On Tuesday 23rd July Leyton Orient Walking FC over 65 Whites resumed their league season looking to score the goals to propel them up the table.

The opening game of the morning was against Eastwood Falcons. With Chris Conlan joining the squad, Orient had a strong attack focus with Spence in goal, Rains at the back, Baker, Kassam and Barrick in midfield with Conlan up front. The Whites, in their unfamiliar red shirts, took the game to Eastwood with Kassam, Conlan and Barrick all having good efforts in the first half. Eastwood offered little threat bar a counter attack which resulted in Spence making light work of the shot faced. At the interval the teams were level. McBride replaced Baker and Cheston replaced Barrick who had received two green cards at half time. Orient started the half in disarray with Eastwood hitting the woodwork and Spence making a superb save within the first couple of minutes. Orient settled with McBride and Kassam finding their shooting boots if not the back of the net. With three minutes remaining Eastwood took the lead. Orient launched a counteroffensive which saw a Conlan shot rattle the crossbar, though it rebounded away for a kick in. The referee’s final whistle confirmed the Whites second defeat of the season. Final score: Leyton Orient Whites 0 v 1 Eastwood Falcons.

Next up were Billericay Red who started the day at the bottom of the table. McBride replaced Baker in the starting line up. Orient dominated the first half with Barrick and Kassam both hitting the woodwork, but once again it was goalless at the interval. The second half followed the same pattern with Spence untroubled, but despite Kassam having three goal attempts and a superb move that presented Barrick with the opportunity to score, Orient were unable to break through. For the ninth time this season, it was the familiar duck-eggs score line. Final score: Leyton Orient Whites 0 v 0 Billericay Town Red.

With McBride suffering from a knee injury, Baker duly replaced him in the starting line up against Concord. Concord proved to be very well organised, however a defender presented Kassam with the ball in front of goal midway through the first half. Alas, the shot went just wide. So once again it was scoreless at half time. Cheston replaced Baker at the break. The second half saw two well organised teams mostly negate each other however Spence was called upon to make a save in the final seconds to ensue a point with the tenth goalless draw of the season. Final score: Leyton Orient Whites 0 v 0 Concord Rangers.

After play manager David Clancy said, “Orient over 65 Whites were defensively sound with Rains and Spence negating the opposition in the main bar the goal conceded to Eastwood. Barrick, Kassam and Conlan carved out numerous opportunities to score, however for the twelfth game in a row, it was once again Orient nil. Orient slipped to 6th as a result of the defeat, but with just 6 points separating 3rd and 8th a good showing in the final three fixtures should see the Os finish in the top half, though promotion is no longer possible.”

The afternoon saw Leyton Orient over 65 Reds resume their league season looking to steer clear of the relegation spots.

There were changes aplenty in the red squad, with Tony Haley coming in to make his over 65s debut and Phil Jacobs his debut in the EWFL. Tim Conlan, Vincent Dooley and Derek Slater were also added from last time out, giving the reds a nine man squad for the four games to be played.

First up were Billericay. Orient started with Cooper in goal, T Conlan at the back, Cox, Stevenson and Ridley in midfield, with Slater starting up front. The first half proved to be disastrous for Orient. After conceding an early goal to Billericay, Stevenson pulled up injured after five minutes. Jacobs came on as Stevenson limped off. As half time approached a free kick by Ridley found Cox whose shot fell fortuitously to Slater on the edge of the box. Slater was a little impatient waiting for the falling ball as he shot over from close range. After halftime Dooley and Haley came on for Conlan and Slater. With three minutes remaining Cox had a long range shot that went narrowly wide. Cox was subsequently fouled in the middle of the pitch which went unseen by the referee, but resulted in him being replaced by Slater for the last couple of minutes. Orient were unable to break down Billericay who saw out the game. Final score: Leyton Orient Reds 0 v 1 Billericay Town.

