retired_seyyya

23.8.06
Cardiff (4) Leyton Orient (1) League Cup First Round
This match would be a stern test of our early season good form in League One as we faced high-flying Cardiff from the League Championship. It was a flying start for us as Justin Miller returned a partially-cleared corner into the box and centre-half Clayton Fortune headed home for a 1-0 lead after only 3 minutes. That shocked Cardiff into action and they then laid siege to our goal. Michael Chopra was forming a particular handful for our defence and John Mackie was struggling to keep him under control. Glyn Garner twice saved well to allow us to maintain our lead until half-time, but it was a struggle. After 59 minutes Cardiff broke our defensive resolve as Garner could only beat out a shot by Stephen McPhail and Chopra pounced to fire home the equaliser. Using the momentum of that goal Ricardo Scimeca strode forward from the midfield to fire home from 25 yards and Cardiff led 2-1 after 63 minutes. With 73 minutes gone Chopra fired home a free-kick that Glyn Garner could only palm into the net for a 3-1 lead and then the rampant striker sealed his hat-trick in the 92nd minute when he accepted a Willo Flood pass before firing home from ten yards to give Cardiff a comprehensive 4-1 victory.

retired_seyyya

25.8.06
A training mishap means that midfielder Shane Tudor will miss the next three weeks with a knee injury.

In the European Super Cup match in Monaco it was Barcelona who beat Sevilla 4-2 in a highly entertaining game.

***

26.8.06
Leyton Orient (0) Nottm Forest (0)
The team appeared very flat after their midweek loss to Cardiff in the League Cup, but thankfully our opponents Nottingham Forest were also off-form. To be honest it was a very poor game and the fans had to little to cheer about in a lack-lustre first half. Only one scoring chance was created by either team and that came in the 37th minute when Scott Dobie headed against crossbar for Forest. The second half was little better, to be truthful. Once again Forest fashioned a chance which the woodwork denied them when a 59th minute free-kick from Kris Commons hit the post. The day for us was summed up after 79 minutes when Gary Alexander got free on the right and rolled an inviting ball across the six-yard box, only to see Jabo Ibehre totally miss-kick with the goal at his mercy and let Nottingham Forest off the hook. There were not many plusses from the game, but Daryl McMahon – who was starting in the midfield in place of the injured Shane Tudor – put in a good performance in his first start of the season. The 0-0 draw keeps us in second place on the League One table.

retired_barbhowe

8 points from first 4 games good for a team expected to get relegated.
Good Luck Mate

retired_seyyya

Jmb31 - Thanks for the good wishes. I'm very happy with the start the team has made.

***

28.8.06
Blackpool (2) Leyton Orient (0)
The trip up to Blackpool for a Bank Holiday Monday game was our fourth match in just nine days and the strain was already beginning to show. Matt Lockwood and Lee Steele were rested whilst Justin Miller, Craig Easton and Gary Alexander could have used the break, but could not be spared. It was another lethargic performance from the team, but good luck and poor finishing by Blackpool kept us in the match. Indeed we made it to the 87th minute without a goal and I was beginning to believe that we would steal an unwarranted point from the match when Keigan Parker suddenly got a half-chance which he thrashed goalwards. Glyn Garner blocked the shot with his legs, but Matthew Blinkhorn was in the right place to tap home the rebound and give Blackpool a 1-0 lead. Then, if that wasn’t bad enough, Ian Evatt was allowed to run free from the midfield in the 90th minute before shooting low into the far corner to give our hosts a 2-0 victory. Our first league loss of the season also dropped us to sixth place on the table

retired_seyyya

2.9.06
Leyton Orient (2) Oldham (1)
It was important that we responded to our first loss at Blackpool last week with a good display and the team did just that today. Our left-back Matt Lockwood is becoming a real threat in his attacking forays as well as competently performing his defensive duties and he created the opening goal after 19 minutes. Lockwood’s run down the left wing and his low cross to the near post allowed Jabo Ibehre to dart in and steer home a first-time shot for a 1-0 lead. Oldham had little to show for the first half in terms of possession, but we gifted them a 41st minute equaliser when Clayton Fortune completely lost track of his opponent Chris Hall and allowed Hall to get one-on-one with keeper Glyn Garner before unselfishly squaring the ball for Stefan Stam to tap it into an unguarded net. In the second half of the match Fortune made up for his earlier error when he rose magnificently to head home Matt Lockwood’s corner after 69 minutes. Again we controlled the match, but we were indebted to Glyn Garner’s brilliant sprawling save at the feet of Chris Hall which denied the Oldham striker an 89th minute equaliser. The resulting 2-1 win took us up to fifth on the League One table.

retired_seyyya

9.9.06
Gillingham (1) Leyton Orient (4)
The team seemed refreshed after our first seven-day break without a game and were itching to take on Gillingham. I decided to start Hogan Ephraim for the first time in partnership up front with Gary Alexander. The first half was a good battle which we broke open with a superb ten-minute spell at the end of the period. Matt Lockwood made it 1-0 after 38 minutes with one of his trademark curling free-kicks. When Justin Miller was rather dubiously fouled in the box after 43 minutes it was Hogan Ephraim who grabbed the ball and confidently planted his penalty-kick past Gillingham keeper Kelvin Jack to make it 2-0. Right on the half-time whistle Gary Alexander dashed into the box before unselfishly laying the ball off for Ephraim to tap in his second in three minutes and give us a 3-0 lead. Having taken a match-winning lead, the players did well to protect it and Gillingham made little impact in the second half. Out of the blue Michael Flynn fired in a speculative effort that caught Glyn Garner unawares after 83 minutes and made the score 3-1. Ephraim was then denied his hat-trick by the width of the post when his header struck the woodwork after 85 minutes, but the team restored their three-goal lead when Jack dropped Lockwood’s corner in the 90th minute and John Mackie prodded the ball home for a 4-1 winning scoreline.

