25 August 2010

Carling Cup: Leyton Orient 0 West Brom 2, 24/8/10

A game in which... Brisbane Road was spellbound by the visit of a glamorous Premier League team - or at least the 200 or so Orient fans that bothered to turn up were. In reality, you can hardly blame supporters for shunning the League Cup. If I recall correctly the last time the Os got further than round 2, the trophy was named the Hormel Corned Beef Cup and our passage through was due to some wing half trickery from Cyril Bacon.

Moment to savour... Not many. Although Orient were far from embarrassed, West Brom won at a relative canter. Still, it was enjoyable seeing small-man-syndrome poster boy Dean Cox take on and beat ex-O Nicky Shorey on one occasion in the second half. Just think, Nicky, if only you'd stayed at Orient you could have had so many nights like these, rather than playing for England and stuff...

Head in hands moment... Charlie Daniels is through. He's through! The ball is dropping nicely for him, he shapes to shoot and... Oh hang on, it's on his right foot. Row Z here it comes.

King for a day... Another typically industrious performance from human combustion engine Adam Chambers who, if only he could shoot and pass properly, could probably play for West Brom.

Boo boy... Jimmy Smith is the ultimate nondescript player - rarely crap enough to bother slagging off, seldom good enough to warrant praise. Tonight, however, his second half switch to right back - clearly not his position - earns him a mention for general shoddiness, not least his throw-in that didn't quite make it on to the pitch.

In the dug out... "Change the record, it's like Williams all over again," yelled one young buck in the posh seats during the first half. Big Russ thought carefully about his reply - perhaps bringing to mind a witty riposte from Oscar Wilde, or at least Stephen Fry - before countering, "Shut up, you prick." Touche!

You're supposed to be away... "Premiership, you're having a laugh!" crowed the South Stand at the handful of Baggies who'd made the journey to east London, just as West Brom scored their winner. If I lived in Birmingham and supported West Brom - nasty thought - I wouldn't make a midweek trip to Brisbane Road either.

What would Martin Ling have done? Made a triple substitution at 80 minutes, once the game was already lost. "These three are the future of Leyton Orient Football Club," he'd claim, bringing on Loick Pires, Aiden Palmer and Brian Saah.

Going down? Another game, another set of "encouraging signs" that point towards League One survival. Probably best that Orient swap the "encouraging signs" for "actual points" come Saturday though.
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