On Saturday 15th June, a day of very mixed weather, Leyton Orient Walking FC Over 50s Whites travelled to Chelmsford for their third round of matches in Division 2 of the Essex Walking Football League. Without an out-and-out striker it was looking like it might be a difficult afternoon.

Orient’s first match was against Concord Rangers Blue. The starting line-up was Brunt (GK), Rohm in defence, Weston in central midfield, Dunn and Perry on the wings and Burns up front. Early on Orient lost the ball far too easily in midfield from which Concord duly scored. This was soon followed by an Orient attack breaking down and Concord moving upfield quickly (perhaps too quickly) to score a second. The first half finished with Orient two down. Birnbaum and Edwards replaced Dunn and Perry at half-time. An early shot from Concord went wide. Orient then had a decent spell with Burns having three shots blocked and Weston forcing a save following a free-kick. Orient then had a penalty turned down when Burns was challenged on the edge of the area when shooting on goal – the ref deeming it to be a block by the defender rather than a tackle. It also looked as if a couple of Concord defenders had entered the penalty area but the ref did not see this. In the final minutes Concord intercepted an Orient pass to score a third. Brunt made a good late save to prevent a fourth. Final Score: Leyton Orient 0 v 3 Concord Rangers Blue.

For Orient’s second match, against Billericay Town Blue, the starting line-up was Brunt (GK), Rohm, Weston, Dunn, Edwards and Burns. An early attempt from Burns went high and wide. Billericay then scored two goals from free-kick situations. The awarding of one of the free-kicks was a bit dubious as Edwards was left on the floor having had his foot stamped on by a Billericay player shielding the ball. A shot from Rohm went high and wide. Again Orient finaished a first half two goals down. Birnbaum and Perry replaced Rohm and Burns at half-time. The second half proved to be a much more even affair with both teams having decent periods of possession if not actually creating many clear-cut opportunities. The closest either team came to scoring was when Perry hit the angle of the post and cross-bar with a curling shot. Final Score: Leyton Orient 0 v 2 Billericay Town Blue.

The final match of the afternoon saw Orient up against Billericay Town Red. The referee was, it is fair to say, much stricter than the referee had been for the first two matches. Running, in particular, was being quickly spotted and penalised. Both Birnbaum and Perry had to be replaced after receiving two green cards and a Billericay player was blue-carded early in the second half. Try as they might, Orient could not make the extra player count and it was a back to full strength Billericay who got a late winner following a free-kick. Final Score: Leyton Orient 0 v 1 Billericay Town Red.

Captain Perry noted “It was very disappointing to lose all three matches but the team performed much better as the afternoon progressed and certainly deserved a point in the final match. Both Burns and Perry tried their best when playing upfront but neither of them are the lethal striker you need at this level. The ball was lost too easily in the first match – all the goals coming from loose passes or interceptions – and then we disappointingly conceded three goals in a row from free-kicks. The other teams always appear to be better than Orient at both defending and taking free kicks. The post-match discussion in the pub centred on whether we can get a group of the Over 50s and Over 60s together on a Saturday/Sunday, so those that work can attend, for a couple of hours to practice free-kick and corner routines, pressing, tracking of players and phases of play etc and then have some competitive matches between the Over 50s and Over 60s to put some of these things into practice.”

Leyton Orient Whites squad: Shayne Perry (Captain), Colin Brunt (Goalkeeper), Adam Rohm, Paul Weston, Jason Edwards, Maurice Birnbaum, Stevie Dunn, Neil Burns

Goal scorers: .

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Image used © 2024 Trevor Ridley

Location

Salerno Way, Chelmsford CM1, UK