On Saturday 27th May a Leyton Orient over 60s team arrived in Maidstone hoping to win the Maidstone Tournament for the second successive year.

Orient’s first opponents were Maidstone United Blacks. The O’s lined up with Cooper in goal, Tim Conlan at the back, a midfield three off Brennan, Howard and Zelkowicz with Cox upfront. Orient were comfortable for most of the game and deservedly took the lead when Maidstone were penalised under the new four team running offences which leads to the award of a penalty kick. Cox duly dispatched the resultant penalty. The O’s appeared to be on the way to victory when a wayward pass on the edge of their own area allowed Maidstone to equalise. Things went from bad to worse when Orient themselves fell foul of the four running offences rule and Maidstone scored the resulting penalty to clinch victory. Final score: Maidstone United Black 2 v 1 Leyton Orient (Cox).

For the second game Stevenson and Chris Conlan started in place of Zelkowicz and Tim Conlan. This game against Ashford was a tight affair, with few chance and ended scoreless. Final score: Ashford 0 v 0 Leyton Orient.

The next opponents were Hastings and Orient dominated the early stages missing numerous chances to open the scoring. The breakthrough eventually came when Chris Conlan won a tussle on the edge of Hastings box and slipped the ball to Zelkowicz who fired home the only goal of the game. Final score: Hastings 0 v 1 Leyton Orient (Zelkowicz).

The final game was against Whitstable who had only managed one point from their previous three games. The maths was simple Orient had to win by two clear goals to reach the semifinals. As he had done all afternoon Stevenson rotated the squad and started with Cooper in goal, Tim Conlan at the back then Zelkowicz, Cox and Stevenson in midfield and Chris Conlan upfront. The O’s once again had the majority of the possession with Chris Conlan, Cox and Zelkowicz peppering the opposition goal but the Whitstable keeper had an outstanding game and kept his goal intact. An unfortunate slip at the back allow the Whitstable forward a clear run on goal and he calmly put his side in front. Orient now needed three goals to progress but the excellence of the Whitstable keeper prevented such an outcome. Final score: Whitstable 1 v 0 Orient.

Orient captain, Phil Stevenson, summed up on what was a frustrating afternnon, “We certainly didn’t do ourselves justice. Our movement was ponderous the passing was sloppy and most of us were below par. The exception to this was Chris Cooper who performed admirably in goal. Maidstone and Ashford, two teams in our league, contested the final. Tim Conlan summed up the performances by describing them as lacklustre. I would like to thank Maidstone for running a well organised tournament although it would have been nice to have access to the changing room and showers after the games.”

Leyton Orient squad: Chris Cooper (Gk), Tim Conlan, Alan Cox, Jake Zelkowicz, Mick Brennan, Chris Conlan, Micky Howard, Phil Stevenson (Cpt).

Goalscorers: Cox, Zelkowicz.

© Copyright 2024 Leyton Orient Walking FC
Image used © 2024 Trevor Ridley

Location

James Whatman Way, Maidstone ME14 1LQ, UK