On a sunlit Friday 30th May, five minutes from the sea, with optimism packed alongside shin pads, a patched-up Leyton Orient Walking FC side made their way to Southend for the inaugural Community Foundation Friendly Tournament.

Orient arrived with tempered expectations and no goalkeeper, a detail that might have unsettled some sides. But not this group. When the call came for a volunteer between the sticks, only one man stepped forward: Jones. “No gloves, no experience, no problem,” seemed his quiet ethos. He was to wear the shirt – and the responsibility – lightly, and magnificently.

With Southend fielding three teams, and Ipswich and Tonbridge completing the draw, the format was round-robin, six teams, twelve-minute matches. But rules, particularly the FA’s gentle variation for walking football – tackle cleanly from the front, four not-walking offences and it’s a penalty – were open to flexible interpretation. Watching the officiating in the opening fixtures, the O’s squad quickly gathered that their usual restraint might need recalibration.

Yet they adapted. With quiet authority at the back, crisp interchanges in midfield, and flashes of clinical finishing, the O’s found their rhythm. Four games, four wins, four clean sheets. The sun shone. The boots sang.

Southend Thirds 0 v 1 Leyton Orient (Pillay)

Ipswich 0 – 1 Leyton Orient (Lillington)

Southend Firsts 0 – 1 Leyton Orient (Pillay)

Southend Seconds 0 – 2 Leyton Orient (Clancy, Lillington)

The final tie, against an unbeaten Tonbridge side with superior goal difference, became a de facto final. Orient had to win. And when Pillay intercepted and then threaded a pass into Lillington’s path, the finish was emphatic. One Nil. The dream flickered.

But football, as ever, resists tidy narratives. A hopeful Tonbridge effort – speculative, scuffed, spinning – took a cruel deflection and wriggled agonisingly past the wrong-footed Jones. It was Tonbridge’s only shot on target. A late Lillington effort kissed the post, and with that, the whistle blew. Final score Tonbridge 1 v 1 Leyton Orient (Lillington).

Unbeaten, yet unrewarded.

Still, there was pride, and plenty of it. Captain Nad Pillay reflected: “That we arrived with modest ambitions but left disappointed going unbeaten, conceding one goal in five, speaks volumes to the character of this group. There were performances of poise and grit – from the debutants Woods and Mear, both composed under pressure, to Clancy’s halfway-line curler, a goal of effortless beauty. Corrigan and Taylor anchored the back when called upon. And some fine finishes from Lillington who, on another day, would have surely taken the golden boot. But it was Jones, reluctant keeper turned cornerstone, who was the O’s Player of the Day."

Southend’s hospitality and organisation drew warm praise.

Leyton Orient squad: Dave Jones, Nigel Mear, John Woods, Colin Corrigan, Mark Taylor, Nad Pillay, David Clancy, Julian Lillington.

Goalscorers: Lillington 3, Pillay 2, Clancy.

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Image used © 2025 Trevor Ridley