retired_seyyya

16.9.06
Leyton Orient (2) Bradford (1)
We rocked Bradford back on their heels after just 2 minutes when Jabo Ibehre nodded down Justin Miller’s free-kick and Gary Alexander lashed the ball home for his first goal since the opening day of the season. Bradford came back at us though and Steve Schumacher rattled our post with a shot after 13 minutes. We edged our visitors overall in the remainder of the first half, but they reminded us that we only had a one-goal lead when Ben Muirhead headed against the post in first half injury-time. Any thoughts Bradford had of bagging an equaliser ended in the 52nd minute when Matt Lockwood fired in a free-kick for the second consecutive match to give us a 2-0 lead. The impressive way in which we closed out the match was only marred by a late consolation goal for Bradford when Dean Windass took a free-kick in the 92nd minute and Eddie Johnson headed home to bring the score back to 2-1. The win took us up to third place on the League One table.

retired_seyyya

23.9.06
Yeovil (2) Leyton Orient (1)
Yeovil’s play in this match belied their position of 19th on the League One table as they fought us all the way for the three points on offer. They shaded us in the first half and only good work by keeper Glyn Garner denied Wayne Gray after 22 minutes and Paul Terry after 32 minutes. Our best chance came late on when Hogan Ephraim steered his 43rd minuted shot from an acute angle onto the outside of the post and away for a goal-kick. Yeovil kept up the pressure in the second half, but our full-backs Donny Barnard and Matt Lockwood stopped them from getting in their crosses when the ball was played out wide. After 64 minutes we opening the scoring – probably against the run of play – when Craig Easton released Gary Alexander and the striker calmly slotted home from twelve yards to put us 1-0 in front. Far from discouraging Yeovil it actually increased their attacking pressure. Clayton Fortune finally mistimed a clearance after 77 minutes and Lee Morris pounced to drive the ball past Garner for 1-1. Fortune then compounded his earlier error by bringing down Wayne Gray for a penalty after 81 minutes and the Yeovil winger converted it himself to put his team 2-1 in front. Having got in front, our hosts weren’t going to give up their lead and they closed out the match to present us with our second defeat of the season.

retired_seyyya

26.9.06
Leyton Orient (2) Brighton (1)
I never like to see the team register consecutive defeats, so it was imperative that we returned to winning ways against Brighton before a losing mentality set in. Shane Tudor returned to the starting line-up after injury and he nearly settled our nerves when he struck the post in the 11th minute following good work by Matt Lockwood. We were edging Brighton in possession, but scoring chances were still scarce. Justin Miller’s great pullback from the bye-line after 40 minutes set up Hogan Ephraim for an open goal, but the youngster scooped his shot over the crossbar from six yards range as a goal continued to elude us. Our failure to convert possession into shots on target came back to haunt us when Charlie Oatway released Alexandre Frutos for a one-on-one with Glyn Garner after 72 minutes and he slotted the ball home to put Brighton 1-0 in front. It took a stroke of good luck to bring us level after 79 minutes though. Substitute Michael Simpson dribbled his way to the bye-line and drove the ball low across the Brighton penalty area where it bobbled up and struck defender Joel Lynch before going into the net for an own-goal to make the score 1-1. Two minutes into injury-time we snatched a late, late winner when Ephraim’s cross found substitute striker Paul Connor at the far post and his downward header was expertly placed to give us a 2-1 victory that had not seemed possible twenty minutes earlier.

retired_seyyya

30.9.06
Northampton (0) Leyton Orient (0)
Our visit to Northampton culminated in what was probably the first result of the season that didn’t truly reflect the way in which the match was played. The 0-0 draw was nearly entirely achieved by the goalkeeping heroics of the hometown’s number one Lee Harper. Time and again he denied Leyton Orient from taking the lead, from as early as the 2nd minute when he dived full-stretch to his left to keep out Gary Alexander’s vicious volley. Other particularly splendid saves included a body-block on Hogan Ephraim’s close-range shot after 23 minutes, a save with his legs from Craig Easton after 52 minutes and a wonderful back-pedalling tip-over from a lob by Justin Miller in the 66th minute. I can’t complain about the team’s lack of endeavour as we totally dominated the field of play, but it was just one of those days when Harper was not going to be beaten. On-loan midfielder Isaiah Osbourne got his first game time for the season when he played the final fifteen minutes after returning form his broken collar-bone.

League One Table - 12 matches played, 34 remaining
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1- Nottm Forest 32 pts (+15)2- Blackpool 30 pts (+18)3- Leyton Orient 24 pts (+10)4- Brighton 22 pts (+7)5- Huddersfield 22 pts (+4)6- Crewe 21 pts (+4)7- Millwall 20 pts (+5)</pre>