Billericay, Saturday 20th September: Essex Walking Football League 50s Reds, Division 2, Matchday 3.

The forecast promised an autumn afternoon drenched in sun; instead, the dreary grey sky seemed to seep into Leyton Orient’s bones. For long stretches it felt less like a football team and more like strangers fumbling through introductions. Six points from nine now grace the table, but without Spence’s inspired defiance between the sticks, this could so easily have been an afternoon of naked embarrassment.

Against first opponents, Beacon Hill Rovers White, a side sitting beneath Orient in the standings, the Reds made the simple things look complicated. Passes to teammates became passes to opposition; possession was squandered as though it carried no value. Shots rained down on Spence’s goal. For long spells of the first half, Orient looked like a group of drifters convened for the first time. Yet football can be perverse in its timing. Grateful to the woodwork and a now punch drunk Spence, Orient staggered to the break only one down – and then transformed. With the introduction of Okocha and Pillay, the Reds wrestled back control. The two combined when the front man laid off to the captain who skipped past his man to fire in the equaliser (1 – 1). As the team gelled, Beacon Hill chased shadows – too eagerly, too often – and the not-walking offences totted up. Penalty. Zelkowicz tucked it away cleanly into the bottom corner to close the game. A victory secured not through fluency but through will, the comeback as spirited as it was unlikely. Final score: Beacon Hill Rovers White 1 v 2 Leyton Orient (Pillay, Zelkowicz).

Little Oakley White, unbeaten league leaders, offered sterner opposition. Their tactics were brutally clear: retreat, compress, deny space, then spring forward with a lone striker who embodied both power – arguably, irregularly deployed – and precision. For Orient, this was a test of patience and concentration. They began brightly, recycling possession around the Oakley penalty area, probing for openings. But old flaws resurfaced. One slack pass was enough. Oakley pounced, countered, and scored. From there the pattern hardened. Orient pressed, Oakley absorbed. Corners became Oakley’s weapon, Orient’s weakness. Twice the Reds escaped the routine. But the Reds were in no mood to learn lessons. And, at the third attempt, they were punished, the ball allowed again to cross the box, despite two blockers, the striker ghosting into space that should never have been allowed. When the third goal arrived, it merely confirmed what had long been clear: Oakley were ruthless, Orient careless. The three/nil scoreline was a measure not of effort but of organisation. Final score: Little Oakley Whites 3 v 0 Leyton Orient.

Notley’s absence in the final fixture gave Orient three points without a ball being kicked. The table records victory; the players knew it was hollow. Matches, not walkovers, build rhythm and understanding.

Three fixtures, two wins, one defeat. On paper, encouraging. In truth, a side still in search of identity. Orient’s strength lies in resilience, in the ability to respond when the game appears lost. But resilience alone cannot carry a season. The lesson of Oakley was plain: possession without precision, endeavour without organisation, leads only to frustration.

The arc of this campaign is beginning to take shape. Orient have spirit, commitment, and the defiance of a goalkeeper who refuses to yield. But to rise higher they must find rhythm, the rhythm of habit and training, the collective instinct that turns individuals into a team. Six points from nine offers hope. Whether that hope is realised will depend on whether the Reds can move beyond survival and start to impose themselves with conviction.

For now, they remain a team of fragments, glimpses of promise stitched together by effort. Football, though, demands more. And until Orient find that fluency, they will continue to exist not as a force to be feared but as a side still learning to recognise itself.

Afterwards, captain Nad Pillay was candid, “It’s evident the best squads train and play together regularly. At times we looked like a scratch team, far from the automatisms beloved of Arsène Wenger. But the fightback against Beacon Hill showed our spirit. That matters. Plenty more games to go with scope to climb the table. If we can find our best, we’ll be able to do it And many thanks to Cox for his patience with the limited game time.”

Leyton Orient squad: Aidan Spence (Gk), Nad Pillay (Cpt), Adam Rohm, Paul Weston, Jake Zelkowicz, Andrew Coyle, Andrew Okocha, Alan Cox.

Goalscorers: Pillay, Zelkowicz.

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Image used © 2025 Trevor Ridley