captain Perry mused that, “The team played pretty well, particularly in the first game against Romford B. Cox was a threat throughout and took his goals well and Tony Weston, in his last game before an ankle operation (speedy recovery Tony), made some excellent saves in each game. We had to make a lot of changes to make sure everyone got reasonable game time and this probably affected our fluidity but Romford A were deserved overall winners. A referee with more experience of walking football would have been good.”

Leyton Orient squad: Tony Weston (Gk), Adam Rohm, Paul Weston, Steve Guerrini, Jason Edwards, Alan Cox, Maurice Birnbaum, Shayne Perry (Cpt)

Goalscorers: Cox 3, Edwards, OG

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Image used © 2024 Headway Sports

Location

King George Playing Fields, Eastern Ave W, Romford RM7 7AY, UK