26 March 2011

Leyton Orient 1 Yeovil Town 5, 26/3/11

A game which... was something akin to erecting a sign at a T-junction reading 'Turn left to see Megan Fox sunbathing naked.' That is, nothing went right. Even if Orient had turned up with their pockets bursting full of rabbits' feet, four-leaf clovers and horseshoes, the luck still wouldn't have gone their way.

Conceding a wonder goal on nine minutes off the inside of the post, having a player sent off six minutes later (I'm afraid I couldn't see it clearly enough to comment sensibly on it), giving away a penalty, losing Stephen Dawson to injury, falling foul of criminally inept refeering... The only thing that could have made the afternoon worse was if Olly Murs had turned up at the end and launched into a rendition of Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life.

Moment to savour... The final whistle. Oh, and two delightful reflex saves from Jamie Jones in the second half, helping Orient to keep the goals conceded down to five.

Head in hands moment... Many Orient free-kick takers over the years have managed to repeatedly hit row Z of the North Stand with pinpoint accuracy. Today Dean Cox went one better, actually clearing the roof of the stadium with his first-half effort.

King for a day... Amid all the first-half shenanigans, it almost escaped notice that Jonathan Tehoue was actually putting in a decent shift in his second start in a row. Winning headers, tracking back, making a nuisance of himself and, unsually, keeping his first touch to within six yards of himself.

Boo boy... Stand-in left back Jason Crowe had such a shocker in the first half that screenwriters are already adapting his performance into a horror film. It's not his natural position, granted, but the on-loan man was torn apart time and time again down the right flank.

In the dug out... In Russ we trust, but there's been some bemusing team selections over the last couple of games. Dropping Andrew Whing, leaving Jimmy Smith on the bench, rotating between Tom Carroll and Adam Chambers in midfield... Still, at least Russ didn't react to the unfolding madness in front him by losing his head and bringing on Ryan Jarvis or something.

What would Martin Ling have done? Gone absolutely livid about the performance of referee Geoff Eltringham. "I totally lost the plot with him after the game, that's for sure," he'd say. "Well, when I say that I mean I didn't shake his hand very enthusiastically. But I reckon he got the message."

Play-offs? Don't despair. If we win our games in hand we're still only two points off both Bournemouth and MK Dons. And with nine games to go we're still very much in it. Besides, Orient have a nice history of bouncing back from big defeats, just like we did in January.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...