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On Sunday, 17 May, the Leyton Orient women travelled to Cheshunt for the third league fixture.
Earlier in the week, thunderstorms were predicted for Sunday, so we expected this could be a wet day. Fortunately, the weather report improved and by Sunday, it was a warm and pleasant day. Our day was also helped by the attendance of a couple of supporters. Our ex-player and good friend, Jo, and one of our newest members, Lisa.
Most of us had played the day before in the Essex league, so there were a few tired legs, but we had a couple of fresh players to give us a boost.
We already had three points in the bag as Southend Greens had pulled out of this fixture. This also meant that we had four games to play instead of the usual five, but each game was 18 mins, with a quick change of ends after 9 mins.

Our first game was against Cheshunt Eagles, who are currently top of the league. We started well and there was plenty of good movement from the O’s. It was very back and forth. Cheshunt had a number of shots on our goal, but these were either blocked by our sturdy defence or saved by keeper Williams. We had numerous shots ourselves, mostly from Clare K, but these were also blocked, or saved by the Cheshunt keeper, with one good shot hitting their post.
Final result – Orient 0 – 0 Cheshunt Eagles.
Next up were our friends, North London. They had a keeper who has also played for Orient, Chantel, minding their goal.
Again, this was quite back and forth. This time we had shots from Sally, Sam and both Clare’s, but these were saved, blocked or sent wide of the sticks. Then Lynda got struck in the face quite hard by a ball that was kicked by a North London player, it was hard enough to knock her to the ground. Of course, the game stopped, and we all rushed to her side. Fortunately, being the tough cookie that she is, and after a short breather, she got to her feet. We encouraged her stay on the sidelines with an ice pack to hold on her face.
Time then ran away, and we were unable to find the back of the net.
Final result – North London 0 – 0 Orient.



The third game was against Luton, a tough bunch.
This was hard fought, with both teams having shots at either end. Both keepers made a number of good saves from the opposing team. Then a Luton player struck a great ball which went straight through an O’s defenders legs, and even with a diving O’s keeper, was too hard and fast to stop. There was not enough time left for the O’s to find an equaliser. Our first loss of the day.
Result - Orient 0 – 1 Luton
We had a short break in between games three and four, so this allowed the team to gather a last bit of energy for the final game against Chesham.
This is a very strong side, who have a very good passing a movement game.
We held our own against them, with a few of our players getting shots on Chesham’s goal but these were saved, blocked or sent wide of the post. Chesham also had a fair number of shots against us, but couldn’t beat keeper Williams. With only a few minutes left, an O’s player unfortunately wandered into the O’s area. Penalty! The Chesham player stepped up and struck the ball well. Keeper Williams did manage to get hand to it, but it was too hard and fast to stop. So hard that it managed to dislocate the little finger of the O’s keeper! The final whistle was blown shortly after.
Final result – Chesham 1 – 0 Orient.
This was a disappointing set of results for us as we had gained 12 points from 15 in last month’s fixture. The team had battled so hard and defended so well, so to only come away with two points from four games was hard to swallow. We just couldn’t find the back of the net on the day. The responsibility for this doesn't just lay with the strikers, it must be a whole team effort. We didn't have too many clear chances, that's true as the other teams were defending very well, in fact it was a low scoring fixture for all teams, but we seemed to lack some accurate passing, and on occasions, were not releasing the ball quick enough to those in spaces. We practice three-touch football in our training sessions, but we can't seem to transfer this to the pitch during our fixtures. This is an area that needs some work. We know what we are capable of, as this have been proven, we just need to be a bit more consistent, and everyone on the pitch must be more accurate with passing to feet and moving the ball around quicker, looking up and finding those players that are often in spaces but not picked out. This is what will get us the results and points that we need. Another factor that contributed to our performance was the inconsistent referee that we had for the first three matches. He appeared to make up his own rules at times, and applied the rules when it suited him to. There were lots of offences that were not picked up, and when one of our players went to ask him a question at the break, he only gave a half answer and then ushered her away. It can work against you if you have the same inconsistent ref for numerous games, as if they take a dislike to someone, then that person also seems to be singled out in other games.
Anyway, to keep with the Eurovsion theme this weekend, we will ‘Rise Like A Phoenix’ Conchita Wurst (Austria, 2014).

Team – Chris Williams (GK & Manager), Debbie Lewzey, Sally Jones, Clare Kavanagh, Clare Nwofor, Sam Baker (C), Andree Selner, Lynda Dowling.
No goal scorers