Orient Break Crawley Curse

Leyton Orient give fans added Christmas cheer with Boxing Day win over Crawley Town at Brisbane Road.

In a frantic opening exchange, Orient and Crawley both had chances. Shaun Batt flashing the ball across the face of the Crawley Goal that evaded Chris Dagnall, Jobi McAnuff and Crawley defender Ryan Dickson. Up at the other end, ex-Arsenal midfielder Conor Henderson took a strike just wide of Adam Legzdins’ goal.

Cox celebrates goal with ball boy

Orient then won a free-kick just outside the Crawley box; although Orient had appealed for a penalty after Dean Leacock (a former Orient player) appeared to handle the ball with Dagnall right behind him. However, the referee stuck to his decision after consulting the linesman. Dean Cox and Andrea Dossena both shaped up to take the kick, but Dean Cox was the player who stepped forward and put the ball right in the top corner of Brian Jensen’s goal.  That had O’s fans rejoicing after the first direct free-kick scored by an Orient player since Martin Rowlands in January 2013. Hopefully the next one isn’t as far away.

Crawley then got a soft equaliser. Dossena gave away a free kick that was floated into the box and, after Matt Harrold headed against the post, former Orient midfielder Jimmy Smith poked the ball at goal and it appeared to cross the line and it was given, making Orient’s day at the office seem a harder task. A few minutes after, another Crawley free-kick was just about scrambled away by the hosts who, with Adam Legzdins in goal, looked nervous every time the ball came into their box.

Dagnall's flying header

Then Orient found the net again. Dean Cox with the pinpoint cross, met by Chris Dagnall with a flying header to score his sixth of the season. A great moment for the Liverpudlian, who had just returned from suspension, as he had been out of favour at times but his replication of Robin Van Persie’s goal against Spain at the World Cup was well taken and a sigh of relief could be felt around Brisbane Road. The game quietened down after that, but a speculative Jimmy Smith effort didn’t go unnoticed.

The second half continued in a similar way to how the first half ended. Orient looking dangerous in attack whilst looking shaky at the back, with Andrea Dossena and Adam Legzdins seeming either lackadaisical or nervy. Orient’s substitutions were all down to injury, however, as Shaun Batt had already been replaced by David Mooney in the first half with an as yet unknown injury. Dean Cox would be replaced by Bradley Pritchard due to a back spasm, and Adam Legzdins went off with a shoulder injury and was replaced by Gary Woods. Then, with the Orient fans present having prepared themselves for a nervy end to the game, Orient found the net again. A scramble led to David Mooney having a shot parried by Jensen, but Mooney gobbled up the rebound to make it 3-1 to Orient by slamming the ball into the roof of the net. That was Mooney’s fourth goal of what hasn’t been a totally productive, although injury hit, season for the Irishman so far.

In the six minutes of stoppage time, Orient killed the game off. Good wing-play from Bradley Pritchard led to a powerful cross that Dagnall was able to just tap home for goal number four. His seventh of the season, and second of the game, from someone who Orient will have to try and hold on to in January. That was the last action of one of the more flattering score lines of the season for Orient.

Man of the Match: A tough decision as there was a minor gulf in class between those who played well and those who didn’t, but the award is shared between Dean Cox and Chris Dagnall. Cox is such a key cog to this team and Dagnall has always given 100% effort to the cause even if things haven’t gone his way. Without these two components, Orient’s all round game lacks energy and creativity.   Josh Wright also deserves a mention for always making himself available in midfield throughout the game, while Shaun Lowry was produced a solid second half performance in, an otherwise slightly shaky looking, defence. 

We Need To Talk About Orient…

Only 12 months ago I was of the opinion that Leyton Orient would be promoted at the end of the 2013/14 season. However, a weak ending to a good season became a poor start to this one. So what’s gone wrong?

Ouch, that hurts...

The first nail in Orient’s coffin was, no doubt, the mediocre end to last season which culminated in a penalty-shootout defeat to Rotherham in the Playoff Final at Wembley. Potential suitors for players from both clubs were present, including Brentford boss Mark Warburton (in a scouting capacity) and Preston manager Simon Grayson (as a pundit for Sky Sports). Now, I’m not blaming managers of other clubs for our demise, but Brentford’s capture of Moses Odubajo left a gaping hole in the Orient team that still hasn’t been filled.  While the departure of Jamie Jones may have seemed rather less of an issue at the time, Orient’s failure to find a keeper as good at instilling confidence into their own defenders has now become a very big problem.

