On a sunny Saturday 14th September afternoon Leyton Orient Over 50s Whites travelled to Chelmsford for their final round of matches in Division 2 of the Essex Walking Football League. Starting the day at the bottom of the table and facing two of their relegation rivals (Concord Rangers Blue and Colchester Phoenix Blue) the task for Orient was clear – get as many points as possible.

Orient’s first match was against Concord Rangers Blue. The starting line-up was Spence (Gk), Rohm in defence, Perry (Cpt) in central midfield, Harden and Edwards on the wings and Okocha up front. The first half was fairly even with both teams creating chances. Ahmed and Baker came on for the second half. Concord were now starting to dominate with Orient assisting by frequently relinquishing possession. It was no surprise when Concord scored – a half-shot somehow squirming under Spence and trickling into the net. Orient pressed for an equaliser and Okocha – often marked by a couple of players – got an equaliser with virtually the last kick of the game. Final score: Concord Rangers Blue 1 v 1 Leyton Orient Whites (Okocha).

For the second match – against Billericay Town Red – Orient reverted to the starting line-up from the first match. Billericay are a solid team with a couple of very good players and it was no surprise when they took the lead and they probably deserved to score a couple more. Again, Orient stuck to the task with good work by Baker, on for the second half with Ahmed, setting up an opportunity for Okocha. With seconds left, Okocha was able to find Edwards unmarked in front of goal but a poor connection led to a weak shot and prevented Orient from snatching a probably undeserved point. Final score: Leyton Orient Whites 0 v 1 Billericay Town Red.

The third and final match was against Colchester Phoenix Blue. From previous matches against this team, Orient knew that keeping their discipline would be crucial. Harden was a tad unlucky to receive two green cards in the first half which led to him being replaced. Colchester were finding Okocha very difficult to handle with one of their players injuring themself in trying to block a shot leading to him having to leave the field. Okocha had a shot on goal which the Colchester keeper half-saved only for the ball to evade his desperate grab and trickle into the net to put Orient one-up. As anticipated, Colchester started to lose their discipline and had a player blue-carded. Edwards put Orient two-up with another shot that trickled into the net after coming off the post and hitting the goalie on the back. Colchester pulled a goal back but Orient were able to see the game out. Final score: Colcheter Phoenix Blue 1 v 2 Leyton Orient Whites (Okocha, Edwards).

Captain Perry noted “Everyone applied themselves really well. Okocha was dangerous as ever up-front and Rohm and Spence provided solidity at the back. Harden/Ahmed/Baker and Edwards worked hard across the middle against some good players. Getting four points lifts Orient off the bottom of the table. Colchester Phoenix Blue are three points behind with a worse goal difference but they still have three matches to play on 21st September.”

Leyton Orient squad: Shayne Perry (Cpt), Aidan Spence (Gk), Adam Rohm, Mark Harden, Iftikar Ahmed, Andrew Okocha, Simon Baker, Jason Edwards.

Goalscorers: Okocha 2, Edwards.

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