Little Oakley Blue were Orient’s next opponents and with Cox still feeling the effect of the late foul in the previous game and Stevenson out for the remainder of the day, they were replaced by Jacobs and Dooley. Orient started well with Slater’s shot going wide. However, with 6 minutes gone, Orient failed to defend a corner which led to Little Oakley opening the scoring. There were two changes at half time with Cox and Haley replacing Dooley and Slater. Haley received a green card within two seconds of the restart for ”runnning backwards"! Within a minute, Haley fired a shot in from a Ridley free kick that the keeper did well to palm around the post. As the half wore on the and the green cards mounted up Jacobs was replaced by Dooley and Haley replaced by Slater after both received two greens. Slater’s return almost resulted in an equaliser in the last minute, but his shot didn’t trouble the Little Oakley defence enough and they won by the single goal. Final score: Leyton Orient Reds 0 v 1 Little Oakley.

Orient’s next opponents were bottom of the table Paringdon. Cox and Haley started in place of Dooley and Slater. Orient started slowly with Cooper called upon to make two save within the first minute. Cox and Ridley then had half a dozen efforts between them which were keeping Paringdon pressed back. As half time approached, a rare Paringdon foray into the Orient half saw them score thanks to a mix up at the back and a fine finish. The half time whistle blew before the restart. Dooley and Slater returned at half time in place of Conlan and Haley. The start of the second half saw Ridley trouble Paringdon with an early shot, but after that Orient’s defence crumbled with Paringdon forcing Dooley to block a good effort, Cooper somehow keeping out a goalbound effort after being put on the floor, followed by Paringdon hitting the post. Slater pulled his calf muscle with 3 minutes left and was replaced by Haley. A late Cooper save kept the score down in a disastrous second half that saw Paringdon leaf frog over Orient in the table and leave the Os at the bottom. Final score: Leyton Orient Reds 0 v 1 Paringdon.

The final game of the day saw Orient face Wakering. Starting with the same line up for the second consecutive game, Haley and Cox had good attempts on the Wakering goal whilst Cooper made two good saves including a point blank effort. The teams went in level at half time. Haley and Conlan received their second green cards in quick succession which led to Dooley replacing Haley and Conlan remaining on due to the lack of replacements. As Orient looked to reorganise once again, Wakering took full advantage by scoring a brace of goals. The Os were offered a little hope when Wakering were reduced to 5 after a blue card, however within a minute, Ridley also received a blue card as he homed in on the opposition goal. Ridley didn’t return before the referee blew the final whistle. Final score: Leyton Orient Reds 0 v 2 Wakering.

After play manager David Clancy said, “This was a disappointing day for the Orient over 65 Reds. There were a number of changes to the squad which along with a couple of injuries led to a lack of cohesion in the play with players filling unaccustomed roles. As far as the debutants were concerned, Haley made an impressive debut with some good hold up play and being the closest to scoring on the day. Jacobs came in and played with considerable skill and superb positional awareness throughout. I would like to thank them for coming in at short notice to make a big contribution and hope they sign up for over 65s teams going forward. As manager, I have to consider decisions I made that have cost the team today and look to rectify them for the next set of games. The games against fellow strugglers Grays and Paringdon are now must wins in order to avoid relegation. As a club, we need to look at how we prepare for the league. It’s not good enough to turn up and hope to beat teams who are very well drilled. It works to some degree when selections are consistent, but when there are enforced changes integrating new players, no matter how good they are, is difficult. Preparation needs to be done from October to March. It is still not too late to make a difference this season; the next round of games are crucial.”

Leyton Orient Whites squad: Aidan Spence (Gk), Peter Rains, Hassan Kassam, Simon Baker, Paul McBride, Jon Barrick (Cpt), Len Cheston, Chris Conlan.

Leyton Orient Reds squad: Chris Cooper, Tim Conlan, Vince Dooley, Alan Cox (Cpt), Phil Stevenson, Phil Jacobs, Trevor Ridley, Tony Haley, Derek Slater.

Goalscorers:

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Image used © 2024 Trevor Ridley

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