Jobi's Had Anuff

Odubajo’s replacement, Jobi McAnuff, doesn’t possess the skill, versatility or speed of Odubajo and seems to play in 10 minute-per-match bursts, if he shows any interest at all. Jones’ two replacements, Gary Woods and Adam Legzdins, have also looked like square pegs in triangular holes. Woods’ command of his area and distribution are better than Legzdins’, but both keepers’ decision making isn’t exactly the most convincing.   The outcome, too often witnessed this season, is Orient’s habit of conceding soft goals.  A number of which have been conceded against the run of play.

It’s not just McAnuff and the keepers that haven’t been brilliant either. Captain Nathan Clarke isn’t exactly a fan favourite, but his very convincing Steven Gerrard impression in the home game against Coventry and the away League Cup game at Plymouth, both led to goals, proved why the injury he picked up (and played all the way to penalties with) at Wembley in May seems to have taken away the edge that he brought with him in 2012. Mathieu Baudry also proved that he can be, and often is, erratic and prone to taking unnecessary risks in defence. Baudry certainly is Orient’s David Luiz, the not-so-well-disciplined defender who may be better on the bench. This brings me on to poor old Gary Sawyer who, despite playing well of late, will lose his place to Andrea Dossena when the Italian returns from injury and be left with a seat on the bench.

In midfield Orient are missing Lloyd James in the centre. It’s not that Josh Wright’s performances have been poor; it’s more that James plays the “Lloyd James role” better than Wright. Elsewhere I see fans on social media saying that they don’t quite understand what Bradley Pritchard’s role is. To me it’s quite clear. He is the more intelligent remake of Jimmy Smith who will play in almost every position and, thus, not be able to nail one down completely. Marvin Bartley did actually get a good run of form going. ALERT!!! ALERT!!! THE INTERNET HAS CRASHED!!! No seriously he did, before he got injured…again. Speaking of injuries, striker Darius Henderson is due to return soon.That is unless he takes the other meaning of striker and asks for a contract termination. The ex-Watford striker hasn’t really shown the form that helped him propel The ‘Orns to the Premier League, despite having ex-Millwall teammates Shaun Batt and Shane Lowry on hand to help him settle. All of Henderson’s strike partners (all EIGHT of them, to be precise) haven’t been prolific, reliable or even available in some, if not all, matches. The main highlight being the 4-1 win at home to Crewe, which was to a large extent due to perhaps the only exceptional performance by any Orient striker so far this season, i.e. an “on fire” Chris Dagnall scoring one and making the other three.  If only we could see about more of that from Orient’s now considerable strike force, but too often, in other games this season, periods of Orient pressure have failed to produce goals when they have been needed.

It’s not just on the pitch where there have been problems. The new owners have what ex-manager John Sitton would call “Airy Fairy Fantasies” of Leyton Orient becoming this big footballing power from East-London, however, if Mr. Becchetti is reading please take note. This cannot be achieved by continuously sacking managers before hiring ones with a career win percentage of 11.11%, and who can’t speak the language of the country he/she is working in.

Also, things between fans have got heated, with fans first abusing players after away defeats at Gillingham and Bradford, followed by an attack on the local newspaper’s Twitter account for (in my opinion) a rather amusing if not totally true tweet about Jobi McAnuff’s booking at Barnsley. Anyhow, it’s tough enough for players and journalists without receiving abuse from their own followers.

Not the fight we were hoping for Hendo...

Having just mentioned one booking, it might be worth also mentioning the very high number of bookings and sendings off gathered by Orient players so far this season.  Clearly, the resulting suspensions, coupled with the ever present injury list, has not helped the club at all.   The growing total of yellow and red cards is worrying for another reason though in that it suggests a lack of discipline which also can’t be helping the cause very much.

On a happier note, a merry and safe Christmas and a prosperous New Year to all reading and I hope to see many O’s fans at Brisbane Road on Boxing Day for the Relegation 12 pointer against Crawley. Up the O’s.