Saturday 30 May - 10am Kick Off

Over 65s travelled to Romford for their opening game in the 2026 WFA Cup. The starting line up was Weston in goal, Burns in defence, Gurman, Dooley and Stevenson in midfield with Slater up front on a small pitch with large goals.

An early setback as Romford took the lead after 4 minutes, but Orient responded quickly with Slater equalising from an Orient corner with seven minutes on the clock. Romford scored again within a minute and went 2-1 up. It was shaping up to be a goal fest. At this point, the dangerous Romford striker committed a third offence and was sent to sin bin just ahead of a water break. Birnbaum and Brennan replaced Stevenson, who had totted up 2 warnings, and Dooley. Within a couple of minutes, Slater beared down on goal, only to be taken out by the Romford number 10 on the edge of the area. The result was a penalty and a red card and Romford down to 4 players for the next minute or two. Surely the turning point. Slater scored the resultant penalty, but it was disallowed (too many steps?). With Romford back at 5 players, Burns scored with his right foot and Orient were level. As half time approached, Slater was one on one with keeper, but didn’t convert with an under hit shot that was gathered by the prone keeper. Meanwhile, Brennan had committed two offences and was replaced by Dooley just before the break. H-T 2-2

The essentials needed to be right in the second half especially patience and possession with the extra man advantage. Unfortunately that message went unheeded as within seconds Romford went 3-2 up. Romford then played very cannily keeping possession and utilising the pass back to the keeper. Whenever the Os got the ball, it was given away quickly and cheaply playing further into the hands of Romford. At the next water break, with Dooley on two warnings, Stevenson replaced him and brought more control in the midfield. Slater was instructed to stay up front and cut out the back passes. However once again, Romford were sharp and extended their lead. Birnbaum was replaced by Brennan as the Os needed to chase the game. Slater last act was a turn and shot just by the post, before he was replaced by Dooley in a last push. Within a couple of minutes, Dooley scored a cracking goal to get the Os back into the tie followed by a blue card for a third offence. Now it was 5v5 for the last five minutes. Orient pushed for the equaliser to take the game to penalties with two late corners. However the damage had been done, the final whistle blew and Orient were out of the cup.

Orient had a man advantage for the majority of the game, so it was disappointing that neither the possession nor the patience required was shown in order to progress. Ironically, this is what the last training session focused on. Too many passes rushed and not finding their target. On a hot morning, the extra man should have been exploited. Now the 65s will focus on the EWFL cup, where there is the opportunity to make amends.

Orient 3 Romford 4

Squad: Weston, Stevenson, Burns, Dooley, Gurman, Slater(D), Birnbaum, Brennan

Goalscorers : Slater, Burns, Dooley

Match Report -David Clancy