Leyton Orient’s Over 65s team played Woodnesborough in the 2nd Round of the WFA over 65s Cup. Starting with Cheston in goal, Conlan in defence, Mullins, Stevenson and Cox in midfield with Ridley up front. With two halves of twenty minutes on a warm afternoon, possession was key, yet the O’s gave the ball away unnecessarily throughout the first half. The first half saw Woodnesborough providing the main threat but Cheston stood firm in the goal keeping the opposition at bay. Woodnesborough then came close to scoring with a shot that grazed the far post. Orient’s best chance came late in the first half with Cox getting a shot away that went straight into the keeper’s hand. There was some very lenient refereeing in the first half with running offences and physical contact from the opposition rarely punished with free-kicks and no warnings whatsoever. Nevertheless, it was goalless at the break.

The warm afternoon was taking its toll so Cox and Ridley were replaced by Howard and Slater for the second half. Again the leniency continued, and within five minutes of the restart Woodnesborough had the ball in the back of the net. Thankfully the robust challenge of the forward was seen and the goal rightfully disallowed. Orient then provided some threat to the Woodnesborough goal with a Howard shot along with some excellent interplay between Howard and Slater that almost resulted in a clear effort on goal. Conlan was replaced with ten minutes remaining with Dooley coming on in his place and soon making a contribution with another shot on goal. Cheston remained occupied and made a number of saves to thwart Woodnesborough. In the thirtyseventh minute, with penalties looming, Cox replaced Dooley for what seemed to be an inevitable penalty shoot out. Within a minute Woodnesborough struck with a powerful shot that eluded Cheston and nestled in the back of the net. With only ninety seconds remaining, Orient played through the Woodnesborough defence to provide Stevenson with a shot that was gathered by the keeper. The final whistle blew soon afterwards.

Manager David Clancy summed up post match “There are some takeaways from this game. The main one is that Orient gave up possession too easily in the opening stages and allowed Woodnesborough to get a foothold in the game and dominate. With forty minutes to play, a little more patience would have helped. The second thing is that having the discipline to not commit non-walking offences to not give away penalties doesn’t help in WFA Cup! The interpretation of running offences is too variable. Had it been the EWFL, Orient would have had three penalties and be comfortably in the next round. The final thing is knowing there is next to no time to play and holding on somewhat, there is no harm in just hitting the ball as far away as possible and taking chances on the penalties. And given there had been no warnings for Orient, late fouls would have no impact. It is disappointing to have gone out in this manner, and every player gave their all. We wish Woodnesborough all the best in the next round. Meanwhile Orient over 65s will concentrate on the league.”

Leyton Orient squad: Len Cheston (Gk), Tim Conlan, Mick Mullins (Cpt), Derek Slater, Alan Cox, Micky Howard, Trevor Ridley, Phil Stevenson, Vince Dooley.

Goalscorers:

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